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cammer_habibi t1_j6gbvvs wrote

Reply to comment by Lumpy-Ad-2103 in ELI5:Why is barbary slave trade never talked about in mainstream history? by yolofreeway

Agreed on many points. The fixation on North America in many ways downplays the sheer scale of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This was a massive movement of people from one hemisphere to another. It's on a different geographic scale from the Barbary slave trade.

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Lumpy-Ad-2103 t1_j6gk6kb wrote

It’s very true. For scale, more people sold in to slavery died crossing the Atlantic than were involved in the Barbary coast slave trade.

It’s also important to not disregard that trade either. It had a very different impetus and would play a substantial role on Mediterranean trade and politics, ultimately resulting in the French colonization of Algeria. This had a huge impact on all of North Africa and the shaping of the Mediterranean.

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