shipped back to Europe. Most African slaves brought to the Americas were sold to the planter class, who frequently subjected them to brutal mistreatment.

Beginning in the mid-18th century, the rise of abolitionism in Europe and the Americas led to a popular movement to abolish slavery in European colonies, which met with strong resistance from the planter class. Despite this, European nations gradually began to abolish their involvement in the slave trade and the institution of slavery itself during