Today we’re going to look at The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, a watershed digital project focused on the history of slavery and one that has been referenced in your readings for this class: https://slavevoyages.org/.

Step 1: (A Truncated) Data Biography

As a group, let’s try and hammer out a few of the questions that you’ll be answering for your Data Biography of a separate dataset. Go to https://slavevoyages.org/ and try to figure out answers to the following questions about the dataset:

• Where did it come from?
• Who collected, processed, and made it available?
• How was it collected, processed, and made available?
• Why was it collected, processed, and made available?
• How is it stored today? How did you access it?

Step 2: Exploring the Database

Spend some time exploring the database itself (https://slavevoyages.org/voyage/database). See if you can use its functions to answer the following questions:

• Which nation sailed the most voyages in the 18th century?
• In which year did the largest number of enslaved people arrive in Barbados?
• In what sub-region in Africa were the most enslaved people purchased?