The Atlantic Slave Trade: Demographic Simulation
The forced migration of some ten
million men, women and children, sent in chains across the Atlantic from
the 16th through the 19th century, surely had a great impact on the size
and structure of population on the African continent and in the diaspora.
But, because of the nearly total absence of pre-20th-century censuses,
most estimates of African population were little more than wild speculation.
This web site permits a step forward, to organized speculation, through
demographic simulation. This simulation, in summarizing available information
on slave trade -- and combining it with what is known of normal human patterns
of birth, death, and migration -- has made it possible to offer a coherent
picture of African and diaspora population in the era of slave trade. In
exploring the simulation, you are invited to vary the demographic conditions
and see their implications. First-time users should read the introductory
materials (see below) as you set up your runs.
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