1642-1807: Merchants operating from ports in Rhode Island, including Newport, Bristol, and Providence, outfitted approximately half of all slaving voyages or…

1642-1807: Merchants operating from ports in Rhode Island, including Newport, Bristol, and Providence, outfitted approximately half of all slaving voyages originating from the North American mainland. These ventures typically employed smaller vessels and relied heavily on the trade of rum for captives at Gold Coast forts like Anomabu and Cape Coast Castle. Statistics show that while many captives were sent to St.-Domingue (11,000) and Cuba (30,000), the trade also supplied labor across the British Americas and the wider Atlantic world. This regional focus underscores the deep integration of northern colonial economies into the global slave trade before and after the American Revolution.