First broadcast March 2007
Between the 15th and the 19th Centuries up to 15 million people were forced to migrate from the African continent to the New World, where they were forcibly enslaved.
As part of the commemorations for the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British transatlantic slave trade, Free at Last investigates the unexplored history of black and African resistance to slavery.
What were the acts of rebellion and sacrifice that brought the slave trade to an end? Who were the heroes of the story?
Part One: How the Slave Trade Worked
Resistence was one way of surviving the sheer brutality of slavery. What were the boundaries of rebellion?
And what covert strategies were used?
Part one of the series looks at African complicity, the barbaric violence and the riches at stake.
Listen to more programmes from the World Service Abolition season
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