2.16 The Domestic Slave Trade

The Domestic Slave Trade Begins

After the U.S. banned the international slave trade in 1808, enslavers turned to the domestic (internal) slave trade to supply labor. Enslaved people were forcibly moved from the Upper South (Virginia, Maryland) to the Deep South (Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana) to meet demand for cotton and sugar production, fueled by the invention of the cotton gin.

The Second Middle Passage

Historians call this forced relocation the Second Middle Passage. Roughly one million enslaved people were sold and marched or shipped south between 1808 and 1860, often in coffles chained together. This process brutally separated families, destroying kinship networks and community ties built over generations.

Economic and Human Costs

The domestic trade turned enslaved people into commodities, with cities like Richmond and New Orleans becoming major slave-trading hubs. Enslavers profited enormously by breeding and selling enslaved people, while families endured auction blocks, separation of spouses and children, and constant fear of sale as punishment or profit.

Key terms

Domestic slave trade

The buying, selling, and forced relocation of enslaved people within the United States, especially from the Upper South to the Deep South.

Second Middle Passage

Term for the forced migration of roughly one million enslaved people from the Upper South to the Deep South after 1808.

1808

Year the United States banned the international slave trade, increasing reliance on the domestic slave trade.

Coffle

A group of enslaved people chained together and forced to march long distances to be sold in the domestic trade.

Impact on families

The domestic slave trade frequently separated spouses, parents, and children, destroying family and community bonds for profit.

Try an AP-style question

The domestic slave trade moved enslaved people mainly…

1. from the Upper South to the Deep South
2. directly from Africa to Virginia's ports
3. from the North across the border to Canada
4. from the western territories to the East