African migration and social formation in the Americas, 1500-2000

Around 11 million Africans reached the New World between 1500 and 1866 in what constitutes the first massive transoceanic migration in the history of humanity. This article approaches that movement from the perspective of the history of migrations and socio-racial formations in the Americas. The first part establishes the origins, timing, and geographic distribution of the arrivals using a database with information on some 35,000 slave ship voyages. We go on to analyze how this determined the demographic impact, socio-economic development, African cultural presence, adaptation and acculturation strategies, and the construction of racial taxonomies and identities in the receiving regions.