Slavery is one of the darkest, most complicated parts of American History. This volume presents the facts of the "abominable trade" from its beginnings in the West Indies to its expansion across the British North American colonies, and eventually, the United States. Readers will learn about the horrors of the Middle Passage and life on a plantation, as well as slavery's effect on the economy and politics of the United States. This book also covers the abolitionist and civil rights movements along the road to racial equality. Primary sources are used to give readers a sense of life in colonial America and the United States, and connect them to the issues that existed.