How are interactive maps affected by selections made in the query frame on the left?
Any change in criteria used to select voyages also changes the representation of places of embarkation and disembarkation by yellow and red dots on the map and the meaning of the size of the dots, as shown under the legend “Number of slaves.” For example, in the Voyages Database, use as a point of departure the default map for the entire slave trade from 1514 to 1866. There is only one yellow dot. It is placed over Africa, the continent from which all slaves were taken. The relative sizes of the red dots show that the Caribbean, Brazil, Mainland North America and Spanish Central America, Africa and Europe were recipients of slaves, in that order of importance. The legend shows approximately how many disembarked in each broad region. Rolling over the dots gives exact statistics. Now change the time frame on the left to the period from 1808 to 1866, the era of abolition of the slave trade. You will notice that the number of slaves represented by dots of different sizes is much smaller.
