Bridging the Atlantic: Migrations and their Legacies

Project

This project develops a large database on the origins and destinations of voluntary and involuntary (slaves) migrants during colonial times within the Spanish empire. The database will contain information about migrants’ origins, measures of their human capital such as education and occupation, and map migration networks from Spain and Africa to the Americas.

During the colonial period, hundreds of thousands of slaves were brought to Spanish America to work in plantation agriculture, mining, and household service.  Building on the work by The Trans-Atlantic Slave Database, this project will increase coverage of the Spanish slave trade to the Americas. 

Sample record of a slave trip: On June 20th, 1589, the ship Santa Catalina led by captain Martin de la Bayen carried slaves that would have arrived on the ship named Santa Maria. This last ship was lost in Cabo Verde, authorized to carry 183 slaves but only 104 slaves survived. Source: Archivo General de Indias