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GEORGIA 462,198 (43.7%)
FLORIDA 61,745 (44.0%)
ALABAMA 435,080 (45.1%)
MISSISSIPPI 436,631 (55.2%)
Highest concentration of slaves: 92.5% In Issaquena County, Miss., 115 owners held 7,244 slaves
LOUISIANA 331,726 (46.9%)
TEXAS 182,566 (30.2%)
SLAVE TRADE
Less than 5% of slaves taken from Africa came to North America. The U.S. outlawed the importation of slaves in 1808
Transatlantic slave imports, 1450-1870 -- Number of slaves
1 Brazil ................................................4 million
2 Spanish Empire .................................2.5 million
3 British West Indies .............................2 million
4 French West Indies ............................1.6 million
5 British North America and U.S. .............500,000
6 Dutch West Indies ...............................500,000
7 Danish West Indies ................................28,000
8 Europe ................................................200,000
Sources: Census Bureau, Population of the United States in 1860; Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920, by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide; Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research; University of Virginia; estimates on slave imports from The Slave Trade, by Hugh Thomas, 1997 (Simon & Schuster)
Stauffer teaches American literature and history at Harvard and is the prize-winning author of The Black Hearts of Men
For David Blight's story on Douglass's July 5, 1852, speech, see time.com/lincoln