The document summarizes key aspects of the Atlantic slave trade that occurred between 1450 and 1865. It describes the reasons for the slave trade including labor shortages, feelings of racial superiority, and greed. It outlines the phases of the slave trade including the capture of Africans inland, their transportation in crowded and inhumane conditions on slave ships, and the process of "seasoning" slaves upon arrival in the Americas. It also notes that African expectations of slavery being temporary did not align with the reality of slavery as a lifelong and inheritable status and that the invention of the cotton gin led to rapid growth in the slave population to meet demand for cotton production.