The major reason for the flow of the transatlantic slave trade shown on the map was the demand for cheap labor in the Americas, particularly for plantation agriculture. The European colonizers needed a large workforce to cultivate cash crops such as sugar, tobacco, cotton, and coffee, and thus turned to the transatlantic slave trade to supply the necessary labor. Additionally, the belief in racial superiority and the dehumanization of Africans allowed for the brutal exploitation and enslavement of millions of people for economic gain.
