Gender ratio of slaves along select routes 1636-1867

In Africa, where domestic slavery was the predominant form of slavery, female slaves were usually favored as they were perceived as being more easily-controlled and less likely to rebel. In the Americas, however, where productive slavery was more prevalent, male slaves were preferred due to the physical intensity of the labor and the perception that they were more likely to survive seasoning or acclimatization to the new environment (in reality, male slaves in the New World had a much higher mortality rate than female slaves).It is often quoted that slavers aimed to capture two male slaves for every female slave, yet most sources suggest that this target was rarely met. The averages shown here suggest that the gender ratio among slaves was around 179 males for every 100 females, although the difference varied by region, national carrier and century; for example, a much higher share of male slaves was transported to Cuba in the 19th century, than those transported to British Caribbean colonies in the 18th century. Because of these variations, and the lack of gender ratio from several of the earliest and busiest routes (namely Portuguese voyages to Brazil, which was the most common destination for slaves during the transatlantic slave trade), historians are often reluctant to make overall estimates for the gender ratio during the transatlantic slave trade. Nonetheless, a ratio of 170 to 180 males per 100 females is the most common consensus given among modern historians.

在非洲，奴隶制以家庭奴隶制为主，女性奴隶通常受到青睐，因为她们被认为更容易控制且反叛的可能性较低。然而，在美洲，由于生产型奴隶制更为普遍，男性奴隶更受青睐，这是因为劳动的体力强度以及他们认为男性奴隶更有可能适应新环境或经受住季节变化的考验（实际上，新世界的男性奴隶死亡率远高于女性奴隶）。有说法称，奴隶贩子通常旨在每捕获一名女性奴隶的同时捕获两名男性奴隶，但多数资料表明这一目标很少实现。此处所示的平均值表明，奴隶中的性别比例大约为每100名女性中有179名男性，尽管这一差异因地区、国家运输商和世纪而异；例如，19世纪被运往古巴的男性奴隶比例远高于18世纪被运往英国加勒比殖民地的比例。由于这些差异，以及一些最早和最繁忙航线（尤其是葡萄牙航行至巴西，这是跨大西洋奴隶贸易中最常见的奴隶目的地）缺乏性别比例数据，历史学家往往不愿意对跨大西洋奴隶贸易期间的性别比例作出总体估计。尽管如此，170至180名男性对每100名女性的比例是现代历史学家普遍接受的共识。