In what ways does Rediker present the transatlantic slave trade as materially different from the systems of slavery that came before? How did the incentives of global capitalism transform the practice of slavery and the experience of enslavement?

How did the European and American powers affect the political situation in the myriad African nations from which people were captured and enslaved?

To what degree does Rediker draw a comparison between the suffering of enslaved people and the plight of common sailors aboard slave ships? To what degree were common sailors both victims and perpetrators of the slave trade’s abuses?