Final answer:
The largest number of enslaved Africans within the territory that became the United States was received in the South, particularly New Orleans, which was the largest slave market. The enslaved population increased massively during the cotton boom starting in the mid-1830s and it led to one of the largest forced internal migrations. By 1860, nearly 3.95 million were held in bondage in the South.
Step-by-step explanation:
Region with the Largest Enslaved African Populations
The area within the United States that received the largest number of enslaved Africans was the South, particularly around New Orleans, during the 18th and 19th centuries. Following the constitutional ban on the international slave trade in 1808, there was not a significant increase until the cotton boom in the mid-1830s which drastically increased the demand for slave labor. New Orleans, as the largest slave market in the United States, became the central point for the trade of enslaved people who were brought from various other regions.
Between 1820 and 1860, there was a large forced internal migration involving the movement of around 200,000 people each decade within the South. The expansion also included the entry of new slave states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, and the territories of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Orleans, attributing to the rise of the enslaved population, which reached nearly 3.95 million by 1860. As the domestic slave trade grew, so did the fearful realities of those enslaved, facing the constant threat of being sold away from their loved ones. Europeans engaged in the slave trade had preferences for Africans from certain nations due to their perceived demeanor. Regions like Portuguese Brazil saw slaves primarily from Senegambia and the Kongo, and places like South Carolina received a significant number of slaves from West Central Africa. Overall, between 1650 and 1860, it is estimated that approximately 10 to 15 million enslaved people were transported from western Africa to the Americas.