Atlantic Slave Trade and the Triangular Trade
Between 1500 and 1800, approximately 12 million Africans were forcibly transported across the Atlantic in the largest forced migration in history. The Atlantic slave trade was a central feature of the 1750 economy.
The triangular trade pattern
- Leg 1 (Europe to Africa): Manufactured goods (guns, textiles, rum) shipped from European ports to West African coasts and exchanged for enslaved people
- Leg 2 (Africa to Americas, the Middle Passage): Enslaved Africans transported across the Atlantic in horrific conditions, with mortality rates of 15-20% on each voyage
- Leg 3 (Americas to Europe): Raw materials produced by enslaved labor (sugar, tobacco, cotton, indigo) shipped back to Europe
The trade enriched European port cities (Liverpool, Nantes, Bristol, Lisbon), built fortunes in the Americas, and generated capital that would later fuel the Industrial Revolution. It also devastated
African societies, distorted West African political development, and created the demographic foundation of slavery in the Americas.
<mark>Enduring issue: The Atlantic slave trade is the central case study for two enduring issues: power and abuse of power (the dehumanization of enslaved people for economic gain) and inequality (the racial hierarchies it produced and continues to shape). Maria should be able to deploy this case study in any essay touching either issue.</mark>