Title: The Atlantic Slave Trade (15.4) | Howell World History
Headings: The Atlantic Slave Trade (15.4)
The Atlantic Slave Trade (15.4)
Triangular Trade Across the Atlantic
Horrors of the Middle Passage
Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade
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Content: The Atlantic Slave Trade (15.4) | Howell World History
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The Atlantic Slave Trade (15.4)
Triangular Trade Across the Atlantic
The Atlantic slave trade formed one part of a three-legged international trade network known as triangular trade. This was a triangle-shaped series of Atlantic trade routes linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Shipping People and Goods
Triangular trade worked in the following way. On the first leg, merchant ships brought European goods—including guns, cloth, and cash—to Africa. In Africa, the merchants traded these goods for slaves. On the second leg, known as the Middle Passage, the slaves were transported to the Americas. There, the enslaved Africans were exchanged for sugar, molasses, and other products manufactured at plantations owned by Europeans. On the final leg, merchants carried sugar, molasses, cotton, and other American goods such as furs, salt fish, and rum made from molasses. These goods were shipped to Europe, where they were traded at a profit for the European commodities that merchants needed to return to Africa. Vocabulary Builder
commodity— (kuh mahd uh tee) n. anything bought and sold
Industries and Cities Thrive
Triangular trade was immensely profitable for many people.