Title: 
Headings: 

Content: Plantation owners got these slaves from the African mainland. Later, the Dutch, English, and French also became active in the slave trade. By the early 1600s the slave trade was the chief focus of European relations with Africa. Triangular Trade
Slave trade in the Atlantic was 
part
of a system known as the Triangular Trade
On the first leg of their three-part journey, often called the Triangular Trade, European ships brought manufactured goods, weapons, even liquor to Africa in exchange for slaves; on the second, they transported African men, women, and children to the Americas to serve as slaves; and on the third leg, they exported to Europe the sugar, rum, cotton, and tobacco produced by the enslaved labor force. Traders referred to the Africa-Americas part of the voyage as the "Middle Passage" and the term has survived to denote the Africans' ordeal. The Middle Passage was brutal and degrading often lasting anywhere from 1-3 months. Traders chained the slaves in the crowded hold of the ship. This stopped slaves from jumping overboard or causing trouble aboard ship.