What Is The Triangular Trade

The triangular trade refers to the system of trade by which Europeans exchanged manufactured goods for African slaves who would then be taken to the Americas and traded for raw materials to be shipped back to Europe for manufacturing. As plantations spread throughout the Americas, so too did the demand for slave labor. Soon, European powers were importing slaves to the Americas in large numbers in a trade system known as the Atlantic slave trade, which would become a major part of the triangular trade.
The majority of slaves were shipped from the West African coast. These were mostly captives held by local rulers in various regions of the continent and given to slave traders in exchange for goods. These captives were then marched to the

coast to be held at trading posts, where they were awaited a barbaric journey across the Atlantic—the Middle passage.
Slaves chosen by European slave traders were loaded onto slave ships and treated like animals. Traders often packed as many slaves as they could onto these ships, so slaves were confined to cramp quarters. They had no bathrooms, very little food, and disease was rampant. Many Africans—10 to 20 percent—did not survive the voyage. Many slaves saw death as preferable to captivity and attempted to jump overboard or destroy the ships; others sought to fight for their freedom.
In Africa, millions of people were stolen from their homes and shipped to the Americas in this way, and this did not leave Africa unaffected. Wars between African kingdoms became common, and communities were damaged, sometimes even depleted entirely. This brought unrest upon the people of Africa and caused them to blame and distrust one another. It also had economic effects on African kingdoms as they became dependent on European goods. In the Americas, however, slavery had very different implications. It became the backbone of prosperity in European colonies, benefiting them economically, as well as culturally, as slaves brought their cultures and traditions with them to the Americas.