The triangular trade was a system of Atlantic trade routes from the 17th to the early 19th century, involving the transportation of African slaves, manufactured goods, and cash crops between West Africa, North America, and Europe. Enslaved Africans were an essential part of the economy of the American continent and the Caribbean, where they grew and harvested cash crops. The infamous “middle passage” was the third leg of the triangle, where slaves were transported across the Atlantic under inhumane conditions. The triangle trade is often considered synonymous with the slave trade, but it is important to note that most ships did not travel the entire route in succession. The trade was disrupted by the American Revolution and outlawed by Britain and the United States in the early 19th century.
The triangular trade, also called the triangular trade, was a system of Atlantic trade routes from the 17th century to the early 19th century. The triangle trade is so named because it took place between three different regions on all sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Ships plying these trade routes carried African slaves, manufactured goods, and cash crops between West Africa, North America, and Europe.
Enslaved Africans were an elementary part of the economy of the American continent, as were the islands of the Caribbean. Cash crops such as tobacco, hemp and sugar, were grown and harvested by slaves in the Americas and then shipped to Europe. Sugar, for example, often in its liquid form called molasses, was distilled into rum in Europe. Some of the rum was taken and sold in West Africa or traded for slaves. The third leg of the triangle, the one by which the slaves were transported across the Atlantic, was the infamous “middle passage”.
The infamy of this particular trade route stemmed from the conditions aboard the slave ships. In order to maximize profits, Africans were crammed as tightly as possible, in the same way as any other cargo. Lack of sanitation was a major problem, leading to many people becoming ill and dead before they reached the Americas. Even so, surviving slaves could be auctioned off for very high prices, meaning large profits for those who traded in human goods. For these reasons, the triangle trade is often considered synonymous with the slave trade.
It is important to note that most ships did not travel from port to port in a triangle, completing the entire journey. Each segment of the triangle’s trade had separate companies and fleets of ships that specialized in transporting certain goods to and from certain places. In fact, it is nearly impossible to find records of any vessel having sailed the entire route in succession. Not only did it make more economic sense to specialize this way, but the ships were relatively slow vessels, and sailing the full length of the three routes could take a year or more. Therefore, the triangle trade is, more than anything else, a historical trading model to help understand the maritime trade of the time.
The American Revolution disrupted the trade in goods and slaves for a time. Additionally, Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807 and the United States did so shortly after in 1808. Without its main profit center, the triangle trade was on the verge of extinction, although it continued in a more clandestine form up to the American Civil War of the 1860s.
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