triangular trade

Triangular trade

What was the triangular trade?

Map of the triangular trade. Click the 'Triangular trade' and 'Trade goods' buttons to play the animations.

A triangle of money

The profits made from the global trade of sugar, tea and coffee were the major driving force behind the triangular trade. For centuries it provided substantial quantities of venture capital for the industrial revolution and the development of the western European economy.

The first slave traders

Sugar nippers. Repro ID F0908

The trade involved a number of prominent people at the time. For example, Sir Robert Rich (later the Earl of Warwick) owned plantations in Virginia.

Rich was one of the founders of the London-based company of Adventurers to Guinea and Benin. The company was established to trade with West Africa and supply enslaved Africans to the Americas. Charles I granted a licence to a group of London merchants in 1632 for the transportation of enslaved people from West Africa.

The triangle of trade

The Transatlantic Slave Trade consisted of three journeys:

1. The outward passage from Europe to Africa carrying manufactured goods.
2. The middle passage from Africa to the Americas or the Caribbean carrying African captives and other 'commodities’.
3. The homeward passage carrying sugar, tobacco, rum, rice, cotton and other goods back to Europe.

A slave ship? Repro ID E9146

By the 1790s there were 480,000 enslaved people in British Caribbean colonies. It is estimated that 11-12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic into slavery. Many more had died during capture and transportation.

In the first third of the 18th century, Britain’s involvement in the slave trade grew enormously. During the 1720s nearly 200,000 enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic in British ships.

The middle passage

The middle passage across the Atlantic was brutal. Enslaved Africans were packed into tight spaces and given barely enough food and water to stay alive.

The slave ship Brookes. Repro ID F0872

It is estimated that on average 10% died en route rising to 30% on a bad voyage. European sailors who crewed the ships also stood a high chance of not returning due to sickness during the voyage.

One of the most graphic and well-known images connected with the slave trade is the plan of the Brookes. This shows how overcrowded a slave ship could be and yet still remain within the legally permitted capacity.

How did the merchants get away with it?

Account book of the snow 'Molly', a slave ship. Repro ID F2506

Sailors who did return brought back tales of what they had seen during their voyages. However, only a few spoke about it publicly for fear of being refused further work by the powerful merchants, ship owners and captains engaged in the trade.

It was a very profitable business often making a high rate of return on investment, as account books from the period show. Powerful trading interests tried to prevent any regulation or abolition of the slave trade using a fierce campaign of misinformation, lies and delaying tactics.

Telling the truth

Slave in chains. Repro ID E9148

In order to expose the truth publicly about the triangular trade it was necessary to show conditions on the ships and plantations.

To counter the historical European notion that African people were 'little more than savages’, African and British abolitionists worked tirelessly to demonstrate the truth.

• They showed objects illustrating the great cruelty and suffering caused by the trade.
• They revealed images showing the degrading treatment of enslaved people.
• They also displayed the sophisticated African artefacts.

These items shocked the British public, and educated them about Africa, plantation life and enslavement.

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom/viewtheme.cfm/theme/triangular