The Atlantic Slave Trade and the Triangle Trade System

Introduction: The Triangle Trade

Although slavery had existed throughout human history, the Atlantic slave trade possessed certain unique qualities that gave rise to an equally unique and economically profitable form of slavery from the 17th century onward. The Atlantic slave trade was also called the Triangle Trade: "Ships carried European manufactures to Africa and exchanged them for slaves, who were then taken to the Americas, where they were traded for sugar, molasses, cotton, tobacco, indigo and other goods, which were brought back to Europe."¹ Although the Portuguese began the trade, it was primarily the economies of the United States and Great Britain that generated its development.²

The Cash Crop System and African Displacement

The slave trade was fueled by the creation of a cash crop system whereby slaves were used not simply to supplement household labor, as they were in urban areas, but to support entire economies with their coerced labor. In the 17th century, "the creation of ever-larger sugar plantations and the introduction of other crops such as indigo, rice, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, and cotton would lead to the displacement of an estimated seven million Africans between 1650 and 1807."³ While slavery had been common when individuals were taken as prisoners of war in the ancient world, the Triangle Trade resulted in the creation of an entire class of subjugated peoples in the United States and in many British colonies.

"Having reached the Americas, those who survived the crossing faced a life of slavery on colonial plantations. Here, they were denied their freedom and dignity, and were treated with considerable brutality by their masters. Attempts by slaves to run away, and on occasion to revolt, were signs of their continued suffering."⁴ Slaves lost the ability to freely form families, speak their native languages, and observe cultural traditions, although many tried to do so in secret.

Economic Beneficiaries and the Push for Abolition

Beyond plantation owners and slave traders, shipbuilders and many other professions benefited from the slave trade. Consumers also enjoyed access to cheaper goods and a wider range of commodities. Great Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807, but it has been speculated that the fact that "British slave plantations of the West Indies [were] already in economic decline before the slave trade and slavery were abolished" may have played a factor in this decision.⁵

In America, the invention of the cotton gin fueled the expansion of slavery by making the production of cotton far more profitable than ever before, even though the Founding Fathers had hoped that the practice would eventually die out. America abolished the slave trade in 1808, but given that "the widespread trade of slaves within the South was not prohibited … and children of slaves automatically became slaves themselves … a self-sustaining slave population in the South" was still extant.⁶

Conclusion: Legacy of the Triangle Trade

While slavery is a moral abomination in all of its forms, the slavery generated by the Triangle Trade was uniquely evil in its perpetuation of racism and its divisions between people based upon a system of racial classification. It was also uniquely profitable in many of the contexts where it was practiced, fueling entire economies and ways of life built upon coerced labor. The slave system itself was "peculiar" not only in its structure but also in its effects upon many generations of enslaved people, not simply those originally captured by traders.⁸