Introduction to the Slave Trade and the Triangular Route and History

Key Historical Definitions

• SLAVE: A person who is forced to do something.

• SERVANT: A person who is paid to perform duties to someone else.

• INFERIOR: Lower in rank or status.

• JUSTIFY: To show or prove to be right.

• BIASED: Something which is one sided.

The Triangular Trade Route

• Stage 1: Slave ships departed Britain for West Africa carrying goods such as iron, beer, cloth, brandy, and guns.

• Stage 2 (Middle Passage): Enslaved West Africans were transported to the West Indies and North America for sale; the journey lasted 2 to 3 months.

• Stage 3: Ships returned to Britain from the colonies carrying sugar, rum, tobacco, and silk.

Historical Context and Scale

• Origins: The trade was established by Portuguese and Spanish traders in the 15th century.

• British Expansion: Involvement increased significantly following the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), which granted Britain the right to sell enslaved people in the Spanish Empire.

• Statistics: Between 1532 and 1832, at least 12 million Africans were transported to the Americas, with one-third carried on British ships.

Eyewitness Account: Olaudah Equiano

• Capture: Born in Nigeria and kidnapped at age 11; he was sold for 172 white shells in the town of Tinmah before reaching the coast.

• Treatment: He served various African masters for six to seven months before being sold to Europeans and transported to America.

• Legacy: He eventually learned to read and write, bought his freedom, and published his autobiography in 1789 to aid the abolition movement.

Questions & Discussion

• Which European countries were involved with the slave trade?

• Why is it called the slave trade triangle?

• Which luxury goods were sent from the West Indies back to Britain?

• Which people made money from the trade and how?