A summary of the triangular slave trade
The triangular trade
The slave trade began with Portuguese (and some Spanish) traders, capturing mainly West African (but some Central African) people, enslaving them and transporting them to the American colonies they had conquered in the 15th century.
British sailors became involved in the trade in the 16th century and their involvement increased in the 18th century when the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) gave them the right to sell enslaved people in the Spanish Empire.
The slave trade made a great deal of profit for the traders and, therefore, they often ignored the fact it was inhuman and unfair.
At least 12 million African people were enslaved and taken to the Americas between 1532 and 1832 and at least a third of them in British ships.
For the British slave traders it was a three-legged journey called the 'triangular trade':
- Captive West African people were exchanged for trade goods such as brandy and guns.
- Enslaved people were then taken via the âMiddle Passageâ across the Atlantic for sale in the West Indies and North America.
- Finally, a cargo of rum and sugar taken from the colonies, was taken back to the United Kingdom to sell.