Triangular trade

Triangular trade is a term used to describe the trade routes that connected Europe, the Americas, and Africa during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. These routes allowed for the exchange of various raw materials, manufactured goods, and slaves and were a pivotal part of the colonial economy. The most notable triangle trade route involved the transport of slaves from Africa’s western coast to the Caribbean islands, the shipment of raw materials like sugar and molasses from the Caribbean to New England, and the conveyance of rum and other goods from New England to Europe and Africa. Triangular trade helped to establish Britain as the world’s leading colonial power and contributed significantly to the development of a reliable economic structure in the American colonies. At the same time, triangular trade also caused the colonies to become increasingly dependent on slave labor and ultimately led to the enslavement of millions of Africans.

Background

Triangular trade was a major system of trade between Europe, the Americas, and Africa that had a deeply transformative effect on all three continents. The development of these trade routes dramatically increased the volume of transatlantic trade and led each region to become economically dependent upon the others. The rise of triangular trade also played a critical role in the European colonization of the Americas and Britain’s emergence as the dominant colonial power of the time.

Organizing the triangular trade was a major gamble that Britain took in hopes of capturing an advantageous foothold in the Americas. When the trade began in the late sixteenth century, Britain was only one of several European countries actively attempting to colonize the New World. Some of the others included Spain, France, and the Netherlands. Establishing an intricate system of trade between Europe, the Americas, and Africa required a great deal of resources and represented a significant economic risk. At the same time, it also offered Britain the chance to establish a permanent presence in the Americas that would undoubtedly boost its standing as a colonial power. In successfully operating triangle trade routes, Britain ultimately became the dominant colonial force in North America. Britain’s embrace of triangular trade also had a number of unintended consequences. For one, it created a pressing need for cheap labor that led to mass enslavement of millions of Africans and the establishment of a system that would last for centuries. From a historical standpoint, triangular trade also led to the development of a strong economic system that eventually allowed the American colonies to rebel against the British government and become an independent nation.

In examining the history of triangular trade, it is important to note that the name triangular trade is a reference to two different aspects of the trade itself. Triangular refers to the fact that the system of trade it describes involved cooperation between people in three distinct regions. At the same time, the term also refers to the triangular path ships followed to take advantage of trade winds and ocean currents that made their journeys as quick and efficient as possible.

Overview

Though a number of different triangular trade routes developed over time, the one with which that name is most frequently associated involved trade between New England, Africa, and the Caribbean. Manufacturers in New England used raw materials to make a variety of products for trade. Among the most profitable was rum, which was sent along with other goods to Europe and Africa. In Africa, these goods and others sent from Europe were exchanged for human beings who were captured and pressed into slavery. The next leg of the trade route was the notorious Middle Passage. After being handed over to traders, African slaves were herded onto slave ships to be transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. Crammed into extremely tight quarters below deck, slaves endured horrific conditions during the three- to four-month voyage. Many fell ill and did not survive the journey. Some of the sick were even thrown overboard in an attempt to prevent the further spread of disease. Eventually, the surviving slaves were sold for money and other goods when they arrived in Caribbean islands, which were then known as the West Indies. In the West Indies, slave labor was used to produce raw materials like sugar and molasses. On the final leg of the trade route, these and other raw materials were sent to the North American colonies to be used in the production of various manufactured goods. Molasses, in particular, was sent to New England to make the rum that would subsequently be used to start the whole trade process over again.

While the New England-Africa-West Indies triangular trade route was the most influential and remains the best known, there were many other triangular trade routes as well. In fact, there were practically as many triangular trade routes as there were ports to sail out of and goods to exchange. On one such route, manufactured goods were sent from Europe to Africa in exchange for slaves that were then transported to the West Indies and subsequently traded for sugar, coffee, and tobacco that were sent back to Europe. On another, cotton, lumber, and meat were sent to southern Europe from the American colonies and exchanged for wine and fruit that was transported to England, where various manufactured goods were sent back to the colonies.

Triangular trade proved to be an economic boon because it meshed perfectly with the economic theories that drove colonization at the time. Most New World colonies were never meant to exist as self-sufficient communities. Instead, they were meant to act as largescale plantations where crops like tobacco, cotton, and sugarcane could be produced and sent to Europe to be used in the manufacture of finished goods. Triangular trade played directly into this model of colonialism and elevated both the American colonies and Britain as a colonial power as a result. Ultimately, triangular trade was so effective that it also helped to bring an end to Britain’s colonial control of North America. It provided the colonies with an economic structure strong enough to eventually allow them to pursue independence.

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