How many slaves were in the West Indies?
Between 1662 and 1807 Britain shipped 3.1 million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Africans were forcibly brought to British owned colonies in the Caribbean and sold as slaves to work on plantations.
What was sent from Africa to the West Indies?
Triangular trade is a term that describes the Atlantic trade routes between three different destinations, or countries, in Colonial Times. The Triangular Trade routes, covered England, Europe, Africa, the Americas and the West Indies. The West Indies supplied slaves, sugar, molasses and fruits to the American colonies.
What was the role of slavery in the Atlantic system?
Shipowners regarded the slaves as cargo to be transported to the Americas as quickly and cheaply as possible, there to be sold to work on coffee, tobacco, cocoa, sugar, and cotton plantations, gold and silver mines, rice fields, the construction industry, cutting timber for ships, as skilled labour, and as domestic …
Who captured African slaves for transport overseas?
The Dutch became the foremost slave traders during parts of the 1600s, and in the following century English and French merchants controlled about half of the transatlantic slave trade, taking a large percentage of their human cargo from the region of West Africa between the Sénégal and Niger rivers.
What ended the international slave trade?
On the first day of January, 1808, a new Federal law made it illegal to import captive people from Africa into the United States. This date marks the end—the permanent, legal closure—of the trans-Atlantic slave trade into our country.
Why is the triangular trade so important?
On the first leg of their three-part journey, often called the Triangular Trade, European ships brought manufactured goods, weapons, even liquor to Africa in exchange for slaves; on the second, they transported African men, women, and children to the Americas to serve as slaves; and on the third leg, they exported to …
What were the consequences of triangular trade?
The death rate of the enslaved people was horrific. Unknown millions died in Africa before they even made it to the ships. It has been estimated that at least 2 million enslaved Africans died on the Middle Passage across the Atlantic. In the Americas, the death rate amongst enslaved people was also very high.
How were slaves prepared to be sold?
On reaching the Americas the crew of slave ships prepared the Africans for sale. They washed, shaved and rubbed them with palm oil to disguise sores and wounds caused by conditions on board. The captains usually sold their captives directly to planters or specialised wholesalers by auction.
What were slaves exchanged for in the West Indies?
In the 17th and 18th centuries, enslaved African persons were traded in the Caribbean for molasses, which was made into rum in the American colonies and traded back to Africa for more slaves. The practice of slavery continued in many countries (illegally) into the 21st century.