Issue 1: The Triangular Trade Flashcards
What was the triangular trade?
- Rotation 2. First stage 3. Second stage 4. Third stage 5. Never … 6. Impacted
• The Triangular Trade involved cargo ships making three journeys in
rotation.
The first stage was to carry manufactured trade goods such as cloth, metal pots and pans, trinkets and guns - from Britain to Africa, to be sold or traded for captured Africans.
• The second stage - known as the ‘Middle Passage’ - was to carry captured Africans from Africa to the Caribbean and America, where they would be sold as slaves.
• The third stage was to carry plantation crops such as sugar, cotton and tobacco from the Caribbean and America to Britain, where the crops would be refined or used to manufacture textiles.
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The Triangular Trade was very profitable because the ships were never empty for any part of the journey, meaning that no cargo space was wasted.
The Triangular Trade was also very profitable because it served an increasing demand for all of the cargo it carried. The supply of enslaved Africans encouraged the development of plantations, the supply of plantation crops encouraged the consumption of sugar and the growing number of cotton mills, and the supply of manufactured goods to Africa encouraged warfare between the African tribes and kingdoms, which in turn made it easier to obtain captured Africans.
Why did the Atlantic slave trade develop on the 18th century?
- Hot 2. Took control 3. Tribes help 4. Labour I 5. Natives 6. Triangular n
The Caribbean islands had a hot tropical climate which was ideal for growing sugar cane, which did not grow well in Europe.
When European countries such as Britain took control of the Caribbean islands, they set up plantations to grow sugar.
• Growing sugar was labour intensive and the plantation owners needed cheap labour.
The native population (the Arawaks) died out and ‘bond servants’ from Europe found the work so exhausting in the hot conditions that many of them died out too.
It was easy to obtain captured Africans from West Africa and ship them across to the Caribbean. African chieftains often cooperated with the slave traders.
The triangular nature of the Atlantic Slave Trade meant that it proved to be very profitable which encouraged businessmen to invest in it.
What impact did the AST have upon British ports?
- Many British 2. After 1760 3. London 4. Bristol 5. Liverpool 6. Liverpool
While many British ports benefited from the Atlantic Slave Trade, nearly all of the trade went through either London, Bristol or Liverpool.
After 1760, more Atlantic trade went through Liverpool than through London and Bristol combined.
London’s financial services developed as the Atlantic Slave Trade required bank loans and insurance policies, as ships leaving Britain. might not return with their profits for 18 months and were always in danger of being lost at sea.
Bristol benefited from its strategic position in south west England, well placed for the Atlantic trade. The triangular trade created a demand for manufactured goods and helped Bristol to develop industries such as sugar refining, copper smelting and glass making.
Liverpool benefited from its proximity to the Isle of Man, which was used as a base to transfer goods on the slave ships and avoid paying tax in the process. Liverpool also benefited from its deep waterfront and the availability of cheap local labour to crew the slave ships, all of which made Liverpool the cheapest port for the slave ships to use.
Liverpool’s shipbuilding industry benefited from the demands of the Atlantic Slave Trade. This made Liverpool one of the richest cities in the world.
What impact did the AST have on Africa?
- Own slave trade 2. Ashanti 2. 18 million 4. Arguably 5. Fertile 6. Racist ideas
• Africa already had its own slave trade, although this was on a much smaller scale than the Atlantic Slave Trade that followed, and it was unusual for someone to remain a slave all of their life.
The Ashanti empire was one of the African kingdoms which were happy to sell captured prisoners from other tribes to the European slave traders. This, and the import of guns and other European goods, increased conflict between tribes.
Approximately 18 million Africans were lost due to the Atlantic Slave Trade. 12 million of these were carried across the Atlantic while the remaining 6 million died at some stage between being captured and setting off on the ‘Middle Passage’.
• The Atlantic Slave Trade had arguably halved the population of Africa by 1850, with the population reduced to 25 million, rather than the 50 million it should have grown to by that stage.
• A lot of fertile farmland in Africa went uncultivated due to the lack of healthy young people left in Africa to farm the land.
• The slave traders used racist ideas to justify their capture of Africans. This created a long-term effect on relations between the different peoples of Africa, with a legacy of tension between tribal societies.
What impact did the AST have upon captured Africans?
- Taken without 2. Forced to endure 3. Humiliation 4. Mostly used 5. Deprived 6. Life expectancy
• Captured Africans were taken without warning and transported overland, sometimes for weeks, before being incarcerated in slave forts on the West African coast. Millions died from disease or harsh
treatment during the journey.
Captured Africans also had to endure the ‘Middle Passage’, packed into the cramped hold of the slave ships for weeks and suffering abuse
from the ship’s crew.
On arrival in the Caribbean the captured Africans endured the humiliation of being sold as property by auction, before being taken
to a plantation to work.
Captured Africans were mostly used as field hands growing plantation crops, but some also worked clearing forests, building roads and
canals, down mines and as domestic servants.
Captured Africans were deprived of their cultural connections with their homeland. They were given new European-style first names and the surname of the slave owner. They were forbidden to speak in their own language and were not allowed to learn to read or write.
• The life expectancy of captured Africans was dramatically reduced, as many died young from the effects of transportation over land and sea, and the harsh working conditions on the plantations.
Why were the conditions on the ‘Middle passage so difficult?
- Loosely 2. Smelt 3. Traumatised 4. Food or water 5. Treatment 6. Faced 7. Rebel
- Enslaved Africans were either ‘loosely packed’ or ‘tightly packed’ into the overcrowded cargo hold of the slave ship, spending all but a few minutes a day chained into position, for several weeks.
- Conditions in the cargo hold were extremely hot, stuffy and stank of sweat, faeces and vomit.
- The enslaved Africans were traumatised by the sounds of fear and suffering around them. They did not know why they were there or where they were going.
- Enslaved Africans endured sea sickness on most transatlantic voyages.
• There was barely enough food and water to live on. Both the enslaved Africans and the ships’ crew faced thirst and hunger.
- The ships’ crews were often abusive towards the enslaved Africans, dishing out severe punishments to anyone who tried to resist and sexually abusing female Africans.
- Sometimes the enslaved Africans would rebel against the ship’s crew. This usually led to fatalities on both sides.
