The Triangular Slave Trade
History: KS3, topic 9.1.2
Triangular Trade
Britain’s colonies were at the centre of the slave trade. This made Britain very wealthy.
Africa
- In Africa (mostly West Africa but occasionally Central Africa), slaves were people who were captured, sold to a person in return for goods such as guns, and forced to work perpetually for that person as part of their personal property.
- In the 18th century, a slave was worth £3 in goods.
- Slaves were chained together and taken to the coast. They then lived in a prison, called a ‘factory’.
The Middle Passage
- The Middle Passage was the journey across the Atlantic. It connected Africa to the Americas.
- Slaves were sold in North America and the West Indies.
- In the 18th century, a slave was sold for £20 (£17 more than what they were bought for in Africa).
Sugar
- Increasing demand for sugar in Britain meant increasing amounts of sugar needed to be produced in the Caribbean.
- The slaves worked on sugar plantations. This was hard and time-consuming work.
- In return for the slaves, sugar and rum would return to Britain from the colonies to be sold at a profit.
Triangular trade route
Test yourself on The Triangular Slave Trade
How much was a slave worth in Africa in the 18th century?