Human Cultures Portfolio 9

URL: https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-us-history-textbook/slavery-freedom-and-the-struggle-for-empire1750-1763-5/slavery-in-the-colonies-55/the-triangular-trade-3379653/
Title: Triangle Trade
Source/Author: Boundless U.S. History
Date: July 21, 2015
This article Triangle Trade was about the three-sided system of
exchange that started in the 1500s. The triangle trade took place across the
Atlantic Ocean. The three countries that were involved in the triangle trade
were Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The three main commodities that
were exchanged across the Atlantic were manufactured goods, raw
materials, and slaves. The Americas were responsible for the production and
trade of raw materials such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton. The Americas
were also involved in the fur trade. They shipped these commodities to
Europe. Europe was responsible for the export of textiles, rum, and
manufactured goods to Africa. Africa was the main source of labor to the
Americas. They sent slaves from West Africa to the Americas to work on the
plantations. The main product that the Americas made was sugar. Sugar
used to be a luxury item; however, after the triangle trade started it became
a key component of the European diet. The slaves were shipped to the
Americas to work on the large cotton, sugar, and tobacco plantations
because the local populations in the Americas were decimated by the terrible
condition of forced labor. Slaves were shipped to the Americas in large
numbers. Many slave ships to the Americas contained as many as 400 slaves
with very little personal space on the ship over. These slaves were treated
terribly and died very young due to the terrible treatment on the plantations.
The article stated that the triangle trade ended due to the American
Revolution, the Abolition of Slavery, and the invention of steam powered
ships. Slavery officially ended in the 1880s.
I found this article to be very interesting due to my interest in
American history. I think it is very interesting that these countries interacted
and relied on each other such a long time ago for their necessities. I believe
their system of trade was very effective. Each country specialized in a task
and production of certain commodities and then they used the extensive
trade network to get their necessities. I also find slavery as an interesting
topic. I think it is unbelievable that people were actually treated like that and
forced out of their hometowns to be shipped to other places where they were
exploited for labor.
This article relates to what we talked about in class because we talked
about the triangle trade in class. We defined it as the extensive exchange of
slaves, sugar, cotton, and furs between the Americas, Europe, and Africa that

transformed economic, political, and social life on both sides of the Atlantic.
In class, we stated what commodities were exchanged between the different
countries and we watched a crash course video on the slave trade. The
article touched on the slave trade and the terrible treatment of slaves. The
article stated that the average life of slaves is twenty-three years. In class we
stated that some slaves in certain locations had it better than other slaves.
We said that slaves in the United States had a longer life expectancy
because owners decided to treat them better so they would live longer so
that they could reproduce on their own. This benefited the owners so that
they did not have to pay for more slaves.