Triangular trade

The term Atlantic triangular trade refers to an explanatory model for the driven across the Atlantic trade in goods between Europe, Africa and America in the early modern period. The beginning of the triangular trade was about 1680, 1807, he ended by prohibition of the English slave trade. Slavery was still allowed and was officially practiced in various countries in America, to Brazil in 1888 as the last American state with the Lei Aurea also forbade it.

One

Ideally, the model of three stations of the trade goes out, which formed a closed chain:

From Europe drove ( in October) loaded with firearms, steel and bronze ingots, coarse cloth, glass beads and manufactured goods ships to the West African coast ( coast section between today's Cameroon and Liberia ), where the cargo was exchanged for slaves. The slaves were bought at slave markets from local merchants.

Then (from about the beginning of December ), the ships headed for the Caribbean, where were acquired from the proceeds of slave agricultural products such as crude cane sugar, rum and molasses, and cotton.

From April, the ships sailed mostly loaded with sugar products in their home ports back to sell the cargo on the European market at a profit. The ships arrived at home in Europe early summer.

At the trade Portuguese, French, Dutch, German and English trading companies were involved, but especially the English Royal African Company, which sold the various colonies slaves. The Brandenburg- African Company was actively involved in the slave trade. Such journeys in the triangular trade lasted ( depending on the area ) up to over 500 days. As an example of the different duration of the slave ships may be made to the Leusden, a ship of the Dutch West India Company.

In fact, only about two- thirds of Europe's Africa trips ran from the triangular trade. Before 1700 gold and slaves was not the most important African export commodity, which, however, was brought to Europe.