The Slave Trade

    The slave trade officially began in 1517. As slave trading became a huge business, European countries fought for dominance. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the main people trading slaves were the Dutch, French, and English companies. There were also independent traders. The Dutch West India Company and the English Royal African Company hogged the trading relations on the African coast. However, in the struggle England came to dominate trading, and began providing not to only England but other countries too.

    The trading process began at the west coast of Africa. African kings and merchants cooperated and traded slaves for European stuff like guns, whiskey, brandy, cotton textiles, and utensils made out of brass, pewter, and ivory. The trading of European stuff for slaves was known as the “first leg of the triangular trade”.

Getting slaves was not always easy. Africans slaves were even captured by Africans from other tribes. Not all captors went willingly though. When the opportunity came, plenty of slaves tried to escape. Some would even jump into the ocean rather than be taken to the New World. Those that did not escape had to suffer the long trip across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. This was called “the middle passage of the triangular trade”.

The last phase of the triangular trade came around after slaves were delivered to the Americas. When slaves arrived, they were sold to plantations. In exchange for the slaves, traders would get stuff like cotton, tobacco, and sugar, and would go back to Europe with these items. This was the last leg of the triangular trade.

    In early 1800s, many countries began banning the slave trade. In 1803 Denmark stopped the slave trade, In 1807 Great Britain stopped, so did the United States were the first to ban the bringing in of slaves. The Swedish and Dutch stopped bringing in slave afterward Because of “economic interests”; Great Britain put pressure on France, Spain, Portugal, and Brazil to stop using slaves. Portugal and Spain agreed to stop after a cash payment from Britain. Brazil did not agree until people brought war on them action was taken against its coastal areas. France also did not agree to ban trading until 1815, but black market slaves still were around until 1848.

SOURCES