Europe imported goods 2 Africa Africa imported slaves to America then America imported sugar to Europe
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The triangular trade involved three main trade routes: Europe to Africa (guns, cloth, and other goods exchanged for slaves), Africa to the Americas (Africans forcibly transported as slaves), and the Americas to Europe (raw materials like sugar and cotton sent back). This cycle continued with goods and slaves being traded among these regions.
The slave trade was called the triangular trade because it involved three routes: from Europe to Africa to trade goods for slaves, from Africa to the Americas to sell the slaves and buy goods like sugar and tobacco, and then from the Americas back to Europe. This triangular route formed the basis of the trade network.
The Portuguese benefited from the slave trade by acquiring slaves to work on plantations, mines, and households in their colonies, which helped to boost their economy and enrich Portuguese traders and merchants. The slave trade also provided a cheap source of labor that was crucial for the development of their overseas colonies in Africa, Brazil, and other parts of the world. Additionally, the slave trade contributed to the growth of Portuguese ports and cities as key hubs for the trafficking of enslaved people.
The slave trade triangle refers to the historical system of trading enslaved people between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. European ships would transport goods to Africa to trade for enslaved individuals, who were then taken to the Americas to be sold as laborers. The profits from selling enslaved people in the Americas would then be used to buy goods to transport back to Europe, completing the triangular trade route.
African merchants played a role in facilitating the Atlantic slave trade by capturing and selling individuals from rival ethnic groups to European slave traders in exchange for goods like firearms and textiles. This trade was often driven by intertribal conflict and the desire to gain power and resources.
The slave trade increased in the 1500s primarily due to the demand for labor in European colonial territories, especially in the Americas. European powers sought to exploit the resources of newly discovered lands and needed cheap labor to do so, leading to the rise of the transatlantic slave trade.