The Triangular Trade

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Slavery originated in the Americas through the so-called “triangular trade,” the name given to the transatlantic trade that took place between Africa, Europe, and the New World. Europeans brought cloth, arms, and metals to Africa, selling or trading them for captives, who were then shipped as “live goods” from West African ports to North and South America. Many slaves worked on American plantations growing sugar cane, rice, cotton, and tobacco, valuable commodities for which there was always a demand in Europe.