Financing the Industrial Revolution in England

Financing the Industrial Revolution in England

The Atlantic slave trade first began with the Portuguese and was the selling of African slaves by Europeans that occurred in and around the Atlantic Ocean. It lasted from the 15th century to the 19th century. Most slaves were shipped from West Africa and Central Africa and brought over to the New World. Some slaves were captured through raids and kidnapping, although most where obtained through coastal trading by the Europeans. Most contemporary historians estimate that between 9.4 and 12 million Africans arrived in the new world. The slaves were one element of a three-part economic cycle called the Triangular Trade and its Middle Passage.

European colonists initially practiced systems of both bonded labor and Indian slavery, enslaving many of the natives of the New World. For a variety of reasons Africans replaced Indians as the main population of slaves in the Americas. In some cases, such as on some of the Caribbean Islands, disease and warfare eliminated the natives completely. In other cases, such as in South Carolina, Virginia, and New England, the need for alliances with native tribes coupled with the availability of African slaves at affordable prices resulting in a shift away from Indian slavery. It is often falsely claimed that Indians made poor slaves compared to Africans, explaining the shift to using Africans. The reasons had more to do with economics and politics.

The first side of the triangle was the export of goods from Europe to Africa(Churchill, p. 459). A number of African kings and merchants took part in the trading of slaves from 1440 to about 1900. For each captive, the African rulers would receive a variety of goods from Europe. Many of them were confronted with the dilemma of trading with Europe or becoming slaves themselves. The second part of the triangle exported enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to South America, the Caribbean islands, and North America. The third and final part of the triangle was the return of goods to Europe from the Americas. The goods were the products of slave-labor plantations and included cotton, sugar, tobacco, molasses and rum.

Shortage of labor was one of the issues the Atlantic Slave Trade was made to deal with. Native peoples were the first used by Europeans as slaves until African slaves were available in quantity at affordable prices. Other incentives, such as indentured servants also failed to provide a sufficient workforce. Many crops could not be sold for profit or even grown in Europe. It was also cheaper to import many crops and goods from the New World than from regions in Europe. Huge amounts of labor were needed for the plantations in the intensive growing, harvesting and processing of these crops. Western Africa and later Central Africa became the new source for slaves to fill all the labor needs. The basic reason for the constant shortage of labor was that, with large amounts of cheap land available and lots of landowners searching for workers, free ...