What was the primary economic driver behind the start of the Transatlantic Slave Trade?
The demand for a large, cheap labor force to work on plantations in the Americas, particularly for cultivating cash crops like sugar, tobacco, and cotton.
What is the definition of chattel slavery?
A system where an enslaved person is the legal property (chattel) of their owner and can be bought and sold. This status was inheritable, passed from a mother to her children.
Describe the first leg of the Triangular Trade route.
Ships departed from European ports (like Liverpool, Bristol, or Nantes) carrying manufactured goods such as cloth, guns, ironware, and alcohol to the coast of West Africa.
Describe the second leg of the Triangular Trade, also known as the Middle Passage.
European ships transported captive Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas to be sold into slavery. This was the most brutal and deadly part of the journey.
Describe the third and final leg of the Triangular Trade.
Ships returned to Europe from the Americas loaded with the raw materials and products produced by enslaved labor, such as sugar, cotton, tobacco, and rum.
What goods were exchanged for captive Africans on the West African coast?
European manufactured goods, primarily firearms, gunpowder, textiles, iron bars, and alcohol. These goods were traded with African leaders and merchants who participated in the trade.
Which European nations were the most active participants in the Transatlantic Slave Trade?
Portugal and Spain were pioneers, but Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands later became dominant forces in the trade.
How was the slave trade justified by Europeans at the time?
It was justified through a combination of economic greed and the development of racist ideologies that dehumanized Africans, claiming they were biologically and culturally inferior.
What three main regions formed the points of the 'Triangular Trade'?
Europe, the west coast of Africa, and the Americas (including the Caribbean and North and South America).
