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It is disputed whether traders from New England really engaged in a "triangle", and there are good reasons to be skeptical.  Historian Clifford Shipton noted that unlike British ships, "no New England traders are known to have completed a single circuit of that triangle."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xinaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails]</ref>

It is disputed whether traders from New England really engaged in a "triangle", and there are good reasons to be skeptical.  Historian Clifford Shipton noted that unlike British ships, "no New England traders are known to have completed a single circuit of that triangle."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xinaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails]</ref>

Additionally, there was no significant market in Africa for finished goods.  The term "triangular trade" itself was not used contemporaneously with the trade.<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/stable/1918599 The Making of the Triangular Trade Myth], by Gilman M Ostrander - JSTOR</ref>

Additionally, there was no significant market in Africa for finished goods.  The term "triangular trade" itself was not used contemporaneously with the trade.<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/stable/1918599 The Making of the Triangular Trade Myth], by Gilman M Ostrander - JSTOR</ref>  The first usage of the term "triangle trade" has been traced back to George H. Moore in 1866, in his ''Notes on the history of slavery in Massachusetts''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=d8aWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT531 The Slave Trade & Migration]</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/notesonhistory00moorrich Notes on the history of slavery in Massachusetts]</ref>

Another point of controversy is the excessively-sized portrayal for which the United States has been placed throughout historical texts compared to its actual role in the trade.  Independence was not even declared until 1776, yet somehow slave trading that began in the 15th century<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/africa_article_01.shtml Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade]</ref> is routinely aimed solely at the United States instead of the kings who demanded the initiation and continuance of the practice.

Another point of controversy is the excessively-sized portrayal for which the United States has been placed throughout historical texts compared to its actual role in the trade.  Independence was not even declared until 1776, yet somehow slave trading that began in the 15th century<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/africa_article_01.shtml Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade]</ref> is routinely aimed solely at the United States instead of the kings who demanded the initiation and continuance of the practice.