::I wish it were that easy to finger "the bad guys". European governments sanctioned the trade by naval enforcement of trade routes and legal systems to settle commercial disputes; the actual trade was between far flung colonial merchants. The manufactured goods, produced by private entities in, say, Great Britain, were distributed and sold to European colonialists in Africa who facilitated the procurement of slaves (often under local, tribal law and customs); the slaves off-loaded in the Americas then were often sold for tobacco, rum, later cotton and other raw materials. Much of the tobacco and rum ended up back in Africa for purchase of more slaves. [[User:RobSmith|RobS]]<sup>[[User talk:RobSmith|''Deep Six the Deep State!'']]</sup> 22:28, 3 August 2019 (EDT) | ::I wish it were that easy to finger "the bad guys". European governments sanctioned the trade by naval enforcement of trade routes and legal systems to settle commercial disputes; the actual trade was between far flung colonial merchants. The manufactured goods, produced by private entities in, say, Great Britain, were distributed and sold to European colonialists in Africa who facilitated the procurement of slaves (often under local, tribal law and customs); the slaves off-loaded in the Americas then were often sold for tobacco, rum, later cotton and other raw materials. Much of the tobacco and rum ended up back in Africa for purchase of more slaves. [[User:RobSmith|RobS]]<sup>[[User talk:RobSmith|''Deep Six the Deep State!'']]</sup> 22:28, 3 August 2019 (EDT) |