| | Finally, College Board exams may ask about the "triangular trade" that supposedly dominated from 1640-1720. At the time no one called it a triangle, but some historians have used the image of triangle to show trade routs from West Africa to the New World America (the West Indies or the colonies), from there to Europe (England or continental Europe), and from there back to West Africa. The harshest part of this route was the taking of slaves, bound in chains from West Africa to the New World. After the slaves disembarked, the New World would load goods onto the ships (such as raw molasses if the West Indies, or tobacco if Virginia) for transport to Europe. But what doesn't make sense about this theory is the following: what would Europe send on the ships back to Africa? Nothing comes to mind, and not a single instance of an actual triangle route has ever been found. Perhaps finished product, like rum from the molasses, would be loaded onto the ships, but its intended destination would be the colonies, not Africa. | | Finally, College Board exams may ask about the "triangular trade" that supposedly dominated from 1640-1720. At the time no one called it a triangle, but some historians have used the image of triangle to show trade routs from West Africa to the New World America (the West Indies or the colonies), from there to Europe (England or continental Europe), and from there back to West Africa. The harshest part of this route was the taking of slaves, bound in chains from West Africa to the New World. After the slaves disembarked, the New World would load goods onto the ships (such as raw molasses if the West Indies, or tobacco if Virginia) for transport to Europe. But what doesn't make sense about this theory is the following: what would Europe send on the ships back to Africa? Nothing comes to mind, and not a single instance of an actual triangle route has ever been found. Perhaps finished product, like rum from the molasses, would be loaded onto the ships, but its intended destination would be the colonies, not Africa. |