What Is A Triangle Trade?

Triangle trade is a term which is used to refer to the 18th century trading between three countries i.e. New England, Africa and South America. There were various commodities involved in this trade, but the main focus was on slaves, sugar and Rum. North America was benefited the most by this trade, as it brought about a lot of wealth which went on to become the foundation of America's capitalism.

The term was also used to refer to the trade pattern which came into existence after the American revolutionary war. This involved the trading of commodities like fish, lumber, fur, sugar and various other commodities between those involved in the war.
This pattern existed throughout the 19th century and was also present in some format through the 20th century, before being disrupted by the World War II.

Triangle trade or the triangular trade as it was also known, happened between Europe, Africa and America. Ships with a cargo of manufactured goods sailed to Africa's West Coast. There they traded the goods for African slaves and other commodities. The slaves were then taken to the Caribbean islands or to America and sold as cheap farm labor for the plantations. Most of these plantations produced cotton, rice, tobacco and sugar, all of which require a lot of labor. The third leg of the journey took the ships back to Britain or some other European country, laden with the produce from the plantations. This trade route formed a triangle.

This triangular trade was considered legal up until the 1850s. Legislation in Britain and the civil war in America put a stop to it.