17th–18th centuriesReputable sourceWell documented
The Atlantic Slave Trade
On the timeline · around 17th–18th centuries ·
What happened
Britain became the largest slave-trading power on earth. In a 'triangular trade,' British ships carried manufactured goods to West Africa, then transported millions of enslaved Africans across the ocean in the horrific Middle Passage to labour and die on the plantations of the Caribbean and North America, returning to Britain laden with sugar, tobacco, and rum.
Why it matters
The transatlantic slave trade was one of history's greatest crimes and a foundation of Britain's imperial economy. It enriched British ports and planters while devastating Africa and building the plantation societies of the Americas.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. African Slave Life in Colonial British America · Reputable source
Related timelines
- The American Civil War → — The plantation slavery that would one day tear America apart