Africa, Europe and the Americas in the system of the slave trade

In the life of the fifteenth century, slavery was still an important element, especially in the Iberian Peninsula and in Italy, with slaves arriving not only from Africa but also from Eastern Europe. Many were domestic servants, and this served as a model when the colonization and exploitation of the New World began. As the great demand for labor grew, one of the first forms of large-scale trade developed: a triangular system in which European goods were exchanged in Africa for slaves, who were then taken to the New World and forced to produce the raw materials that were reimported into Europe.

The trade generated immense profits, to the point of financing the entire structure of Western capitalism. Even though some of the countries that had benefited the most tried to withdraw from it, it continued until the early nineteenth century. The trade had severe effects on populations and on the import and export systems of the areas involved, and it constituted one of the largest forced migrations in history. It was an atrocity on an immense scale, the consequences of which are still not fully acknowledged.

The journey across the Atlantic constituted the intermediate stage of a triangular route and for this reason was called "the Middle Passage". The slaves, most of whom had never seen the sea, were put in chains and packed tightly one on top of another, confined in unspeakable conditions for 6-8 weeks, even up to 13 if the weather was bad. Disease, murder and suicide were rampant; 10% of them died during the voyage.

WORKERS FOR THE NEW WORLD 1500-1866

Europe turned to Africa in search of a robust labor force for the mines and plantations of the New World colonies. Slave traders forcibly captured thousands of men, women and children and compelled them to march to fortified centers on the coast, before embarking them on ships bound for the Americas.

SIX IMPERIAL SYSTEMS 1672-1750

In 1672, six European empires (British, Dutch, Danish, French, Spanish and Portuguese) used the trade to meet the demand for labor in mines and plantations. In the Atlantic, this developed a typical triangular pattern: goods from Europe to Africa, slaves from Africa to the Americas, goods from the Americas to Europe.