Essential Question
How did the Triangle Trade create wealth for some while causing suffering for others?
Use This Unit for Your Capstone!
This unit helps you answer both capstone questions:
Question 1: What revolutionary ideas did America create?
Look for: Mercantilism and economic promises - wealth through trade. But who got the wealth?
Why it matters: Economic independence was a stepping stone to political independence. Understanding who benefited economically helps explain who had power.
Question 2: Who fought to claim these ideals?
Look for: Who benefited vs. who suffered from the Triangle Trade. Notice the contradiction: building wealth on slavery while claiming "all men are created equal."
Why it matters: Enslaved people would later use American ideals (especially the Declaration) to fight against slavery. They believed in the ideals even when excluded from them.
Key Concepts
The Big Idea: The Triangle Trade was a system of trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas that generated enormous wealth for European merchants and American plantation owners, but caused immense suffering and death for millions of enslaved Africans. This economic system was fundamental to the colonial economy.
Major Themes
- Three-Way Trade System: Europe, Africa, and the Americas were connected by trade routes
- Economic Exploitation: The system enriched some while devastating others
- The Middle Passage: The horrific journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic
- Mercantilism: Economic system where colonies existed to benefit the mother country
- Human Cost: Millions of people were kidnapped, enslaved, and died during this trade
Essential Vocabulary
Click each card to see the definition
The Three Parts of the Triangle Trade
Leg 1: Europe to Africa
What was traded: Manufactured goods from Europe
- Guns, gunpowder, weapons
- Cloth and textiles
- Rum and alcohol
- Tools and metal goods
Purpose: European merchants traded these goods with African traders in exchange for enslaved people
Leg 2: Africa to the Americas (The Middle Passage)
What was traded: Enslaved Africans
- Millions of Africans were kidnapped or captured in wars
- Forced onto ships in horrific conditions
- Chained together in cargo holds with little space, food, or water
- Many died from disease, starvation, or suicide during the journey
- Those who survived were sold as property in the Americas
The Human Cost: This was the most brutal leg of the journey. Approximately 12-15 million Africans were forced into slavery, and about 2 million died during the Middle Passage.
Leg 3: Americas to Europe
What was traded: Raw materials and cash crops
- Sugar (Caribbean)
- Tobacco (Virginia, Maryland)
- Cotton (later, in Southern states)
- Rice and indigo (South Carolina)
- Molasses and rum
Purpose: These products were grown on plantations using enslaved labor and shipped to Europe for profit
Who Benefited? Who Suffered?
Who Gained Wealth:
- European Merchants and Ship Owners Made enormous profits from all three legs of trade
- Colonial Plantation Owners Became wealthy from cash crops grown with enslaved labor
- African Traders Some African leaders and traders profited by selling captives to Europeans
- European Nations Built wealth and power through mercantilism and colonial trade
Who Suffered:
- Enslaved Africans Kidnapped from homes, families torn apart, forced into brutal labor, treated as property, denied all rights and freedom
- African Communities Lost millions of people; wars increased as groups captured each other for the slave trade; societies disrupted
- Indigenous Peoples Displaced and killed as plantations expanded; some were also enslaved
The Middle Passage: Understanding the Horror
Conditions on Slave Ships:
- Enslaved people were chained and packed tightly in cargo holds
- No room to stand or move; lying in rows inches apart
- Little food or water; terrible sanitation
- Disease spread rapidly (dysentery, smallpox)
- Journey lasted 6-8 weeks or longer
- Many died and were thrown overboard
- Some jumped overboard to escape the horror
Arrival in the Americas:
- Survivors were sold at auctions like property
- Families were separated and sold to different owners
- Forced to work on plantations with no freedom or rights
- Enslavement was for life and passed to children
Connection to Mercantilism
The Triangle Trade was part of the larger economic system of mercantilism:
- Colonies existed to make the mother country (Britain) wealthy
- Colonies provided cheap raw materials
- Colonies bought expensive manufactured goods from the mother country
- This system benefited Britain but restricted colonial economic freedom
- Later, colonists would resent these economic restrictions (contributing to the Revolution)
Videos & Resources
Review these materials from class:
📁 Class Slides & Resources
Access all slides, handouts, and materials from this unit:
Open Unit 2 Google Drive Folder →Note: Requires Edmonds School District account to access
Reflection Questions
Use these to help you prepare your capstone answer:
- How did each leg of the Triangle Trade connect to the others?
- Who made money from this system? How?
- What was the experience of enslaved Africans during the Middle Passage?
- How did the Triangle Trade make colonial plantations possible?
- What does it mean that entire economies were built on slavery?
- How does this trade system connect to the development of colonial societies (Unit 1)?
- Why is it important to remember this history, even though it's painful?
Check Your Notes & Assignments
To gather more evidence for your capstone, look back at:
- Your Triangle Trade simulation notes and role
- Triangle Trade map activity
- Notes on mercantilism
- Group work on trade routes
- Any readings or primary sources about the Middle Passage
For Your Capstone Project
Evidence from This Unit:
For Question 1 (Revolutionary Ideals):
- Mercantilism: Promised prosperity through trade - but raised questions about economic freedom
- Economic independence: Was a stepping stone to political independence
- Colonial economies: Showed early tensions between wealth creation and human rights
For Question 2 (Struggle for Inclusion):
- Who benefited: European merchants, colonial plantation owners - became wealthy from enslaved labor
- Who suffered: Enslaved Africans - kidnapped from homes, endured Middle Passage, forced into brutal labor
- The contradiction: Building wealth on slavery while claiming "all men are created equal"
- Key point: Enslaved people would use American ideals (especially the Declaration) to fight for freedom - they believed in those ideals even when excluded from them
- African communities: Lost millions of people; societies disrupted by the trade