The structure of the Transatlantic Slave Trade | History

Starter quiz

Which of the following countries had started building large empires across the Americas in the early 1500s?
- Spain ✓
- France
- Portugal ✓
- Italy
When the Portuguese began colonising the Americas, who was first used to work on the plantations?
- mostly indigenous people ✓
- mostly enslaved people from West Africa
- only European labourers
Which of the following are examples of goods Europeans would take to West Africa to trade for gold from the 1400s?
- horses ✓
- enslaved people
- guns ✓
Which of the following is the best definition of chattel slavery?
- when people become legal property for a set period of time
- when people become legal property and cannot be freed without permission ✓
- when people become sign a contract to work for a given period
Which of the following is an example of a smaller kingdom along the coast of West Africa in the late 1500s?
- Songahy
- Kaabu ✓
- Mali
- Benin
Which of the following explains why the Kingdom of Benin was different to some other kingdoms in West Africa, after the arrival of Portuguese merchants?
- they were the only kingdom to collapse
- they continued to thrive through peaceful relationships with the Portuguese ✓
- they became rich from trading enslaved people

Which of the following are examples of goods grown on plantations in the Americas?
- tobacco ✓
- cloth
- sugar ✓
- cotton ✓
Who was forcefully taken from the West African coast to be sold onto plantations in the Americas?
- 'Enslaved people' ✓
Match the words with the correct definitions.
- colonies
  
  ⇔
  
  areas under the control of another country ✓
- indigenous
  
  ⇔
  
  the original inhabitants of a specific area ✓
- manufactured
  
  ⇔
  
  items produced by a machine ✓
- plantations
  
  ⇔
  
  land on which crops were grown usually with forced labour ✓
- Middle Passage
  
  ⇔
  
  voyage of enslaved African people across the Atlantic ✓
How many rebellions on slave ships have been documented?
- '500' ✓
Plantations in the Americas grew many valuable crops, like sugar and cotton. These goods were taken to be sold in which continent?
- 'Europe' ✓
At first, the trading of enslaved people was limited and took place on the terms of local African rulers. This began to change as...
- fewer people were being traded
- many more people were being kidnapped and enslaved by European traders ✓
- Europeans only sold prisoners of war into slavery

The Triangular trade was the system of trade across the Atlantic.
Manufactured goods were transported from Europe to be traded in West Africa.
Enslaved people were transported across the Atlantic and forced to work on plantations.
Crops like tobacco, sugar and cotton would be grown by enslaved people on plantations and then sold in Europe.
As slavery had existed across Africa, European traders used this to take enslaved people to their colonies in America.

The triangular trade was a simple trading route with three main points.

The triangular trade was a complex system of trade, that is often simplified to help us better understand it.

Colonies - colonies are countries or areas under the control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country
Indigenous - indigenous people are the original inhabitants of a specific area
Manufactured - manufactured items are items produced by a machine
Plantations - plantations are areas of land on which certain crops were grown using forced labour
Middle passage - the forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas became known as the Middle Passage