Triangular Trade?

Question

Did Virginia planters buy slaves and ship cotten to Europe in exchange? Also, did the West Indies exchange tobacco for slaves?

Answer 1

Not quite - - - - the main points of American Triangular Trade went along these lines - - - British Manufactured Goods went to Africa where they were sold/traded for Slaves. These Slaves were taken to the Caribbean and American Colonies. In the Colonies Tobacco was the Main item, cotton was not a viable product until after 1800 and the invention of the cotton gin. Sugar from the Caribbean was also a big trade item as was Indigo and by 1760, Rice.

These 'raw' materials were then shipped to England. Virginian and then Carolinian and Georgian Plantation owners lived on credit, they were the first of an American Tradition of living on funds borrowed against future assets and liable to upsets.

Right around 1750 a new wrinkle appeard in the triangular trade. Unlike their Southern neighbors the New Englanders were an industrious bunch. They were soon purchasing sugar from the Carribbean and turning it into molasses & rum which was then shipped/sold to England in turn financing the purchase of slaves...

This web site is a bit more leanred than I so here it be...
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/freedom/viewTheme.cfm/theme/triangular

""" triangle of money
The profits made from the global trade of sugar, tea and coffee were the major driving force behind the triangular trade. For centuries it provided substantial quantities of venture capital for the industrial revolution and the development of the western European economy.

The trade involved a number of prominent people at the time. For example, Sir Robert Rich (later the Earl of Warwick) owned plantations in Virginia.

Rich was one of the founders of the London-based company of Adventurers to Guinea and Benin. The company was established to trade with West Africa and supply enslaved Africans to the Americas. Charles I granted a licence to a group of London merchants in 1632 for the transportation of enslaved people from West Africa.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade consisted of three journeys:
The outward passage from Europe to Africa carrying manufactured goods.
The middle passage from Africa to the Americas or the Caribbean carrying African captives and other 'commodities’.
The homeward passage carrying sugar, tobacco, rum, rice, cotton and other goods back to Europe.
By the 1790s there were 480,000 enslaved people in British Caribbean colonies. It is estimated that 11-12 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic into slavery. Many more had died during capture and transportation.
In the first third of the 18th century, Britain’s involvement in the slave trade grew enormously. During the 1720s nearly 200,000 enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic in British ships.
The middle passage across the Atlantic was brutal. Enslaved Africans were packed into tight spaces and given barely enough food and water to stay alive.
It is estimated that on average 10% died en route rising to 30% on a bad voyage. European sailors who crewed the ships also stood a high chance of not returning due to sickness during the voyage.
One of the most graphic and well-known images connected with the slave trade is the plan of the Brookes. This shows how overcrowded a slave ship could be and yet still remain within the legally permitted capacity.
Sailors who did return brought back tales of what they had seen during their voyages. However, only a few spoke about it publicly for fear of being refused further work by the powerful merchants, ship owners and captains engaged in the trade.
It was a very profitable business often making a high rate of return on investment, as account books from the period show. Powerful trading interests tried to prevent any regulation or abolition of the slave trade using a fierce campaign of misinformation, lies and delaying tactics.
Slave in chains. Repro ID E9148
In order to expose the truth publicly about the triangular trade it was necessary to show conditions on the ships and plantations.
To counter the historical European notion that African people were 'little more than savages’, African and British abolitionists worked tirelessly to demonstrate the truth.
They showed objects illustrating the great cruelty and suffering caused by the trade.
They revealed images showing the degrading treatment of enslaved people.
They also displayed the sophisticated African artefacts.
These items shocked the British public, and educated them about Africa, plantation life and enslavement."""

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Answer 2

The main problem in all cargo ships is that sailing "empty" means a loss of money. The "triangle" route meant that the ships carried cargo (cotton/tobacco, trade goods and people) on each leg of the trip. This was not extremely profitable (as compared to sailing on the Tea route or Spice routemonopolized by the "Indianmen" and "Clippers") but was OK for the slower and smaller ships