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The Effect of the Tranatlanitc Slave Trade on the Industrial Revolution

Topics: Atlantic slave trade, Slavery, Industrial Revolution Pages: 4 (1329 words) Published: October 11, 2009
The Transatlantic/ Triangular slave trade played a key role in the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. If not for the slave trade, the Industrial revolution might have been delayed or never taken place. During the 18th century, Britain experienced huge industrial development. Due to this development, Britain became one of the wealthiest countries in the world. In this time period Britain was involved with the slave trade more than any other European country. Many people in Britain became wealthy from the slave trade. Some of these people invested their money into industry which helped fuel the industrial revolution.

The Transatlantic slave trade lasted for more than 3.5 centuries. It is estimated that around 12 million African men women and children were forced to leave Africa. Some consider this time period to be one of the most brutal and horrific in human history. Due to the slave trade, foundations for modern capitalism were laid out. Even though many Africans suffered and died through these horrible times. People in Europe and the Americas have generated large amounts of wealth. Well countries in Europe and the Americas benefited from the trade, Africa was devastated by it. Africa’s population suffered a large loss. This weakened the African societies since all the able-bodied workers were taken.

By the mid 15th century the Portuguese started to sail down the west coast of Africa. There original intention for going there was for gold and exotic spices. Eventually African men women and children became their primary cargo. For the first 100 years of the trade, slaves were transported in small numbers to Europe. By the end of the 15th century the number of slaves transported increased dramatically. It increased so much that 10% of Lisbon, Portugal’s population was African. At this time Lisbon was one of the biggest cities in Europe. Towards the end of the 15th century, Portugal started to develop sugar plantations. Since these...
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