Question

how were colonial merchants in british america involved in the atlantic economy, and what was the role of the slave trade in that economy?

Answer 1

The Atlantic slave trade, which lasted from the late 16th to early 19th centuries involved European countries such as Britain, Spain and France which all had colonies in the Americas and Africa. The ships were carrying slaves, crops and manufactured goods between West Africa, the Caribbean and American colonies and the colonial powers in Europe. The use of African slaves was very important to growing colonial cash crops, which were exported to Europe. European goods, in turn, were used to buy African slaves, which were then brought west from Africa to the Americas to work on the crops. The middle passage of the triangular trade refers to the transportation of the slaves to America. The Atlantic economy was tied into the idea of mercantilism, which involved European countries to have a lot of colonies that traded only among themselves. Goods that were traded in the Atlantic economy were rum, slaves, sugar, tobacco, gold, spices, fish, lumber and manufactured goods.

Answer 2

Explanation: Colonial merchants became involved in British America through triangular commerce, that is, they bought slaves and brought them to America and they brought back American raw material such as tobacco, cotton and sugar back to England and then sold products or merchandise in Africa to buy slaves again. This became a broad commercial network that only benefited colonial merchants, as well as the owners of large plantations in America. The most affected were the slaves who were only seen as merchandise.