Final answer:
Molasses was critical to the success of the triangular trade because it was a by-product of sugar production on plantations in the Americas. The molasses produced was shipped to other settlements to be transformed into rum and sold. The trade in molasses sustained various industries and employed many people.
Step-by-step explanation:
One of the key pieces of evidence in the reading that suggests molasses was critical to the success of the triangular trade is the mention of sugar plantations in the Americas. These plantations depended on the labor of enslaved Africans to grow sugar cane, with molasses being a by-product of the sugar production process.
The molasses produced on these plantations was then shipped to other English settlers in Massachusetts, who transformed it into rum and shipped it to England.
Another piece of evidence is the description of how sugar carried the same economic importance as oil does today in the Atlantic World. European rivals fought wars for control of sugar production areas and created sugar plantations in the Americas. The production and trade of sugar were lucrative for European merchants, driving the triangular trade.
Additionally, the reading mentions how the triangular trade sustained numerous industries and employed thousands of people. Shipbuilders, ship captains, sailors, dock workers, and workers in sugar refineries all benefitted from the trade. Molasses played a crucial role in this economic system.