Produce from their overseas colonies was in great demand in European countries. To grow crops such as sugar, cotton, coffee and tobacco, the European colonists needed people to work on plantations. They got them from Africa. Captive Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas in their millions. This was the slave trade.

Sugar was popular in Europe, because it could be used to sweeten the new drinks that were also arriving from overseas colonies—coffee, tea and cocoa. Spanish colonists in the Caribbean quickly discovered that sugar cane grew well in the hot, wet climate of the islands. In the early 1500s the first captives were brought in from Africa to work as slaves on the plantations. The trickle soon turned to a flood, as millions of people were transported across the Atlantic Ocean. Many died on the journey from the terrible conditions on board ship.

Triangular trade

The slave trade between Africa and America is known as the “triangular trade” because it was made up of three stages. Ships sailed to Africa from Europe loaded with goods, such as guns, to exchange for slaves.

Ending the slave trade

By the late 18th century, European people started to question the slave trade. New laws came in to restrict slavery. In 1778, Virginia became the first state in the US to stop the import of slaves for sale. Britain banned the slave trade in 1807, although slavery itself was not abolished until 1833. The US Congress outlawed the import of slaves in 1808. Slavery in the US was not abolished until 1865, following the Civil War, which was fought over the issue.