In 1492 after the discovery of new World by Christopher Columbus, when he was sailing

westward across the Atlantic Ocean where he arrived in Caribbean Islands like Cuba, S.
Domingo which found between North America and South America, Followed by Spanish
soldiers and adventurers, their intention was not trade, but loot; not peace but war, not
partnership but enslavement1. Soon after the discovery of the new World Christopher Columbus,
and his men, discovered the fertile land suitable for plantation and other activities. Later on
Spanish and other European merchants arrived in new World to engage into opening of large
plantation. Red Indies were the first source of labour in America, their failure to fulfil the interest
of merchants led the plantation owners to look for labourers which probably came direct from

African parts.

The Atlantic slave trade began shortly after the arrival of the Spanish and Portuguese in the
Americas. The transatlantic leg of the African slave trade most likely began with a Portuguese
slaving voyage from Africa to the Americas in 1526. The earliest efforts were copied and
accelerated by later Portuguese, British, French, and Dutch voyages. All told, approximately 12.5
million Africans were taken from the coast of Africa to the Americas, though about 2.5 million of
those died during the voyage. The sheer volume and violence of the trade sets it apart from the

types of slavery that existed earlier in history2.The triangular slave trade involved three
continents which were Africa, Europe and America, and the trade conducted across Atlantic
Ocean, The main trade item were slaves shipped from Africa especially Western parts towards
America to engage in production in large plantation like sugar plantation, cotton, tea , and cocoa,
then raw materials exported in Europe for manufacturing purposes then imported back to Africa
as final product. In this case Africa turned as a source of labour, and the damping place of
European manufactured goods. The Spanish carried their first cargo of captives direct from West
Africa to West Indies. After that, throughout the sixteenth century, the slave trade grew rapidly 3.

The following bellow showing the sketch map of contact between Africa, America and Europe
during triangular slave trade.

1
Basil Davidson, History of West Africa 1000-1800, (London; Longman,1965) p199
2
Inikory At al ,The Atlantic Slave Trade; Effects on Economies, Society, and Peoples in Africa Americas, and Europe,
(Duke,1992)p136-137
3
Basil Davidson, A History of West Africa 1000-1800,(London;Longman,1965) p 201
The trans-Atlantic slave trade occurred within a broader system of trade between West and
Central Africa, Western Europe, and North and South America. In African ports, European
traders exchanged metals, cloth, beads, guns, and ammunition for captive Africans brought to the
coast from the African interior, primarily by African traders. Many captives died just during the
long overland journeys from the interior to the coast. European traders then held the enslaved
Africans who survived in fortified slave castles such as Elmina in the central region (now
Ghana), Goree Island (now in present day Senegal), and Bunce Island (now in present day Sierra
Leone), before forcing them into ships for the Middle passage across the Atlantic Ocean4.

There were forces behind the emergence of triangular slave trade as shown below.

4
James A. Rawley, The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade,(US; Nebraska, Lincoln and London, 2005) p 244