The Triangular Trade and Middle Passage
The Triangular Trade and Middle Passage is a Grade 5 history skill from Pengi Social Studies. Students learn about the system of transatlantic trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, including the brutal Middle Passage in which enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic in horrific conditions.
Key Concepts
The labor demands of the plantation system drove the growth of slavery. This was fueled by the Triangular Trade , a three part commercial network connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
The most horrific leg of this journey was known as the Middle Passage . Millions of enslaved Africans were packed into the cargo holds of ships in filthy, crowded conditions.
Disease and brutality were common, and many did not survive the voyage across the Atlantic. Those who did arrive were sold at auctions into a life of permanent bondage.
Common Questions
What was the Triangular Trade?
The Triangular Trade was a system of trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Europeans traded manufactured goods to Africa for enslaved people, who were transported to the Americas to work on plantations.
What was the Middle Passage?
The Middle Passage was the brutal sea journey in which enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas under horrific conditions.
What goods were traded in the Triangular Trade?
Europeans sent manufactured goods and weapons to Africa; enslaved Africans were sent to the Americas; and the Americas sent raw materials and plantation crops back to Europe.
How did the Middle Passage affect enslaved people?
Conditions on slave ships were inhumane. Enslaved people were packed in extremely tight spaces, and millions died from disease, starvation, or violence during the voyage.
What grade covers the Triangular Trade and Middle Passage?
This is a Grade 5 social studies history topic.