triangular trade

American  

[trahy-ang-gyuh-ler treyd] / traɪˈæŋ gyə lər ˈtreɪd /

noun

1. a pattern of colonial commerce connecting three regions and crossing the Atlantic Ocean, specifically the transporting of enslaved Africans to the Americas, cotton and other raw materials from the Americas to Europe, and textiles and other manufactured goods from Europe to West Africa, or a similar repeating trade pattern transporting enslaved Africans to the West Indies and sugar or molasses from the West Indies to New England to be manufactured into rum, with liquor subsequently shipped and sold in West Africa.

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Etymology

Origin of triangular trade

First recorded in 1885–90 in the sense of ordinary commercial trade, not involving enslaved Africans; the current sense was first recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

The Middle Passage was the portion of the triangular trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas, where kidnapped Africans were taken to the Americas for sale to be enslaved.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2024

Europeans did not introduce slavery to Africa; it had existed there for centuries before the triangular trade began.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

Landlocked Switzerland was never a colonial power but its banks, traders and municipalities invested heavily and benefited from the transatlantic triangular trade, the report said.

From Reuters • Oct. 3, 2022

The city of Liverpool played a key role in the triangular trade and many of its streets, place names and other features are named after figures with links to trade.

From BBC • Jun. 24, 2022

By using the word new, Farmer was playing on the term triangular trade, the trade that had created the French slave colony that eventually became Haiti.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French