World History

By the 1690s, the English had surpassed the Dutch as the leading trader in slaves.

The Eighteenth Century would not rely totally on speculation for its economic advances. Improvements in steam technology and coal production meant that ever larger factories were producing better quality goods at cheaper prices. Placing the products of this industrial revolution into the slave ships heading towards West Africa would only increase the profits of the merchants by providing a viable means for paying for the human cargoes. These slaves would then be taken to the Caribbean or South America to be exchanged for sugar which could then be sold back in Britain for yet further profit.

European success in the Americas also increased the demand for slaves as more and more Caribbean islands were turned into sugar plantations, or as American colonists began planting cotton in the Southern Colonies or for expanding Portuguese and Dutch plantations in South America. The circle became insatiable as more and more slaves were brought across to make more and more products for sale back in Europe to make more money to reinvest in the slave trade.