Triangular trade

Triangular trade refers to three-way navigation routes that emerged during the seventeenth century. Ships carried people and cargoes of raw materials, finished goods, and livestock. One common route began on the western coast of Africa, where ships picked up African slaves. Arriving in the Caribbean islands (British and French West Indies), ship captains sold the slaves and purchased sugar, molasses, tobacco, and coffee. The ships then sailed to New England, where traders sold the cargo and bought liquor to take to Africa, where the process started again. Other routes involved delivering finished goods to the American colonies, returning to southern Europe with lumber, cotton, and meat, and then delivering wine and fruit from southern Europe to England.