Trans-Atlantic Trade

Definition

The Trans-Atlantic Trade refers to the exchange of goods, people (including slaves), and ideas between Europe, Africa, and the Americas from the 15th to 19th centuries.

Analogy

Think of it like a giant game of telephone where instead of whispering messages into each other's ears, countries are passing along goods and people. Just as in a game of telephone, what comes out at the end can be very different from what went in at the beginning.

Related terms

Triangular Trade: This term describes a pattern of colonial commerce where ships would carry slaves from Africa to America, raw materials from America to Europe, and manufactured goods from Europe back to Africa.

Middle Passage: This was the stage of the triangular trade where millions of Africans were shipped to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade.

Columbian Exchange: Named after Christopher Columbus, this term refers to widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations (including slaves), technology and ideas between Americas and Afro-Eurasian hemispheres following his voyage in 1492.