Western Civilization

colonial powers. In the seventeenth century, however,

their European neighbors to the north—first the Dutch

and then the French and English—moved to replace

the Portuguese and Spanish and create their own colo-

nial empires. The new rivals and their rivalry soon had

an impact on much of the rest of the world—in Africa,

Asia, and the Americas.

Africa: The Slave Trade

Although the primary objective of the Portuguese in

sailing around Africa was to find a sea route to the

Spice Islands, they soon discovered that profits could

be made in Africa itself. So did other Europeans.

Traffic in slaves was not new, and at first, the Portu-

guese simply replaced European slaves with African

ones. During the second half of the fifteenth century,

about a thousand slaves were taken to Portugal each

year. Most wound up serving as domestic servants for

affluent families in Europe. But the discovery of the

Americas in the 1490s and the planting of sugarcane in

South America and on the islands of the Caribbean

changed the situation drastically.

Cane sugar had first been introduced to Europeans

from the Middle East during the Crusades. During the

sixteenth century, sugarcane plantations were set up

along the eastern coast of Brazil and on several islands

in the Caribbean. Because the growing of cane sugar

demands both skill and large quantities of labor, the

new plantations required more workers than could be

provided by the small American Indian population in

the New World, which had been decimated by diseases

imported from the Old World. Since the climate and

soil of much of West Africa were not conducive to the

cultivation of sugar, African slaves began to be shipped

to Brazil and the Caribbean to work on the plantations.

The first were sent from Portugal, but in 1518, a Span-

ish ship carried the first boatload of African slaves

directly from Africa to the New World.

GROWTH IN THE SLAVE TRADE During the next two cen-

turies, the trade in slaves grew dramatically and

became part of the triangular trade connecting

Europe, Africa, and the American continents that char-

acterized the new Atlantic economy (see Map 14.2).

Hispaniola

Cape of Good Hope

tobacco

silver sugar, coffee

sugar

Tenochtitlán

(Mexico City)

Porto Bello

Bahia

Ceuta

Mozambique

NEW

SPAIN

PERU

BRAZIL

ANGOLA

CONGO

GOLD COAST

SENEGAMBIA

PORTUGAL SPAIN

FRANCE

ENGLAND HOLLAND

Atlantic

Ocean

Pacific

Ocean

(^) Car
ibbean Sea
Senegal R.
0 1,500 3,000 Miles
0 1,500 3,000 4,500 Kilometers
Independent trading cities
Tordesillas Demarcation Line
Slave trade routes
European slave traders
Goods from Americas
Areas under Spanish control
Areas under Portuguese control
Areas under French control
Areas under English control
Areas under Dutch control
MAP 14.2Triangular Trade
in the Atlantic Economy.As
the trade in slaves grew, it
became a part of the triangular
trade route that characterized
the Atlantic economy, involving
the exchange of goods and
slaves between the western
coast of Europe, the slave
depots on the African coast,
and the ports of North and
South America.
Q What were the
important source
regions for slaves, and
where were most of the
slaves taken?
338 Chapter 14 Europe and the World: New Encounters, 1500–1800
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