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By the mid 1600s, Britain had established colonies in North America and the Caribbean:

• Virginia, 1607
• Barbados, 1625
• Jamaica, 1655

Plantations were established to grow crops:

• Coffee
• Tobacco
• Cotton

By the early 1700s, the main crop grown on Caribbean plantations was sugar cane.

Enslaved Africans were imported to provide labour on the plantations:

• 12 million enslaved Africans were transported to the New World.
• 3 million enslaved Africans were carried on British ships.

The transatlantic trade between Britain, Africa, and the Caribbean grew to dominate the British economy:

• By 1800, 60 per cent of British trade went to Africa and the Americas.

British ports and cities were directly involved in the trade in enslaved Africans in the Caribbean. Find out how the trade affected both Britain and the Caribbean.

The first colonies of the British Empire were founded in North America (Virginia, 1607) and the West Indies (Barbados, 1625). In 1655 Jamaica was secured.

British slave traders started supplying enslaved African people to the British colonies to work on plantations.

Britain's involvement in the trade in enslaved people developed further in 1713, when the Treaty of Utrecht granted British traders the contract, known as the Asiento, to trade 144,000 enslaved people a year to Spanish South America.

After 1700, the numbers of enslaved people being transported increased greatly.

• 12 million Africans were captured to be taken to the Americas in slavery.
• Around three million of those people were carried on British ships.

Initially, most local plantations were growing cotton and tobacco. However, strong competition from the North American colonies meant that prices in these crops were falling.

In response, the owners of the large Caribbean plantations decided to switch to growing sugar cane. The plantation owners purchased enslaved people to provide the labour for this work.

Almost every Caribbean island was covered with sugar plantations and mills for refining the cane for its sweet properties. Until the abolition of slavery, the main source of labour was enslaved African people.

Between 1700 and 1709 the trade in sugar increased dramatically due to the increasing popularity of sugar to sweeten luxury drinks such as tea and coffee.

• In 1700, Britain's sugar consumption was 2kg per person.
• By 1800, Britain's sugar consumption was 8kg per person.
• The Caribbean produced 80–90 per cent of the sugar consumed in Western Europe

Sugar production was labour intensive. To meet the increased demand, white Europeans began to forcibly transport and enslave African people.

In 1746, economist Malachi Postlethwaite wrote that without enslaved African people:

… we can have no sugar, tobacco, rum etc. Consequently the public revenue, arising from the importation of plantation produce, will be wiped out. And hundreds of thousands of Britons making goods for the triangular trade will lose their jobs and go a begging

The growth of trade in enslaved people, in plantation crops, and in exports to American and Caribbean colonies led to a growth in shipping.

Overseas trade was carried out within the rules of the Navigation Acts. These stated

• All trade should take place in British ships.
• The ships should be manned by British seamen.
• Trading should be between British ports and other ports in the British Empire.

Additional laws were introduced that gave British shipping companies an advantage over foreign competitors:

• The Molasses Act of 1733 banned the import of foreign sugar to North America.
• The Direct Export Act of 1739, allowed British planters to ship goods directly to Europe.

The Royal Navy grew during the period of conflict for control of the colonies. Once Britain had grown to dominate the Caribbean, the Navy was still needed to protect these colonies and British shipping.

The trade in enslaved people contributed to the growth of the both the Royal Navy and the civilian merchant navy. The trade in enslaved people was an important training ground for British seamen, providing experienced crews for these other navies.

The British economy was transformed by the Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans.

• In 1700, 80 per cent of British trade went to Europe from ports on the east and south coasts of Britain.
• By 1800, 60 per cent of British trade went to Africa and America, sailing from the three main west coast ports – Glasgow, Liverpool, and Bristol.

Britain formed colonies in North America and the Caribbean in the first half of the 1600s.

• These territories were planted with valuable crops such as cotton, tobacco, and coffee.
• Enslaved African labour was used to harvest the crops.

By the 1700s, sugar was the main crop planted in the Caribbean. Enslaved Africans worked the sugar plantations.

• 12 million enslaved Africans were transported to the New World.
• 3 million enslaved Africans were carried on British slave ships.

The trade in enslaved Africans became crucial to the British economy.

• By 1800, 60 per cent of British trade went to Africa and the Americas.

The trade in enslaved Africans led to the growth of the Royal Navy and Britain's civilian merchant navy.