EPI - Slavery – from Africa to the Americas 2017

Play the recording “S9S3E12.mp3”again and read the transcript of the dialogue you have been working on at the same
time
M.H.: In 1994, National Museums Liverpool opened the Transatlantic Slavery Gallery, the first of its kind in
the world. Our aim was to look at the deep impact of slavery and the slave trade on Africa, South America
and the Caribbean (Suriname, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Jamaica), the USA and
Western Europe.
Paul Deen: So what can you tell us about the museum’s exhibition?
M.H.: The Slavery Museum has three main galleries on the following themes: Life in West Africa -
Enslavement and the Middle Passage and Legacies of slavery
Paul Deen: Can you explain the term ‘triangle trade’ or ‘triangular trade’ for us? How did it all start?
M.H.: Well, from trading with the Africans, Europeans knew that slavery was used as a punishment for
serious crimes in Africa. They began to ask for slaves, rather than African goods, in exchange for the guns
and alcohol that the African chiefs wanted. Guns, swords, beads, metalware, iron products, rum, yes, those
sorts of things. The African chiefs agreed and so the Triangular Trade was developed.
Paul Deen: What part did Britain play in the triangle trade?
M.H.: Britain was a major player in the transatlantic slave trade. Yes, Britain realized there was a market
out there in Africa. British ships carried 2,600,000 enslaved Africans in the 18th century to the Caribbean
and the Americas. London was the leading British slaving port in the 17th century. Then Bristol overtook
London in the 1730s, and Liverpool overtook Bristol in the 1740s. So, Liverpool from that point of view
became a major slaving port.
Paul Deen: What else is there to know about the triangle trade?
M.H.: Liverpool had a lot of shipbuilders, ship-owners and they all benefited from the slave trade. So goods
left Liverpool, all the things they needed to trade with African kings left Liverpool. And when it got to Africa,
it offloaded those goods for trading and took on the slaves, and then made their journey to the Caribbean.
Which then offloaded the slaves, and took on all the sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco, cotton, rum, and then
brought it back to places like Bristol and Liverpool and London. The ships followed a route from England to
Africa, from Africa to the Americas and back to Europe. The route formed a triangle with three legs.
Paul Deen: What can you tell us about the European traders? Who were they?
M.H.: Well…. The main European nations involved in slaving were Portugal, Spain, Britain, France, the
Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. The main British ports that were involved in the slave trade were as I
said Liverpool, London, Bristol
and the other European ports were Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Cadiz, Lisbon and Nantes.
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