What Are the Economic Reasons for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Essay

What Are the Economic Reasons for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Its Abolition - Essay Example The event was supported by the change in moral, religious and humanitarian reasons observed among the citizens. The triangle of trade consisted of three journeys: the outward passage from Europe to Africa with the manufactured goods, the middle passage from Africa to the Americas or the Caribbean’s which carried African captives and commodities and lastly, the homeward passage which carried goods back to Europe (National Maritime Museum). The slave trade made the bulk of the labor force of the New World. They comprise of the bulk of workers in the sugar plantation which is the most labor intensive crop, while some also work in harvesting coffee, cotton and tobacco and some also helped in mining (Wikimedia Foundations Inc.). The cheap labor has been Europe’s power, shipping around 6000-8000 African slaves every year (National Musuems Liverpool). The trafficiking of Africans has been the business of the rich and powerful where both the monarchy and the church has benefitted much so that it comprised 80% of the total British trade, helping in the development of banking and insurance, ship building and several manufacturing industries (Adi). Eric Williams, the showed that the profit from the trafficking has financed England’s industrialization process, that it has become a very essential element to the Industrial Revolution and has brought much wealth to Europe (Wikimedia Foundations Inc.). There has been much speculation as to the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Humanitarian reasons were cited such as of morality and religion. The humanitarian reason is largely a work of William Wilberforce, who was a British politican and philantrophist who led the movement to abolish slave trade, however, the economic reasons for the abolition cannot be discarded. Many believe that the slave trade was abolished mainly for economic reasons such as argued by Eric Williams. The simple reason was slavery as a form of labor has become unviable