Two short points for you non-Africanists.
 
First of all, the "Triangular Trade" is a misnomer. There was, in
fact, much more bilateral trade between the Americas (including
the Caribbean) and Africa than the term implies. This was
especially the case in terms of rum and tobacco. One need only
think of the New England rum traders, the Caribbean rum traders,
and the Brazilian rum-tobacco traders involvement in the
Atlantic Slave Trade.
 
Second, to say that the Caribbean islands are the geographic
center of the triangular trade in sugar, rum, and slaves is
historically wrong. Although important, the American-Caribbean
rum trade was primarily concentrated in West Africa. And here,
the exchange of American, Caribbean (and even Brazilian) rum for
slaves was not that significant. Far more important was the
Brazilian rum trade in West Central Africa, where this booze
alone acquired 25% of slaves exported therefrom between 1710
and 1830! And West Central African slave exports account for some
40% of all slaves shipped across the Atlantic, about 40% of
which landed in Brazil!!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jose C. Curto
Co-editor, Newsletter of CAAS
Center for Society, Technology and Development
McGill University
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