Britain, trade and transatlantic slavery
The triangular trade shaped ports, fortunes and lives on three continents. Studying it means facing the evidence directly and carefully.
Part of your national curriculum
- Britain 1066-1901: Understand Britain's transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition
- Challenges 1901 to the present: Understand Britain's transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition, in the context of empire
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Describe Britain's role in transatlantic slavery
Key learning points
- • The triangular trade
- • Where the profit went
This lesson at a glance
- 30 minutes
- 16 parts to scroll through
- 3 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 16
Watch first
Britain, trade and transatlantic slavery
An English teaching video on this topic from Homeschool History. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.
In a nutshell
Describe Britain's role in transatlantic slavery
What you already know
Part 2 of 16
Before we start
What you already know
You should already know that Britain built an empire and traded across the Atlantic, and that enslaved people were treated as property under the law.
Key words
Part 3 of 16
Key words
Words you'll need today
- Transatlantic slave trade
- The forced transport and sale of millions of African people across the Atlantic.
- Triangular trade
- The three-legged trading route between Europe, West Africa and the Americas.
- Middle Passage
- The brutal Atlantic crossing endured by enslaved Africans.
- Plantation
- A large estate producing crops such as sugar using enslaved labour.
Learning cycle
Part 4 of 16
Learning cycle 1 of 2
How the trade worked
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 16
Learn
The triangular trade
Manufactured goods went to West Africa; enslaved people were transported across the Atlantic in appalling conditions; sugar, tobacco and cotton returned to Britain.
Quick check
Part 6 of 16
Quick check
The middle passage refers to…
Reset break
Part 7 of 16
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 8 of 16
Quick check
Which British ports grew on this trade?
Learning cycle
Part 9 of 16
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Who profited
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 16
Learn
Where the profit went
Bristol, Liverpool and London grew on the trade, and profits funded banks, houses and civic buildings still standing today.
Quick check
Part 11 of 16
Quick check
Goods returning to Britain included…
Common mix-ups
Part 12 of 16
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- People often describe enslaved people only as victims. They were people with names, families, skills and beliefs, and they resisted.
- People often think only ports profited. Banks, insurers, manufacturers and investors far inland also gained.
Challenge round
Part 13 of 16
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 14 of 16
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Manufactured goods went to West Africa; enslaved people were transported across the Atlantic in appalling conditions; sugar, tobacco and cotton returned to ____.
Mastery quiz
Part 15 of 16
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Britain, trade and transatlantic slavery
6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. The triangular trade linked…
2. The Middle Passage was…
3. Plantation crops sold in Britain included…
4. Profit from slavery reached…
5. Enslaved people are best described as…
6. Why study economic records alongside testimony?
Lesson round-up
Part 16 of 16
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
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Games
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Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
A factory inspector's notebook, 1842
"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."
"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."
"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."
Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
- What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
- How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.
Source work
ReadingRead the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.
2 paragraphs
Essay answer
WritingAnswer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.
300–400 words
Timeline
DiagramDraw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.
6–8 events
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 16 · Watch & discover
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Understand Britain's transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition
- Not looked at yet
Understand Britain's transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition, in the context of empire