Trans-Atlantic TRADE [APUSH Unit 2 Topic 4] 2.4
Summary
TLDRThis video from the AP US History curriculum explores the transatlantic trade from 1607 to 1754, focusing on the triangular trade system. It explains how merchant ships traveled from New England to West Africa with rum, exchanged it for enslaved laborers, and then sailed to the Americas. The video discusses the brutal conditions of the middle passage and how the British Parliament's Slave Trade Act of 1788 attempted to reform these conditions. It also delves into mercantilism, the economic system driving this trade, emphasizing the importance of a favorable balance of trade and the establishment of colonies. The video concludes by highlighting how this trade system led to wealth accumulation, urban development, and the consumer revolution, which transformed societal structures and values.
Takeaways
- 🌐 The video discusses the transatlantic trade from 1607 to 1754, focusing on its causes and effects.
- 🔺 The 'triangular trade' was a three-part journey involving New England, West Africa, and the British West Indies, facilitating the exchange of goods and enslaved laborers.
- 📉 The 'Middle Passage' was the leg of the triangular trade known for its brutal conditions, which were later 'reformed' by the British Parliament's Slave Trade Act of 1788.
- 💰 Mercantilism was the dominant economic system during this period, emphasizing the accumulation of gold and silver and a favorable balance of trade.
- 🏛️ Colonies were established to provide access to raw materials and as markets for manufactured goods, supporting the mercantilist economic model.
- 🚢 The Navigation Acts were laws passed to regulate trade, ensuring that it was conducted in English ships and through British ports for taxation purposes.
- 💵 The transatlantic trade generated massive wealth for the elite, including merchants, investors, and plantation owners.
- 🌆 The trade transformed American seaports into thriving urban centers, contributing to the growth of colonial societies.
- 🛍️ The 'Consumer Revolution' in North America changed societal status, making it more about financial success and a refined lifestyle rather than family pedigree.
- 🌟 The transatlantic trade network, fueled by mercantilism, had a profound impact on societies across Europe, Africa, and America.
Q & A
What is the time period covered in Unit 2 of the AP US History curriculum?
-Unit 2 of the AP US History curriculum covers the time period from 1607 to 1754.
What does 'transatlantic trade' refer to in the context of the video?
-Transatlantic trade refers to the global economy that developed across the Atlantic Ocean, involving trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
What is the triangular trade?
-The triangular trade is a term used to describe the three-part journey of merchant ships that started in Europe, went to Africa to trade goods for enslaved laborers, then to the Americas to trade those laborers for goods like sugar, and finally back to Europe to trade the goods for more European products.
Why was the British Parliament's Slave Trade Act of 1788 significant?
-The Slave Trade Act of 1788 was significant because it limited the number of enslaved people that could be transported on ships, leading to a reduction in the overcrowded and brutal conditions they faced during the Middle Passage.
What economic system was dominant in Europe during the late 17th and early 18th centuries?
-Mercantilism was the dominant economic system in Europe during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
How did mercantilism influence the establishment of colonies?
-Mercantilism influenced the establishment of colonies by providing European powers with access to raw materials and new markets for their manufactured goods, which was essential for maintaining a favorable balance of trade.
What were the Navigation Acts, and how did they relate to mercantilism?
-The Navigation Acts were a series of laws passed by the British government that required trade with English colonies to be conducted exclusively in English ships and certain valuable trade items to pass through British ports for taxation, ensuring maximum gold and silver flow into Britain.
How did the transatlantic trade impact colonial societies economically?
-The transatlantic trade generated massive wealth for the elites of society, including merchants, investors, and plantation owners, and transformed America's seaports into thriving urban centers.
What was the Consumer Revolution in North America, and how did it change societal status?
-The Consumer Revolution in North America was a period where affluent families began to buy more goods, leading to a shift in societal status from being tied to family pedigree to being associated with financial success and a refined lifestyle.
How did the transatlantic trade fundamentally alter societies across Europe, Africa, and America?
-The transatlantic trade created a global trade network fueled by mercantilism, which fundamentally altered societies by introducing new economic opportunities, changing social structures, and increasing the flow of goods and wealth across continents.
Outlines
🌐 Transatlantic Trade and Mercantilism
This paragraph introduces the concept of transatlantic trade during the period from 1607 to 1754, focusing on the triangular trade system. The speaker explains how merchant ships would start in New England, trade rum for enslaved laborers in West Africa, and then transport them to the Americas. The middle passage, infamous for its brutal conditions, is highlighted, along with the British Parliament's Slave Trade Act of 1788, which aimed to reform these conditions. The paragraph also touches on the economic principles that drove this trade, specifically mercantilism, which was the dominant economic system in Europe at the time. Mercantilism is characterized by the belief in a fixed amount of wealth in the world, measured in gold and silver, and the importance of maintaining a favorable balance of trade with more exports than imports.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Transatlantic Trade
💡Triangular Trade
💡Middle Passage
💡Mercantilism
💡Balance of Trade
💡Colonies
💡Navigation Acts
💡Consumer Revolution
💡Economic Principles
💡Global Trade Network
Highlights
Introduction to Unit 2 of the AP US History curriculum covering the period 1607 to 1754.
Focus on the causes and effects of transatlantic trade during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Description of the triangular trade system, involving a three-part journey across the Atlantic.
Explanation of how merchant ships carried goods like rum from New England to West Africa.
Trade of rum for enslaved laborers in West Africa due to high demand in the Americas.
The brutal conditions of the middle passage experienced by enslaved Africans.
The Slave Trade Act of 1788 and its impact on the number of enslaved people transported.
Continuation of the triangular trade with the exchange of enslaved Africans for sugarcane in the British West Indies.
Return journey of merchant ships to New England to trade sugarcane for rum, completing the triangle.
Introduction to mercantilism as the dominant economic system in Europe during this period.
Mercantilist belief in a fixed amount of wealth in the world, measured in gold and silver.
Goal of mercantilism was to maintain a favorable balance of trade with more exports than imports.
Colonies provided access to raw materials and served as markets for manufactured goods.
The British government's efforts to strengthen ties between the empire and its colonies through the Navigation Acts.
The Navigation Acts required trade with English colonies to be conducted in English ships and through British ports.
Impact of transatlantic trade on colonial societies, generating wealth for elites and transforming seaports.
The consumer revolution in North America, changing societal status from family pedigree to financial success.
Conclusion on the transformative effect of transatlantic trade on societies in Europe, Africa, and America.
Transcripts
hey there welcome back to heimler's
history now if you're just joining me
we've been going through unit two of the
ap us history curriculum which covers
the time period 1607 to 1754. and in
this video we got to talk about trade
and more to the point we're going to
talk about the causes and effects of the
transatlantic trade over time
saucy let's get to it so in the late
17th and the early 18th centuries trade
really became global and so we're going
to need to consider how a transatlantic
economy was developed trans means across
and atlantic means atlantic ocean so how
did a global economy develop across this
ocean right here that is an unusually
perceptive question and i've got the
answer so first let's talk about how the
trade was done and for that i need to
introduce you to the triangular trade it
was thus named because merchant ships
followed a three-part journey which when
being sketched out roughly makes a
triangle and it was much more complex
than what i'm about to explain but let
me just give you a taste of how this
works merchant ships would start in new
england for example and then carry rum
to west africa there they would trade
rum for enslaved laborers for whom
demand was spiking in the americas and
then they would depart from west africa
and sail what was called the middle
passage which was famous for its brutal
conditions now let's stop for a minute
before we continue on this section of
the triangular route this image is a
very famous one and you're going to see
it nearly every time someone talks about
the harsh conditions enslaved people had
to endure on the middle pass we look at
that image and we're horrified by what
we see but what you almost never hear
anyone talk about is that this diagram
was actually a reform image the british
parliament passed the slave trade act in
1788 which limited the number of
enslaved people that could be stuffed
into the hull of a ship and this diagram
was the result of that reform like this
was the compromise like stacking people
like this was the better version of what
was previously happening before the law
was passed so hopefully that helps you
see how awful the conditions were that
these africans endured as they crossed
the atlantic ocean now back to the
triangular trade once the ships packed
with enslaved africans arrived in the
british west indies those slaves were
then traded for sugarcane and from there
the merchant ships headed back to new
england where they traded the sugarcane
for rum and the whole thing began all
over again so that's how the
transatlantic trade worked in a very
simplistic form but now we need to talk
about what economic principles drove
this whole dang thing and for that i
need to introduce you to mercantilism
now mercantilism was the dominant
economic system in europe during this
time although at this point we're
starting to see other economic models
start to emerge but this new global
trade makes no sense unless you
understand how this economic system
works first it's going to be important
for you to know that in the mercantilist
worldview it basically assumed that
there was only a fixed amount of wealth
in the world and the reason for this is
that they measured wealth in terms of
gold and silver so obviously if that's
how you measure wealth there's only
going to be so much so the main goal of
a mercantilist system was to maintain a
favorable balance of trade and this
meant that a nation wanted to have more
exports than imports and that makes
sense if you're exporting goods what's
coming in gold if you're importing goods
what's going out gold so if there was
only a fixed amount of wealth in the
world then the mercantilist states
wanted to get as big a slice of that pie
as they could because hey there's only
so much pie and you know mama like pie
another important feature of
mercantilism was the establishment of
colonies and this had a two-fold benefit
first it gave mercantilist powers access
to raw materials that they couldn't find
in their own country and second those
colonies could then become markets for
their manufactured goods and so to this
end during this period the british
government tried to increasingly weave
the center of the empire together with
its colonies and one way they sought to
do this was through the passage of a
series of laws called the navigation
acts these laws required merchants to
engage in trade with english colonies
exclusively in english ships and also
certain valuable trade items were
required to pass through exclusively
british ports where they were taxed
again all of this was done in order to
assure that the british could have
maximum gold and silver coming into
their coffers now the last thing we need
to talk about is how this trade
fundamentally changed colonial societies
like this transatlantic cherry generated
massive wealth for the elites of society
which included merchants and investors
and plantation owners additionally it
transformed america's seaports into
thriving urban centers and these two
effects combined created a further
effect which was the consumer revolution
in north america affluent families began
to buy more goods and that actually had
the effect of changing the way society
was shaped and prior to this one's place
in society was tied strongly to what
family that person was from so after
this consumer revolution societal status
was more tied to financial success and a
refined lifestyle so the consumer
revolution meant that you were respected
in society not because of your family
pedigree but whether or not that beaver
skin hat was popping today so all that
to say the transatlantic trade created a
truly global trade network fueled by the
principles of mercantilism that
fundamentally altered the societies in
which it functioned whether the
societies were european or african or
american all right that's what you need
to know about unit 2 topic 4 of the ap
u.s history curriculum and if you're
struggling in your class then you know
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