Read the following merchant instructions from Newport, Rhode Island, written in 1752:
"You are to embrace the first fair wind and weather and proceed to the windward coast of Africa... and there dispose of your cargo for gold and slaves... and from thence proceed to the West Indies, where you are to sell your slaves and purchase a cargo of sugar and molasses to bring back to Newport."
Which of the following developments in the British North American colonies is best illustrated by the merchant instructions in the excerpt?
- The active role of New England merchants in the transatlantic slave trade and shipping networks.Cevap
- BThe widespread adoption of plantation-based chattel slavery in the New England colonies.
- CThe replacement of African chattel slavery with European indentured servitude in northern ports.
- DThe decline of colonial merchant activity due to the strict enforcement of British mercantilist policies.
Cevap
The active role of New England merchants in the transatlantic slave trade and shipping networks.
The correct answer is correct because the instructions describe the classic triangular trade route: New England ships transported goods to Africa, purchased enslaved people, transported them to the West Indies, and brought sugar and molasses back to ports like Newport, Rhode Island, to make rum. This illustrates that although New England did not rely on large-scale plantation agriculture, its merchants were deeply integrated into and benefited from the transatlantic slave trade.
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Anahtar Kavram
The transatlantic slave trade and the involvement of northern colonial economies in supporting chattel slavery.