A three-part commercial network developed between western Europe, Africa, and America that involved the trade of slaves, raw materials, and manufactured goods.
Plantations
Slave Labour was used extensively in these massive farms mostly located in the southern states, Brazil, Cuba and all over the Carribean.
Brazil Slave Trade
This country imported more slaves than any other involved in the Atlantic System. Claiming 4.5 million befor the end of slavery.
African Slave Trade
African people were transported from these markets to the coast and sold at European trading ports in exchange for muskets and manufactured goods such as cloth or alcohol.
The Caribbean Trade
The second largest consumer of slave labour at 4 million. The Lesser Antilles islands of Barbados, Antigua, Martinique and Guadeloupe were the first important slave societies of the Caribbean, switching to slavery by the end of the 16th century as their e
Sugar
The years 1625 to 1750 saw this become worth its weight in gold. Prices declined slowly as production became multi-sourced, especially through British colonial policy. Production increased in mainland North American colonies, in Cuba, and in Brazil
Calico
a fabric made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. In 1700, England banned importation (and the use and wear of) of cotton cloth from India, in an effort to prop up the English textile industry.
Birth of Consumer Society
While consumerism is not a new phenomenon, it has only become widespread over the 20th century and particularly in recent decades, under the influence of neoliberal capitalism and globalization.
Coffeehouses
These shops first became popular in Europe with the introduction of coffee in the 17th century.
Agricultural revolution
a period of agricultural development in Britain between the 16th century and the mid-19th century, which saw a massive increase in agricultural productivity and net output.
“enclosure movement”
the process of conversion of common land to private ownership. From 1630-1750 there was a general depression and radical economic change: 40% of the rural English population was forced to abandon agrarian life.
Rococo painting
originated in the purely decorative arts, the style showed clearly in painting. These painters used delicate colors and curving forms, decorating their canvases with cherubs and myths of love. Portraiture was also popular among Rococo painters.
