What lay behind the horrors of the slave trade.

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The slave triangle worked like this. Firstly the people in Britain made goods like guns, alcohol, and iron bars, which were made very cheaply. All the goods were then carried to the docs in Glasgow, Liverpool or Bristol. All these goods were then boarded on to the ships and were taken to West Africa to be traded for slaves. The people bought only the strong looking slaves, both men and women. They took them to a market and placed them into chains, and were marched to the coast. They slaves were once again examined to see whether they were healthy, and if they were they were usually branded high up on the shoulder or high up on their backs. The branded slaves were taken to the barraoon and were placed on the ships. Men were separated from the women. The ships were packed with 600 or ore slaves. They were tightly packed in the warm, dark airless holds below the deck. They were placed there for the entire voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, which lasted for several weeks. Not surprisingly, many slaves died during this time.

The slaves who survived were taken to South Africa, West Indies or North America