One of the most important historical periods in the development of North America was the New World Era. This name refers to the period of discovery and active exploration of the continent by Europeans in the fifteenth century. It was the age of the active historical rise of European empires, as the exploration of new lands promoted territorial, political, and socio-economic development.
A distinctive feature of that time was an economic system built on the slave trade. The development of new lands required significant resources of labor, and the use of the cheapest possible approach to this through slavery fully met the need to save the budget. Initially, the slaves were the natives, the aborigines, who were captured by the European colonizers, who outnumbered the natives in military and political strength.
However, the use of natives alone could not be sustainable because it needed coercion, and in addition, North American natives were limited in numbers. The discovery of the possibility of using enslaved Africans was thus a significant step in the development of European nations.
The purchase, transportation, and further exploitation of African slave labor were organized and deliberate, so the investment in it was an advantage to the political development of European colonizers. Shipping slaves from Africa to North America had the shortest route across the Atlantic Ocean.
Developed over the years, the logistical system within the stage called Middle Passage was called the triangular or triangular slave trade. This involved sending ships carrying manufactured goods from Europe to the African continent, exchanging goods for slave labor and transporting slaves from Africa to North America, and then shipping resources and agricultural products (such as sugar) from the North American continent back to Europe for use and further sale.
As can be understood, the constant supply of resources to European countries contributed to an even more active slave trade since the increased profits from sales could be used to buy new slaves to be brought to the Americas. In this triangle, it appears that Africa and North America were forced to give up some of their resources, be they workforce or products of labor, while the European states actively used them to enrich themselves.
The stability of this triangle made the colonizing states economically stronger and more viable, so it is correct to say that the transatlantic slave trade strengthened the power of European empires. The existence of such a system in the absence of obvious geopolitical competitors contributed to the active development of European superpowers.
Economic prosperity, in turn, facilitated the development of science and technology, making the transatlantic route even cheaper. It cannot be said with certainty that the slave trade was integral, for it is not possible to predict alternatives to the historical process.
However, it is clear from this example that it was through the slave trade that European states began to consolidate their global importance. Such a sustained system was complicated to overthrow because it was built up over the years, and the lack of visible competitors contributed to the monopoly of the transatlantic slave trade. Moreover, enslaved Africans were too disorganized to create revolutions and impede trade.