1- Europe to Africa: On this journey, merchant ships crossed the Atlantic Ocean from European ports to the West African coast. The Portuguese were the first European settlers to explore the continent of Africa, as Prince Henry the Navigator began to send expeditions in search of new routes that would allow Europe to reach Asia and thereby break Portugal's monopoly on trade with the Indies.
European settlers established trading posts and forts along the West African coast. There they established economic relations with the native African rulers and merchants. The main commercial products that the Europeans took to Africa were manufactured goods, such as cloth, beads, tools, and weapons, as well as alcoholic beverages. African merchants exchanged those products for gold, ivory, spices, and other commodities that were highly valued by the Europeans, mainly slaves.
2- Africa to America: From the African ports, the merchant vessels, already equipped with the valuable material taken from that territory, would undertake the journey towards America. The ships crossed the Atlantic again, this time heading towards the Caribbean Sea, to the West Indies and the eastern coastal strip of what would later be the United States of America. During the Middle Passage, thousands of Africans were transported in horrendous conditions to serve as slaves to landowners and settlers.
3- America to Europe: The third and final stage of the Triangular Trade led the merchant ships to cross the Atlantic Ocean back to European ports. The most important goods transported from America to the European continent were sugar, cotton, tobacco, coffee, and cocoa, as well as furs and minerals extracted from the new colonies in the Americas. Some of the products of American territories were directly sold to European consumers, especially those of great commercial value. Other products, such as raw materials, would enter the factories and workshops to generate manufactured goods.