In the 17th and 18th centuries enslaved people were moved from Africa to the West Indies to work on sugar plantations. This industry and trade made British ports and merchants involved very wealthy.
Slave ships completing the ‘Middle Passage’ from Africa sold their cargo of enslaved people, before being loaded with sugar and rum to sell in Britain.
The main destination ports for ships loaded with sugar were Bristol and Liverpool.
There is some evidence that the slave trade was becoming less profitable towards the end of the 18th century.
