Main content
                
     
                    
                Origins of the Atlantic slave trade
Britain became involved in the slave trade for money, land and power. Early on in the 1500s, Spain and Portugal had begun trading in slaves, but England saw the potential economic opportunities, and quickly established sugar and cotton plantations in the colonies.
Duration:
More clips from The British Slave Trade and its Abolition 1770-1807
- 
                                                ![]()  The role of Zachary Macaulay in the abolition of slaveryDuration: 01:46 
- 
                                                ![]()  Working class and women abolitionistsDuration: 01:35 
- 
                                                ![]()  Wealth created by British slave tradersDuration: 01:47 
- 
                                                ![]()  Establishment opposition to the abolitionist movementDuration: 01:53 
More clips from Intermediate/Higher History
- 
                                                ![]()  Emigrants and Aboriginal Australians—Immigrants and exiles.Duration: 01:52 
- 
                                                ![]()  The Irish Potato Famine—Immigrants and exiles.Duration: 00:47 
- 
                                                ![]()  Chamberlain and the Munich Conference—The Road to War 1935-39Duration: 01:12 
 
             
             
             
             
             
             
            