The triangular trade... / Trekantshandlen....

The triangular trade

The Danish West Indies used, like the rest of the islands in the region, labor in the form of black slaves from Africa. This trade was part of the trade chain, which later was named the triangular trade. The triangular trade describes a trade that took place between Denmark, Africa and the Danish West Indies by using specially made sail ships. The whole voyage from Denmark to Denmark took 18 to 24 month.

In the 1600s the first Danish forts was founded on the "Gold Coast", a large area with European forts on the west coast of Africa, also known as Guinea todays Ghana. Denmark (Back then Norway was a part of Denmark) had forts in Guinea from the late 1700s and they also had territorial interests in the area until 1850.

From 1650s to 1780s Denmark own a distance of approximately 200 km where they had the forts; Christiansborg, Frederiksborg Fort, Kongensten, Prinsensten, Augustaborg and Isegram. After the 1820s the Danish presence in Africa was minimized and only kept staff in the main fort Christiansborg.

In the 1600s Danes mainly picked up gold and ivory in Africa, which were traded for textiles, metal and firearms. But from about 1700 the Danes began export slaves to the West Indies and gained importance. In the mid-century the Danish Forts served as storage unit of the slaves to other countries slave ships, but later the Danish Ships were clearly the biggest in the slave trade. The slave trade with the Danish ships culminated in the American Revolutionary War (1778-1783).

It is estimated that Denmark was involved in the transport of a total of approx. 100,000 slaves across the Atlantic. Denmark was the 7^th biggest slave nation in the world from the 1600s-1800s.

When the slaves were shipped from Africa to the Danish West Indies, the goal was to keep as many slaves alive as possible. To achieve this, they used two different trade methods. Some thought that the more slaves you packed on a ship, the more slaves you would have when you arrived at the plantations. People who used this method were called "tight-packers". Others were of the opinion that you could get more slaves alive by not filling the vessels completely and giving slaves more room to be. They were called "Loose-packers".

On arrival at the Danish West Indies were slaves sold on auction either to plantations on St. John, St. Thomas and St. Croix, or to the other Caribbean islands. St. Croix served as a trade center for the slave trade and the auction took place at the harbor in Christiansted.

On the plantations there was a production of commodities such as sugar and cotton. It was then transported back to Europe, where it was processed and sold. But it was not just commodities the Danes brought back with them from the plantations. In the 1700s it became fashionable to buy a black servant, usually a young boy, who then was dressed in flashy clothes to emphasize his exotic features and they are often pictured with his master in order to emphasize his power.

In 1792, under pressure from England's forthcoming amendment, Denmark banned the transatlantic slave trade, but only with effect from the 1803. Slave trade still continued on and between the islands until the Emancipation in 1848.

Trekantshandlen

De Dansk Vestindiske øer fik, ligesom resten af øerne i regionen, deres arbejdskraft i form af sorte slaver fra Afrika. Denne handel indgik som led i den handels kæde, som senere har fået navnet trekantshandlen. Trekantshandlen beskriver en handel der foregik mellem Danmark, Afrika og De Dansk Vestindiske øer hvor man brugte speciel byggede sejlskibe. Hele turen fra rundt (fra Danmark til Danmark) kunne nemt tage mellem halvanden til to år.

I 1600 tallet fik Danmark (Norge var en del af Danmark dengang) grundlagt de første forter på ”Guldkysten” som man kaldte en række europæiske forter på Afrika's vestkyst Guinea. Det som i dag er Ghana. Danmark havde forter i Guinea fra slutningen af 1700-tallet også territorielle interesser i området indtil 1850.

Danmark havde fra perioden 1650’erne til 1780’erne, en strækning på cirka 200 km forter; Christiansborg, Frederiksborg Fort, Kongensten, Prinsensten, Augustaborg og Isegram. Efter 1820’erne indskrænkedes man den danske tilstedeværelse og opretholdt kun bemandingen på hovedfortet Christiansborg.

I 1600-tallet hentede man først og fremmest guld og elfenben i Afrika, som blev byttet med tekstiler, metal og skydevåben. Men fra omkring 1700 begyndte eksport af slaver til Vestindien at få større betydning. Indtil midten af århundredet fungerede de dansk-norske forter i nogen grad som leverandører af slaver til andre landes slaveskibe, men herefter blev slavehandel på dansk-norske skibe klart størst. Slavehandelen på dansk-norske skibe kulminerede i forbindelse med den amerikanske uafhængighedskrig (1778-1783).

Det anslås, at Danmark var involveret i transporten af i alt ca. 100.000 slaver over Atlanterhavet. Danmark var den 7. største slavenation mellem 1600 og 1800 tallet.

Når slaverne skulle fragtes mellem Afrika og de Dansk Vestindiske øer, var målet at få så mange slaver over i live, som muligt. For at opnå dette brugte de forskellige handelsmænd to metoder. Nogle mente at jo flere slaver man pakkede på et skib, desto flere slaver ville man også have i live når man ankom til plantagerne. Folk der benyttede denne metode blev kaldt for ”tight-packers”. Andre var af den mening at man kunne få flere slaver over i live ved ikke at fylde skibene helt og derved give slaverne mere plads til at være på. De blev kaldt ”Loose-packers”.

Ved ankomst til Dansk Vestindien blev slaverne solgt på auktion enten til plantager på St. John, St. Thomas og St. Croix, eller til de andre caribiske øer. St. Croix fungerede som en handelscentral for slavehandlen og auktionen fandt sted nede ved havnen i Christiansted.  

På plantagerne blev der produceret råvarer som sukker og bomuld. Dette blev så transporteret tilbage til Europa, hvor det blev forarbejdet og solgt. Det var dog ikke kun råvarer handelsmændene bragte med sig tilbage fra plantagerne. I 1700-tallet kom det på mode at anskaffe sig en sort tjener, gerne en ung dreng, en page. Pagen blev ofte klædt i prangende tøj for at understrege hans eksotiske træk og er ofte af billedet sammen med sin herre for at understrege dennes magt.

I 1792, efter pres fra Englands kommende ændring, forbød Danmark imidlertid den transatlantiske slavehandel men først med virkning fra 1803. Salg af slaver fortsatte stadig internt på og mellem øerne indtil frigivelsen i 1848.