Colonial trade
American colonial trade flowed in several patterns. The colonies on the North American mainland engaged in lively coastal trade among themselves. They also shipped tobacco, indigo, and lumber directly to England. Men and women traded small surpluses of yarn, cloth, cheese, poultry, eggs, ale, and garden products for goods at local markets. Colonists traded cloth, guns, and metal tools to the Indians for furs and hides. In some years, certain individual colonies might ship as many as 40,000 deerskins to Europe.
Colonial ships carried rum to Africa and grain and livestock to the West Indies. In Africa, the rum was exchanged for slaves. In the West Indies, colonial products were traded for slaves, sugar, and molasses, which was used to make rum. This trade pattern among the mainland colonies, Africa, and the West Indies is sometimes called the triangular trade.
Some colonial ships followed another triangular trade route. These ships carried fish, lumber, meat, and grain to southern Europe, wine and fruits to England, and manufactured goods back to the colonies.
Excerpt adapted from the "Colonial life in America" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999