Triangle Trade
The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum has space dedicated to the wreck of the Henrietta Marie which sank off the coast of Key West in the summer of 1700.
The Henrietta Marie was a slave ship that carried captive Africans to the West Indies, where they were sold as slaves. The ship wrecked at the southern tip of Florida on its way home to England, and is one of only a few wrecks of slave ships that have been identified.
"The Henrietta Marie carried a crew of about eighteen men. It was probably built in France sometime in the 17th century. The ship came into English possession late in the 17th century, possibly as a war prize during the War of the Grand Alliance. It was put to use in the Atlantic slave trade, making at least two voyages carrying Africans to slavery in the West Indies. On its first voyage, in 1697-1698, the ship carried more than 200 people from Africa that were sold as slaves in Barbados.
In 1699 the Henrietta Marie sailed from England on the first leg of the triangular trade route with a load of trade goods, including iron and copper bars, pewter utensils, glass beads, cloth and brandy. The ship sailed under license from the Royal African Company (which held a monopoly on English trade with Africa), in exchange for ten percent of the profits of the voyage. It is known to have traded for African captives at New Calabar on the Guinea Coast. The ship then sailed on the second leg of its voyage, from Africa to the West Indies, and in May 1700 landed 191 Africans for sale in Port Royal, Jamaica.
After leaving Port Royal the ship headed for the Yucatán Channel to pass around the western end of Cuba (thus avoiding the pirates infesting the passage between Cuba and Hispaniola) and catch the Gulf Stream, the preferred route for all ships leaving the Caribbean to return to Europe. The Henrietta Marie wrecked on New Ground Reef near the Marquesas Keys, approximately 35 miles (56 km) west of Key West. There were no survivors, and the fate of the ship remained unknown for almost three centuries."
Triangle Trade
The Mel Fisher Maritime Museum has space dedicated to the wreck of the Henrietta Marie which sank off the coast of Key West in the summer of 1700.
The Henrietta Marie was a slave ship that carried captive Africans to the West Indies, where they were sold as slaves. The ship wrecked at the southern tip of Florida on its way home to England, and is one of only a few wrecks of slave ships that have been identified.
"The Henrietta Marie carried a crew of about eighteen men. It was probably built in France sometime in the 17th century. The ship came into English possession late in the 17th century, possibly as a war prize during the War of the Grand Alliance. It was put to use in the Atlantic slave trade, making at least two voyages carrying Africans to slavery in the West Indies. On its first voyage, in 1697-1698, the ship carried more than 200 people from Africa that were sold as slaves in Barbados.
In 1699 the Henrietta Marie sailed from England on the first leg of the triangular trade route with a load of trade goods, including iron and copper bars, pewter utensils, glass beads, cloth and brandy. The ship sailed under license from the Royal African Company (which held a monopoly on English trade with Africa), in exchange for ten percent of the profits of the voyage. It is known to have traded for African captives at New Calabar on the Guinea Coast. The ship then sailed on the second leg of its voyage, from Africa to the West Indies, and in May 1700 landed 191 Africans for sale in Port Royal, Jamaica.
After leaving Port Royal the ship headed for the Yucatán Channel to pass around the western end of Cuba (thus avoiding the pirates infesting the passage between Cuba and Hispaniola) and catch the Gulf Stream, the preferred route for all ships leaving the Caribbean to return to Europe. The Henrietta Marie wrecked on New Ground Reef near the Marquesas Keys, approximately 35 miles (56 km) west of Key West. There were no survivors, and the fate of the ship remained unknown for almost three centuries."