Shipbuilding Innovations and the Atlantic Slave Trade

The paper argues that the Atlantic Slave Trade inspired technological innovations in shipbuilding. The influence of the Slave Trade on technological development is explored through the concept of the 'slave ship', a unique form of maritime technology that was modeled specifically to promote the interests of the slave traders. The paper demonstrates that capitalist incentives prompted 18th-century shipbuilding innovations, as an interest in increasing slave trade profits led to technological developments that expanded the number of slaves that could fit on ships, prevented mutinies or escapes, and protected the 'commodities' from sickness or death. The paper demonstrates that certain technological measures were created to ensure that the greatest number of healthy African slaves could be sold to colonies in the Americas, not in the interest of humanity but instead in the interest of profit maximization.