How long did slave ships spend in the Americas?
The less time slave ships spent in the Americas after bringin slaves from Africa the more money they could make. This is because it cost money for ships to stay in a port. The length of time slave ships stayed in the Americas was affected by the price they could get for their human cargo. Slave captains sailed from place to place in order to get the best price. Many Liverpool slave traders hired agents to work for them in the Americas. It was the agent’s job to buy goods ready to be loaded onto slave ships for their return journey to Europe. They were also responsible for selling the enslaved Africans when they were offloaded from the slave ships. Agents cut the length of time which a ship stayed in the Americas. The letterbook of Liverpool slave trader William Earle includes letters to his agents in Virginia and Carolina in North America. If slave traders did not have agents in the Americas their ships had to wait whilst their human cargo was sold. Ships also had to wait in the Americ
