The best-known triangular trading system is the transatlantic slave trade that operated from the late 16th to early 19th centuries.

Ships departed from Western Europe with mainly firearms, gunpowder, iron and textiles as merchandise. The merchandise was traded in West Africa with the local rulers and African and Arab slave traders for enslaved people, gold and ivory. The weapons sold by the Europeans in Africa added to internal wars which in turn resulted in a greater supply of enslaved people.

Ships carrying the enslaved from West Africa left via the Central Passage to North America or the Caribbean. The conditions of the slaves during the journey were appalling and many slaves died. The slaves were sold in America as plantation workers. The ships then went from North America and the Caribbean to Western Europe with luxury goods such as sugar, rum, coffee, cotton, silver and tobacco.

An estimated number of 12 to 12.8 million enslaved people were transported from Africa to America, where the amount of people that were bought in Africa is much higher since many died during the passage (the estimates of deceased during the voyages lie between 1.2 and 2.4 million). Even though the slave trade was officially abolished in 1867, the trade continued for decades after this date.