Editing Commercial revolution (section)

===Triangular trade===
A [[triangular trade]] occurred in this period: between Africa, North and South America, and Europe; and it worked in the following way: Slaves came from Africa, and went to the Americas; raw materials came from the Americas and went to Europe; from there, finished goods came from Europe and were sold back to the Americas at a much higher price.

Due the [[Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas#Depopulation from disease|massive die-off]] of the indigenous people, the Americas had a local deficit of labor required for the extraction of resources (such as gold and silver) and farming.  Europe was also recovering from the [[Black Plague]] and its resurgences, and population growth was slowed by intermittent warfare by European nations among themselves and against the Ottoman Empire.  As a result of these limitations, the colonial powers were unable to satisfy the labor shortage through emigration, and the [[Atlantic Slave Trade]] was established to import the labor.  This can be contrasted with the [[Qing dynasty]]'s colonization of [[Inner Asia]], whereby the high population in [[China proper]] produced policies that encouraged Han resettlement in [[Dzungaria]] during the 18th century, and [[Inner Mongolia]] and [[Manchuria]] during the 19th century.