ABSTRACT
Eighteenth-century German connections to the global trade presuppose German involvement in the major driving force of emerging capitalism, that of slavery, the slave trade, and the trade in colonial goods. The "stage properties" of the global trade, that is, cane sugar, coffee, chocolate, and tobacco, are closely connected to the history of colonialism and enslavement of Africans in the Americas and the foundation of wealth of European nations. German merchants, particularly the Fuggers and Welsers of Augsburg and Nürnberg, were involved in Spanish and Portuguese colonial ventures. Southern German merchants played an important role in financing Spain's sixteenth-century colonial ventures in the Americas. As a result of Spain's conquest of Portugal, Portuguese trade declined, clearing the way for Dutch dominance in the seventeenth century. The triangular trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas created new markets in the interior of Europe, and in the interior of Africa and the Americas.
