Why should local African chieftains and French merchants be studied together in slave trade?

Correct answer: Because the slave trade depended on an interconnected chain of local capture, sale, and sea transport

Local African chieftains or intermediaries were often involved in capturing, purchasing, or supplying enslaved people to coastal traders, while French merchants transported them by ship to plantations in the Americas. Therefore, the slave trade must be understood as a network involving several regions and groups, not French merchants alone. The National Convention and the Bastille relate to other events of the French Revolution, not to this trading chain. Exam tip: remember the triangular link between Africa, Europe, and the Americas.