Industrial Revolution and Atlantic Slave Trade

Although I don't know much about the Industrial Revolution, I feel that I have a semi-accurate memory of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. I believe that ships traveled to Africa where they would take prisoners as slaves and ship them to plantations in America. The Americans would then trade supplies like cotton and sugar for the slaves, which would be taken to the British and French colonies on the Carribean islands. The money from the supplies would then be shipped back to Africa to be used to buy more slaves. I am not positive of the accuracey of this description, but I know that the slave trade formed a triangle stretching across the Atlantic Ocean which involved many countries and an exchange of human beings for money and goods.

This system, although profitable, could not have been good for the Enlightenment. By putting a price on the life of a human being, people imply that not all people are equal and that life is not as precious as we might believe. These thoughts definitely oppose most of the views of the Enlightenment thinkers we researched who believe in things like equal rights and power to the people. I don't know what the Industrial Revolution in Europe was like, but my guess is that it introduced many new ideas and helped move the Enlightenment along even more.

Slave Trade

I do not know much about the slave trade. I know, as it name says, the trading of slaves across the atlantic ocean for money and goods. Slaves were taken away from their home in Africa and they were sent to places like the USA and Europe and in exchange, their home country got some money and goods. Also, I know that many philosophes in France, like Marquis de Condorcet, were against slavery in France. About the industrial revolution in Europe, I do not know absolutely anything.

I had some questions about both the slave trade and the industrial revolution.
Slave Trade:
How did the government of the countries allow their people to be taken away like they were?

Industrial Revolution:
What happened?
What sort of machines were created?
Who were the main people involved in this?

Previous Knowledge of the Industrial Revolution and the Atlantic Slave Trade

The Atlantic Slave Trade was the trading of slaves across the atlantic ocean. European's set up ports and centers in Africa where they could kidnap Africans from their homeland, ship them overseas to countries with a growing need for workers that can endure manual labor and sell them as slaves. A favorite trading spot for these slave-traders to sell their goods was the United States because of the growing of the cotton and indigo industries and their need for a cheap work force.
The Industrial Revolution was a period in time where many new advancements in technology led to increased production of goods and less strenuous manual labor for the workers. A good example of a technological improvement from the industrial revolution was the invention of the cotton gin. the cotton gin made the work of slaves on southern plantations much easier because it saved many long hours of dreary labor for the slaves, giving them more time to pick cotton as well as increase production. The cotton gin is just one of the many innovations that had a large impact on the economy and only one small part of the Industrial Revolution.

Industrial Revolution/Slave Trade

I basically know nothing about the industrial revolution. All prior knowledge is what can be guessed from the name, and vague memories of a children's book I had in 3rd grade with one page on it. Basically, what I know about the Industrial revolution is that it was when a lot of manufacturing picked up, lots of new industries were started, tons of coal was burned and there was a lot of pollution.

My knowledge about the slave trade is also slightly sparse. Here is the little that I know:
European slavers went to Africa, and captured (usually though trickery) people, whom they crammed onto boats with unsanitary conditions to take back to Europe. Families were usually split up, slaves mistreated from the moment they were captured, and humans were essentially possessions. The slave trade had a lot of economical value, not only for the slavers, but also for those who bought the slaves, because they could force them to work for hours on end, and never pay them, which is why it took so long for slavery to be abolished completely in many places.

Industrial Revolution and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

I really don't know much about either one of these because the last time I learned anything about them was in eighth grade. Most of what I do remember about the Industrial Revolution is about what happened in the US. If I remember correctly, there were a lot of factories being built in the north, along with trains that made trade and travel easier. I feel like there might have been something going on using boats and waterways to connect the south more efficiently, but I don't really remember very much. However, I do remember that the South had a lot to do with the slave trade, seeing as there were many plantations. When we read a book in eighth grade, we learned that the slave trade was a really horrible thing to try to wrap your head around. The boats that the slaves were trafficked in where awfully small and cramped and there were no comforts at all. The slaves were brought from Africa to the Americas where they were then treated like livestock and bought as workers.

I dont really remember much other than that. What I would really like to know is what happened in Europe during the Industrial Revolution because I've never been taught about that.