What is the Royal African Company?

• A. A Dutch trading firm focused on sugar.
• B. An English joint stock company chartered by the Crown to carry slaves to the English colonies.
• C. A Portuguese fleet that controlled West African forts.
• D. A French mercantile association for firearms.

Answer: (B)

The Royal African Company was an English joint-stock company created by a royal charter to control and profit from trade on the West African coast, with a primary focus on transporting enslaved people to English colonies in the Americas and Caribbean. This setup—an English enterprise organized as a joint stock and authorized by the Crown to operate in West Africa—fits the description of a royal-chartered company devoted to the slave trade.

Other options describe different European powers and aims: a Dutch firm focused on sugar, a Portuguese fleet controlling West African forts, or a French mercantile group for firearms. None of these match the English, Crown-chartered slave-trade company.