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1441
The beginnings
The Portuguese were prominent at the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade. In 1441 Portuguese explorers take 12 slaves from Africa back to Portugal and just a year later Portugal enslaved the Berbers. -
Period: 1441 to
Rise of the Slave Trade
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1448
Portugal's continued involvement
Portugal makes profitable slave-trading agreements with Moorish and African chiefs. -
1502
Expansion begins
Around this time the Slave Trade began expanding with New World slavery of Africans beginning in Hispaniola. This marked the first African slaves to arrive in the New World in the service of the conquistadors. -
1518
Spain and the Slave Trade
King Charles I of Spain sanctions the direct transport of slaves from Africa to the American colonies. The slave trade is controlled by the Crown, which sells the right to import slaves to entrepreneurs. -
1530
Slaves Forcefully captured
The Portuguese begin using African slaves in Brazil. From then until the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888, at least 10 million Africans were forcibly brought to the Americas. For the Atlantic slave trade, captives were purchased from slave dealers in West African regions known as the Slave Coast. Africans were sold into slavery as a result of a defeat in warfare or kidnapping. By the 16th Century, Spanish missionaries, such as Antonio Montesino begun to criticize slavery. -
1542
Market For Slaves Grow
New Laws of 1542 discourage enslaving natives in the West Indies and the market for importing enslaved Africans begins to grow. -
1562
English and the Slave Trade
Around this time slave trading to Brazil became a regular occurrence, with anywhere from around 2,500-6,000 slaves kidnapped and transported each year. This led John Hawkins to command the first English slave-trading expedition. -
The Slave Trade has fully expanded
The Slave Trade saw a big expansion all across the world. FOr example, Dutch traders began transporting slaves regularly. Until then, only Portuguese/Brazilian and Spanish traders made regular voyages. -
The seek for Sugar
Colonial plantations in the Caribbean begin exporting sugar. British traders also begin capturing and shipping slaves regularly. -
Period: to
The Sugar Years
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Period: to
Colonies laws concerning slavery practices
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British Capture of Jamica
Britain takes Jamaica from Spain. Sugar exports from Jamaica will enrich British owners in the coming years. -
Slavery in the Colonies
The colonies, just like the European countries, saw a rise in slavery practices as well. Slavery was legalized in Virginia in the 1660s. Between 1700 and 1773, 80,000 or more slaves were imported into the colony. -
Virginia and Slavery
Virginia was notorious for its involvement in the slavery process. In 1662, Virginia passes a slave code declaring that a child born of a slave mother will be held to be a slave, regardless of its father's legal status. Virginia also passed another slave law declaring that "Baptisme doth not alter the condition of the person as to his bondage or freedome." -
Maryland and Slavery
Just like Virginia, Maryland also saw the passing of Slave laws. In 1664, Maryland made lifelong servitude for African slaves mandatory to prevent them from taking advantage of legal precedents established in England that grant freedom under various circumstances, including conversion to Christianity. Similar laws are passed in New York, New Jersey, the Carolinas, and Virginia. -
Slave Laws continue in Virginia
Virginia passes a slave code establishing compulsory servitude for the life of any slave, establishing slavery as an official institution of the English colonies. -
Slave Laws continue in Virginia pt2
Virginia declares that if an African slave died at the hands of a master who used "extremity of correction" to overcome the slave's "obstinacy," it was not murder. -
The Royal African Company is founded
The King of England charters the Royal African Company to bring the shiploads of slaves into trading centers like Jamestown, Hampton, and Yorktown in Virginia. -
Black Code in France
France issues the Code Noir (Black Code), a law that decrees how slaves are to be treated in French colonies and restricts the freedoms and privileges of free people of African descent. -
Virginia and Slavery pt2
Slaves charged with crimes in Virginia are tried in special non-jury courts. The purpose is not to guarantee due process, but to set an example speedily. In addition to the customary whipping, punishment includes hanging, burning at the stake, and dismemberment. -
England leads the Slave Trade and Triangle Trade introduced
The British Parliament opens the slave trade to all and the number of slaves transported on English ships increases dramatically to an average of 20,000 per year. The opening of the British slave shipping creates what becomes known as the "Triangle Trade." Merchant vessels care New England rum to African slavers, then African slaves on "the middle passage" to the West Indies, and finally, West Indian sugar and molasses to New England for the rum distilleries. -
Virginia Slave Code
The status of African-Americans is sealed with the passage of Virginia's slave code: "All servants imported and brought into the Country...who were not Christians in their native Country...shall be accounted and be slaves. All Negro, mulatto and Indian slaves within this dominion...shall be held to be real estate." -
The Great Awakening
The Great Awakening begins in Massachusetts. The movement spreads throughout the colonies, releasing religious fervor in both blacks and whites. As a result, many blacks join the Methodist and Baptist Churches. -
Period: to
The Abolition Movement Begins
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Opposition of Slavery begins
The Quaker's Philadelphia yearly meeting declares that slavery is inconsistent with Christianity. In 1761, slave traders are excluded from the Society of Friends, despite the fact that many Quakers own slaves. -
British Opposition
In the Somersett case, Britain's Lord Chief Justice William Murray rules that "as soon as any slave sets foot in England he becomes free. James Somersett, one of 10,000 black slaves in Britain, had escaped from his master and then was apprehended. -
British Parliament prohibits the slave trade
The British Parliament passes an act prohibiting British subjects from engaging in the slave trade after March 1, 1808. -
U.S. and British abolition takes effect.
Britain was a major participant in the slave trade, and an immediate impact is seen. The British and Americans also begin trying to police the trade, arresting ships of any nationality that they find transporting slaves, but it is difficult to stop. Portuguese, Spanish, and French ships continue to trade legally according to the laws of their countries. -
British Parliament prohibits the slave trade pt2
Slave trading is declared a felony punishable by exile in a penal colony for all British subjects or foreigners caught trading in British possessions. Britain assumes most of the responsibility for abolishing the transatlantic slave trade. -
British Parliament pays other countries to prohibit the Slave Trade
Around this time the British Parliament was serious about their prohibition of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. In 1815, Portugal accepted 750,000 British pounds to restrict the slave trade in Brazil. Then in 1816, Spain accepted 400,000 British pounds to abandon the slave trade to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo. -
Further Prohibition of the Slave Trade
In 1823, France prohibited ships from transporting slaves across the Mediterranean. A year later in 1824, Slave trading was declared by the British Parliament to be tantamount to piracy. Until 1837 slave traders faced the penalty of death. -
blah
Anglo-Brazilian Anti-Slave trade treaty is signed. Britain pressures Brazil, the largest importer of slaves at that time to sign the bill. In anticipation of the law coming into force, the trade actually jumps between 1827−1830. It declines in 1830, but Brazil's enforcement of the law is weak and the slave trade continues. -
Portugal begins anti-slave laws
Brazil begins enforcing its anti-slave trade laws. The trans-Atlantic trade drops precipitously. -
The End of the Slave Trade
With America passing the 13th amendment to abolish slavery in 1865, and the last ever slave voyage ending in 1867, the Slave Trade finally saw an end in 1888.
