Humanities › History & Culture Timeline of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Print Charles Phelps Cushing/ClassicStock / Getty Images History & Culture American History Key Events Basics Important Historical Figures U.S. Presidents Native American History American Revolution America Moves Westward The Gilded Age Crimes & Disasters The Most Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution African American History African History Ancient History and Culture Asian History European History Genealogy Inventions Latin American History Medieval & Renaissance History Military History The 20th Century Women's History View More By Angela Thompsell Angela Thompsell Professor of British and African History Ph.D., History, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor M.A., History, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor B.A./B.S, History and Zoology, University of Florida Angela Thompsell, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of British and African History at SUNY Brockport. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on June 19, 2019 The slave trade in the Americas began in the 15th century when the European colonial forces in Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands forcibly stole people from their homes in Africa to do the hard labor that it took to power the economic engine of the New World. While white American enslavement of Black people was abolished in the mid-nineteenth century, the scars from this long period of forced labor have not healed, and hinder the growth and development of modern democracy to this day. Rise of the Slave Trade Hulton Archive / Getty Images 1441: Portuguese explorers take 12 enslaved people from Africa back to Portugal. 1502: First enslaved African people arrive in the New World in the forced service of the conquistadors. 1525: First voyage of enslaved people directly from Africa to the Americas. 1560: Slave trading to Brazil becomes a regular occurrence, with anywhere from around 2,500-6,000 enslaved people kidnapped and transported each year. 1637: Dutch traders begin transporting enslaved people regularly. Until then, only Portuguese/Brazilian and Spanish traders made regular voyages. Read More Origins of the Trans-Atlantic Trade of Enslaved People By Alistair Boddy-Evans Sugar Years Hulton Archive / Getty Images 1641: Colonial plantations in the Caribbean begin exporting sugar. British traders also begin capturing and shipping enslaved people regularly. 1655: Britain takes Jamaica from Spain. Sugar exports from Jamaica will enrich British owners in the coming years. 1685: France issues the Code Noir (Black Code), a law that decrees how enslaved people are to be treated in French colonies and restricts the freedoms and privileges of free people of African descent. The Abolition Movement Is Born Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images 1783: British Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade is founded. They will become a major force for abolition.1788: Société des Amis des Noirs (Society of the Friends of Blacks) is established in Paris. The French Revolution begins Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images 1791: An uprising of enslaved people, led by Toussaint Louverture begins in Saint-Domingue, France’s most lucrative colony1794: The revolutionary French National Convention abolishes slavery in French colonies, but it is reinstated under Napoleon in 1802-1803.1804: Saint-Domingue achieves independence from France and is renamed Haiti. It becomes the first republic in the New World to be governed by a majority Black population1803: Denmark-Norway’s abolition of the slave trade, passed in 1792, takes effect. The impact is minimal, though, as Danish traders account for just over 1.5 percent of the trade by that date.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 enslaved people, but it is difficult to stop. Portuguese, Spanish, and French ships continue to trade legally according to the laws of their countries.1811: Spain abolishes slavery in its colonies, but Cuba opposes the policy and it is not enforced for many years. Spanish ships can also still legally participate in the slave trade.1814: The Netherlands abolishes slave trading.1817: France abolishes slave trading, but the law does not go into effect until 1826. 1819: Portugal agrees to abolish slave trading, but only north of the equator, which means that Brazil, the largest importer of enslaved people, could continue to participate in the slave trade.1820: Spain abolishes the slave trade. The Ending of the Slave Trade Buyenlarge / Getty Images 1830: Anglo-Brazilian Anti-Slave trade treaty is signed. Britain pressures Brazil, the largest importer of enslaved people 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 slave trade continues. 1833: Britain passes a law banning slavery in its colonies. Enslaved people are to be released over a period of years, with the final release scheduled for 1840. 1850: Brazil begins enforcing its anti-slave trade laws. The trans-Atlantic trade drops precipitously. 1865: America passes the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. 1867: Last trans-Atlantic voyage of captive enslaved people. 1888: Brazil abolishes slavery. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Thompsell, Angela. "Timeline of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/trans-atlantic-slave-trade-timeline-4156303. Thompsell, Angela. (2020, August 27). Timeline of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/trans-atlantic-slave-trade-timeline-4156303 Thompsell, Angela. "Timeline of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/trans-atlantic-slave-trade-timeline-4156303 (accessed April 25, 2024). copy citation