Atlantic Slave Trade System

Timeline

1. 1501–1505Hispaniola · CaribbeanIn 1501 the Spanish crown formally licensed the importation of African slaves to its American colonies to fill the labor gap left by collapsing indigenous populations. Sugar cultivation and gold mining on Caribbean islands such as Hispaniola became early destinations for the slave trade, marking its shift from experimental transport to institutionalized supply.
2. 1506–1510Gulf of Guinea to Caribbean route · West African coastPortuguese merchants obtained slaves through Gulf of Guinea ports, while Spanish colonists purchased labor through the asiento concession system, with slave fleets crossing the Atlantic along fixed routes. By around 1510 the annual number of enslaved people shipped to the Americas kept rising, and the triangular trade network took initial shape.