Panama as a Slave Trade Hub

Timeline

1. 1522–1524Panama City · PanamaPedro Arias Dávila founded Panama City (Old Panama) on the Pacific coast, replacing the earlier Atlantic-side colonial outpost. Ports on both ends of the isthmus were linked, providing infrastructure for transoceanic transfer of people and goods.
2. 1524–1528Overland route from Nombre (Atlantic coast) to Panama City · PanamaSpanish colonists imported African slaves through Caribbean ports (such as Nombre, predecessor of Portobello), transported them overland by jungle trails across the isthmus to Panama City on the Pacific coast, and then shipped them by sea to Peru and other colonies. Around 1524 such transfers became increasingly frequent, and Panama became a key node in the slave trafficking chain.
3. 1528–1530Isthmus of Panama · PanamaAs the conquest of Peru advanced, demand for shipping slaves to the Pacific side via Panama continued to grow. Ports, warehouses, and transfer facilities at both ends of the isthmus were continuously improved, and Panama's status as a transit hub of the Spanish American slave trade was essentially established by the late 1520s.