1498
King Henry VII grant privileges and permission to John Cabot and his three sons to discover new and unknown lands for the empire.
1497
John Cabot, an Italian sponsored by King Henry VII of England, makes landfall on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland.
1496
Columbus returns from his second voyage, carrying around 30 Native American slaves.
1493
On his second voyage, Columbus again reaches the New World (modern Dominica), and initiates the first transatlantic slave voyage, a shipment of several hundred Taino people sent from Hispaniola to Spain.
1492
The Moorish town of Granada surrenders to the Spanish forces of the Catholic Kings, Ferdinand and Isabella, marking the end of La Reconquista, the war between Moors and Spaniards in the Iberian Peninsula.
1481
Despite Papal opposition, Spanish merchants begin to trade in large numbers of slaves in the 1470s.
1476
Carlos de Valera of Castille in Spain brings back 400 slaves from Africa.
Carlos de Valera of Castille in Spain brings back 400 slaves from Africa.
1472
Portuguese negotiate the first slave trade agreement that also includes gold and ivory. By the end of the 19th Century, over 11 million Africans would arrive in the Americas.
1470
Despite Papal opposition, Spanish merchants begin to trade in large numbers of slaves in the 1470s.
1462
The Portuguese colony on the Cape Verde Islands is founded, an important way-station in the slave trade.