Sugar Plantations and the Slave Trade

By charlotte.reece10
  • 1482

    First Slave Trade Post is Set Up

    First Slave Trade Post is Set Up
    The Portuguese set up the first slave-trade post in the New World in the year of 1482.
  • 1501

    First Sugar Harvest is Made

    First Sugar Harvest is Made
    The first sugar harvest took place in Hispanola in 1501.
  • 1540

    Thousands of Sugar Mills Exist in South America

    Thousands of Sugar Mills Exist in South America
    By the year of 1540, thousands of sugar mills had sprouted along the coast of Brazil; there were 800 on Santa Catarina alone.
  • 1542

    Slave Market Grows Substantially

    Slave Market Grows Substantially
    The need for imported slaves from Africa grew considerably after the New Laws of 1542 discourages enslaving natives.

  • Sugarcane Moves to Caribbean

    Sugarcane Moves to Caribbean
    The Dutch were the ones to initially carry sugar from Brazil to the Caribbean islands.

  • Sugarcane and Nevis

    Sugarcane and Nevis
    Sugarcane came to the island of Nevis in the 1640s, and quickly became a lucrative crop on the island. Sugar, rum, and molasase soon made up 92% of its exports, and the slave population on the island was raised substantially as more mills came up.

  • Royal African Company is Founded

    Royal African Company is Founded
    The Royal African Company is founded by Charles II and brother, and goes on to exploit the slave trade for years.

  • Most Slaves Work on Sugar Plantations

    Most Slaves Work on Sugar Plantations
    By 1680, sugar became the overwhelming reason that slaves were transported to the New World, and a majority of slaves there worked with sugar in some way, shape, or form.

  • Transatlantic Slave Trade is Abolished

    Transatlantic Slave Trade is Abolished
    More than two centuries after its initial start, England abolished the transatlantic slave trade in 1807. By this point in time sugar was the most established and popular crop, and the population on many islands in the Caribbean were up to 80% black.