"Although the Portuguese were the first to initiate the slave trade between Africa and Europe in the 15th century, Christopher Columbus, sailing for Spain, was the first to export natives from the Americas across the Atlantic to Europe, and so is generally considered to have established the transatlantic slave trade - as that term is usually understood - in 1492."
"The Doctrine of Discovery, issued by Pope Alexander VI in 1493, proclaimed the right of any Christian nation to take the land of non-Christians in the interests of saving their souls. That same year, the pope declared that non-Christian inhabitants of those lands could be enslaved for the same purpose. Slavery had long been established in Africa, prior to the arrival of Europeans, and so the apparatus for capturing and transporting human cargo was already in place."
"Portugal began exporting slaves from Africa to Europe in 1440, and, by 1530, other European nations had become involved. In time, this practice included the 'triangular trade' (triangle trade) between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with ships leaving European ports with goods, trading them in Africa for slaves, selling the slaves in the Americas, and returning to their home ports with American goods and raw materials."
The transatlantic slave trade operated from roughly 1492 to 1860, involving the capture and forced transport of Africans to the Americas. Portuguese traders began exporting African slaves to Europe in the 1440s, and other European nations joined by the early 16th century. Christopher Columbus's voyages initiated transatlantic human export in 1492, and papal decrees such as the 1493 Doctrine of Discovery authorized seizure and enslavement of non-Christian peoples. Between 12 million and 18 million Africans were transported as cargo. The triangular trade linked Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Slavery was institutionalized in North America by 1640 and the trade was legally abolished in 1808, though illegal practices persisted.
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