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Global African History Timelines: To 1800

Global African American History Timelines:

This timeline covers all the events not listed on the African American History or African American History in the West timelines.

 

YearEventssort iconSubjectCountryEra
5-2.5 million BCESkeletal remains uncovered suggest the Rift Valley in East Africa is home to the earliest human ancestors. 00-011492-1600
4-2.7 million BCEHominid species Australopithicus afarensis lived in the Hadar region of Ethiopia, including "Lucy," the famous skeletal remains found in 1974.00-01a1492-1600
600,000 to 200,000 BCEPeriod of migration across the African continent and out of Africa to Asia and Europe. Fire is first used during this period.00-01aa1492-1600
6000-4000 BCESpread of agriculture across Africa. River societies emerge along the Nile, Niger, and Congo Rivers.00-01ab1492-1600
5000 BCE (ca.)Egyptian agriculturalists develop irrigation and animal husbandry to transform the lower Nile Valley. The rise in the food supply generates a rapidly increasing population. Agricultural surpluses and growing wealth allow specialization including glass making, pottery, metallurgy, weaving, woodworking, leather making, and masonry.00-021492-1600
4500 BCE (ca.)Egyptians begin using burial texts to accompany their dead into the afterlife. This is the first evidence of written texts anywhere in the world. 00-031492-1600
4000 BCE (ca.)Egypt emerges as a centralized state and flourishing civilization.00-041492-1600
2700-1087 BCE (ca.)Period of the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt and Northeastern Africa.00-051492-1600
2500 BCE (ca.)Nubian state with its capital at Kerma emerges as a rival to Egypt. 00-061492-1600
2500 BCE (ca.)Other civilizations emerge in Mesopotamia, northern China, Northeastern India.00-061492-1600
1500 BCE (ca.)Egyptian New Kingdom unites the Nile Valley including Nubia. 00-06a1492-1600
1069 BCENubia briefly regains its independence from Egypt. 00-06b1492-1600
1000-800 BCE (ca.)Bantu migration out of present-day eastern Nigeria spreads across Sub-Saharan Africa.00-06c1492-1600
750 (ca.)Islam is introduced into West Africa, reaching what is now the nation of Chad.00-06d1492-1600
750-664 BCENubian Pharaohs rule the entire Nile Valley during the 25th Dynasty. 00-06e1492-1600
500 BCEAxum emerges in Northeastern Africa. Axum eventually becomes the nation of Ethiopia. 00-071492-1600
500-1400An extensive slave trade develops in Medieval Europe. The vast majority of the slaves originate in what is now Russia and eastern Europe but slaves come from every society on the continent. By 1300 a small number of slaves are of African origin.00-071492-1600
500 BCEAncient Nok culture emerges in what is now Nigeria.00-071492-1600
500 (ca.)Bantu-speakers arrive in what is now South Africa with iron and domesticated cattle.00-071492-1600
500 (ca.)Beginning of the trans-Saharan salt and gold trade in West Africa.00-071492-1600
332 BCEEgypt is conquered by Alexander the Great. Ptolemy becomes the first ruler of a dynasty that will control Egypt until 283 BCE. 00-07c1492-1600
300 BCE (ca.)Rulers of Nubia establish a new kingdom at Meroe. The Kingdom, which will be called Kush, will last there for more than nine centuries. 00-081492-1600
247-183 BCEHannibal rules Carthage. During his reign, Roman Italy is invaded.00-08a1492-1600
200 BCEAlexandria on the Mediterranean Sea is the scientific capital of the Hellenistic world, famous for its museum, university, and library.00-08ab1492-1600
200 BCESettlement is established at Jenne on the Niger River in West Africa.00-08b1492-1600
200The State of Ghana begins to evolve in the West African Sudan. It is located in what is now Burkina Faso, 00-08b1492-1600
146 BCERome conquers Carthage and establishes its first significant presence on the African continent.00-08c1492-1600
160 BCETerence Afer (the African) is considered one of the the Roman Empire's finest Latin translators and poets.00-08c1492-1600
50 BCE-476 CESlavery is a major feature of the Roman Empire for several hundred years. Over two million slaves from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are in Roman Italy at the end of the Republic.00-08ca1492-1600
47-30 BCECleopatra VIII Rules Egypt.00-08d1492-1600
23 BCERomans invade Kush, sack the capital at Napata. 00-08e1492-1600
694-95"African slaves near Basra (in modern Iraq) under Rabah Shir Zanji (the ""Lion of the Zanj"") rise in rebellion against their owners. " 00-091492-1600
569Nubia is converted to Christianity. A cathedral is established at Faras to establish the Christian era in Nubia. 00-091492-1600
880Beta Israel (Falashas) settle in Ethiopia. 00-091492-1600
700 (ca.)Arabs initiate a slave trade that sends sub-Saharan Africans to both Europe and Asia. An estimated 14 million Africans are sold between 700 and 1910.00-091492-1600
890Beginning of the Kingdom of Songhai. 00-091492-1600
850Beginning of the construction of the Citadel of Great Zimbabwe. 00-091492-1600
620Beginning of trans-Indian trade as reflected by Chinese coins from the period found on the East Coast of Africa.00-091492-1600
745Christian Nubians and Ethiopians invade and temporarily occupy Muslim Egypt. 00-091492-1600
642Egypt is conquered and converted to Islam. New Islamic capital of Cairo is established.00-091492-1600
800Emergence of Swahili (Arab and Bantu) cities such as Manda and Kilwa on the East African coast. 00-091492-1600
525Ethiopia defeats the Jewish prince Dhu Nuwas, to establish Christianity in Yemen.00-091492-1600
540Ethiopian monks begin to translate the Bible into their own language.00-091492-1600
800 (ca.)Evidence suggests that African travelers may have come to the Americas before Europeans. One indication is the great stone carvings of the Olmec era in Mexico, bearing African facial features.00-091492-1600
350Ezana destroys Meroe, the capital of Kush. 00-091492-1600
333Ezana, the ruler of Axum (Ethiopia) converts to Christianity 00-091492-1600
740Islamized Africans (Moors) invade Spain and rule it until 1492.00-091492-1600
570Kingdom of Kanem-Bornu begins to emerge around Lake Chad in West Africa. 00-091492-1600
1-33 ADLife and Era of Jesus Christ, beginnings of Christianity.00-091492-1600
570-632Life and Era of the Prophet Muhammad, beginnings of Islam.00-091492-1600
945Malayo-Indonesian raid from Madagascar is launched on East African coastal city of Sofala. 00-091492-1600
678Muslim Arab armies reach the Atlantic coast of North Africa.00-091492-1600
615Muslim refugees from Arabia given refuge in Axum (Ethiopia) 00-091492-1600
740Muslims from Arabia and Persia are trading on the East African coast.00-091492-1600
908Permanent Arab trading settlements established in Somalia.00-091492-1600
690Sudanic city state of Gao is founded on the Niger River in West Africa. 00-091492-1600
992The Empire of Ghana captures Berber city of Awdaghost and gains control over trans-Saharan trade. 00-091492-1600
975The Christian Kingdom of Axum is overrun by Muslims. 00-091492-1600
869-83Thousands of black slaves in what is now southern Iraq will take up arms against their masters in the Zanj Rebellion and declare their independence from the Abbasid Caliphate. They will control the region and operate as an independent state for fourteen years until troops from Baghdad finally conquer the region. 00-091492-1600
420Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo in North Africa argues for the equality of all human beings.00-09a1492-1600
1536Alessandro de' Medici, the Duke of Florence, weds Margaret of Habsburg, the daughter of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and at the time the most powerful monarch in Europe. 01-011492-1600
1537Alessandro de' Medici, the first Duke of Florence, is assassinated by his cousin, Lorenzino, who then flees to Venice. 01-011492-1600
1598Isabel de Olvera, a free mulatto, accompanies the Juan Guerra de Resa Expedition which colonizes what is now New Mexico. 01-011492-1600
1591Martin de Porres, a Roman Catholic priest, begins his missionary and medical work among the poor in Lima, Peru. On January 10, 1945, Fray Martin de Porres was officially named patron saint of social justice in Peru by Pope Pius XII, becoming the Americas first cannonized black clergy. 01-011492-1600
1776Sultanate of Kilwa on the East African coast agrees to supply enslaved people from the interior for the French sugar plantations on Reunion and Mauritius. This agreement dramatically increases the slave trade in the region. 01-011701-1800
1527-1539Esteban, a Moroccan-born Muslim slave, explores what is now the Southwestern United States. 01-011492-1600
1787Sierra Leone is founded by British abolitionists as a colony for emancipated slaves. 01-011701-1800
1076Ghanaian Empire falls to the Almoravids, Ghana's political leaders convert to Islam. 01-011492-1600
1760Abram Petrovich Hannibal,a former slave who later becomes the godson of Peter the Great, is appointed a general in the Russian Army. A trained engineer he oversaw various projects such as the construction of the Ladoga Canal and a number of Russian fortresses. 01-011701-1800
1100 (ca.)Hausa city-states emerge in what is now Northern Nigeria. 01-011492-1600
1200 (ca.)King Lalibela of Ethiopia begins construction of rock-cut churches. 01-011492-1600
1450 (ca.)Monomutapa Empire emerges in Southern Africa, breaks from and then absorbs the declining Zimbabwe Empire. 01-011492-1600
1747Oyo is the major military power along the West African coast from Dahomey to the Niger Delta. 01-011701-1800
1627Nzinga, Queen of Mbundu, is victorious in a war with Portugal. 01-011601-1700
1644Queen Nzinga, supported by Dutch allies, captures Luanda from the Portuguese. 01-011601-1700
1779Joseph de Bologne\Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, an Officer of the Royal Guard of King Louis XVI, was an accomplished composer who in 1779 began performing music with Queen Marie-Antoinette. 01-011701-1800
1468Empire of Songhai under Sunni Ali conquers Mali and becomes the largest state in West Africa. 01-011492-1600
1570Gaspar Yanga, Known as the Primer Libertador de America or the first liberator of the Americas, led colonial Mexico's first successful slave uprising and later established one of the New World's first black settlements. 01-011492-1600
1670A French royal decree brings French shippers into the slave trade, with the rationale that the labor of enslaved Africans helps the growth of France's island colonies. 01-011601-1700
1670A French royal decree brings French shippers into the slave trade, with the rationale that the labor of enslaved Africans helps the growth of France's island colonies. 01-011601-1700
1590A Moroccan army invades Songhai and captures Timbuktu the following year, 1591. 01-011492-1600
1543A Spanish royal decree prohibits the enslavement of Muslims in the West Indies who have converted to Christianity.01-011492-1600
1667A treaty between Great Britain and Holland gives Surinam to the Dutch in exchange for New York which is given to the British. 01-011601-1700
1441Act of Union signed in Rome between the Church of Ethiopia and the Church of Rome.01-011492-1600
1565African farmers and artisans accompany Pedro Menendez de Aviles on the expedition that establishes the community of San Agustin (St. Augustine, Florida). 01-011492-1600
1486African slaves rebel in Bengal (India) and install their own leader, Firuz Shah as sultan. He rules for three years, 1487-1490. 01-011492-1600
1522African slaves stage a rebellion in Hispaniola. This is the first slave uprising in the New World. 01-011492-1600
1734African-born scholar Anton Wilhelm Amo receives a doctorate degree from the University of Wittenberg in Germany where he defended his dissertation. After he is awarded his doctorate he lectures at the University of Halle in Germany. Amo is the first African to receive a doctorate and to teach at a university. 01-011701-1800
1400Africans in Christian religious iconography proliferate across Europe, including Balthazar and the Saints, Maurice and Gregory01-011492-1600
1560Africans outnumber Europeans 15 to 1 on the island of Hispaniola.01-011492-1600
1540Africans serve in the New Mexico Expeditions of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and Hernando de Alarcon. 01-011492-1600
1565Afro-Spanish scholar Juan Latino is appointed the grammar chairman at Cathedral School of Granada. 01-011492-1600
1570Afro-Spanish scholar Juan Latino publishes the first of three books of poetry. 01-011492-1600
1693All fugitive Africans who have escaped slavery in the British colonies and fled to Florida are granted their freedom by the Spanish monarchy. 01-011601-1700
1540An African from Hernando de Soto's Expedition decides to remain behind to make his home among the Native Americans there. 01-011492-1600
1415An ambassador from Malindi, a leading East African city-state, is sent to the royal court of the Chinese Emperor. 01-011492-1600
1675An estimated 100,000 Africans are enslaved in the British West Indies and another 5,000 are in British North America. 01-011601-1700
1441Antam Goncalvez of Portugal captures Africans in what is now Senegal and transports them to Lisbon, initiating direct European involvement in the African slave trade.01-011492-1600
1450Approximately 1,000 slaves per year are transported to Europe.01-011492-1600
1460Approximately 1,000 sub-Saharan African slaves are brought directly to Europe each year.01-011492-1600
1783Approximately 3,000 black supporters of the British during the American Revolution were repatriated to British Canada at the end of the conflict. 01-011701-1800
1055Awdaghost is overrun by the Almoravids.01-011492-1600
1400 (ca.)Beginning of the production of bronze statues in the Empire of Benin. 01-011492-1600
1270Beginning of the Solomonid Dynasty in Ethiopia.01-011492-1600
1150Beginning of the Zagwe Dynasty in Ethiopia.01-011492-1600
1517Bishop Bartolome de Las Casas petitions Spain to allow the importation of twelve enslaved Africans for each household immigrating to America's Spanish colonies. De Las Casas later regrets his actions and becomes an opponent of slavery. 01-011492-1600
1620Black Catholic clergyman Martin de Porres founds an orphanage and foundling hospital in Lima Peru. 01-011601-1700
1760Boers cross the Orange River to begin settlement in the interior of South Africa. 01-011701-1800
1783British take control of St. Kitts & Nevis. 01-011701-1800
1783British take control of St. Vincent & the Grenadines. 01-011701-1800
1340Building of the Great Mosque at Jenne in the Mali Empire. 01-011492-1600
1400By this date a flourishing slave trade exists in the Mediterranean World. Most of the slaving countries are Italian principalities such as Florence and Venice. Most of those enslaved are Greeks and Eastern Europeans. Between 1414 and 1423, ten thousand Eastern European slaves are sold in Venice alone.01-011492-1600
1550By this date enslaved people have replaced gold as the principal object of European trade with Africa. 01-011492-1600
1542By this date over thirty thousand Africans are in Hispaniola with 10% living in Maroon colonies in the interior of the island.01-011492-1600
1260By this date the city of Timbuktu is the religious, commercial, and political center of the Empire of Mali. 01-011492-1600
1470By this point small vineyards and sugar plantations have emerged around Naples and on the island of Sicily with Africans as the primary enslaved people providing the labor on these estates.01-011492-1600
1684Changamire defeats a Portuguese army at the Battle of Maungwe. The battle initiates a military campaign between the Changamire Empire and Portugal which will continue until 1917. 01-011601-1700
1492Christopher Columbus makes his first voyage to the New World opening a vast new empire for plantation slavery. 01-011492-1600
1494Columbus claims Jamaica for the Spanish. 01-011492-1600
1610Dahomey emerges as the first of a series of slave-trading states along the West African coast. 01-011601-1700
1731Dahomey is conquered by Oyo, a rising West African state. 01-011701-1800
1250Emergence of the Empire of Benin in present-day Nigeria. Benin is the first major centralized state in the West African Rain Forest. 01-011492-1600
1562Englishman John Hawkins begins trading slaves across the Atlantic when he leaves what is now Sierra Leone with a shipment of 300 enslaved people bound for Hispaniola. This is the first major example of English participation in the slave trade. 01-011492-1600
1520sEnslaved Africans are used as laborers in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico. 01-011492-1600
1635Enslaved Africans brought in by Puritan settlers become the first blacks to reside in Bluefields, Nicaragua. Eventually Bluefields will become the largest settlement of persons of African ancestry in Central America. 01-011601-1700
1750 (ca.)Escaped slaves from other Caribbean island settle on St. Vincent, intermarry with the indigenous Caribs and become the Garifuna (Black Caribs). The island is officially controlled by French settlers. 01-011701-1800
1636Ethiopian Emperor Fasiladas establishes a new capital at Gondar. 01-011601-1700
1602Ethiopian-born Malik Ambar seizes a vast area in the Deccan (the Indian interior). He founds the city of Khadki which will become his new capital, and rules this region until his death in 1626. 01-011601-1700
1549Father Manuel de Nobrega arrives in Bahia from Lisbon and soon afterwards protests the enslavement of Africans.01-011492-1600
1474Ferdinand and Isabella, the rulers of Aragon and Castile (Modern Spain) create the office of Mayor of the Africans in Seville.01-011492-1600
1518First African slaves shipped directly from West Africa (the Guinea Coast) to the West Indies, bypassing transshipment to Spain.01-011492-1600
1638France's North American colonies open to trade in enslaved Africans. 01-011601-1700
1548Free and enslaved black artisans in Peru manufacture swords, lances, and rosaries for the Spanish army.01-011492-1600
1609Fugitive slaves in Mexico, led by Yanga, sign a truce with Spanish colonial authorities and obtain their freedom and a town of their own. 01-011601-1700
1630Fugitive slaves under Zumbi create the independent state of Palmares in the interior of Portuguese Brazil. Palmares continues until 1695 when the Portuguese regain control of the region. 01-011601-1700
1400 (ca.)Gold trade flourishes in the Zambezi River Valley and its Indian Ocean port, Sofala. 01-011492-1600
1538Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada founds Bogota. His party includes enslaved and free Africans.01-011492-1600
1759Great Britain gains control over the Caribbean island of Dominica, 01-011701-1800
1519Hernan Cortez begins his conquest of the Aztec Empire. Black Spaniards, including Juan Garrido are among the Conquistadors. 01-011492-1600
1540Juan Valiente, former slave and Indian fighter, receives a large estate near Santiago as a reward for his participation in campaigns against the Incas.01-011492-1600
1410Kano is the leading Hausa city-state. It has developed an Army which includes cavalry equipped with iron weaponry and armor. 01-011492-1600
1518King Charles I of Spain grants the first licenses to import enslaved Africans to the Americas. 01-011492-1600
1672King Charles II of England charters the Royal African Company, which dominates the slave trade to North America for the next half century. 01-011601-1700
1390 (ca.)Kingdom of the Kongo emerges in central Africa.01-011492-1600
1548Large numbers of African slaves are working in the sliver mines of Zacatecas.01-011492-1600
1781Los Angeles is founded by fifty-four settlers including twenty-six of African ancestry. 01-011701-1800
1260Mansa Ule makes the first pilgrimage of a Mali ruler to Mecca. 01-011492-1600
1500Many sub-Saharan slaves are brought to Portugal, Spain, Italy and Sicily for Christianization before they are transported to the Americas.01-011492-1600
1520Marriage of St. Ursula to Prince Conan, a painting in a Lisbon monastery, depicts several African musicians performing for royalty.01-011492-1600
1431Ming admiral Zheng He reaches Malindi on the East African coast, initiates a period of regular commerce between the Swahili city-states on the east African coast and China. 01-011492-1600
1300Muslim Merchants mainly of Arabic origin establish the Kingdom of Ifat in the Ethiopian highlands.01-011492-1600
1364Norman navigators reach the mouth of the Senegal River. First known presence of Europeans in sub Saharan Africa.01-011492-1600
1506Nzinga Mbemba, King of the Kongo is baptized by Portuguese officials and becomes Afonso I, the first Catholic king of the Kongo (modern day Congo and Angola). 01-011492-1600
1772On June 22, Lord Chief Mansfield rules in the James Somerset case that an enslaved person brought to England becomes free and cannot be returned to slavery, laying the legal basis for the freeing of England's 15,000 slaves. 01-011701-1800
1552Panama experiences its first slave insurrection. The resistance led by Bayano (or Vaino) leads to the founding of a maroon colony in eastern Panama. In 1570 the colonists establish the town of Santiago del Principe. 01-011492-1600
1324Pilgrimage of Mansa Musa, the most prominent ruler of Mali, to Mecca. 01-011492-1600
1529Pope Clement VII choses nineteen-year-old Alessandro de' Medici, the son of Lorenzo de' Medici, and a former African slave named Simonetta, to become the first Duke of Florence. 01-011492-1600
1462Pope Pious II signs a papal bull with forbids enslavement of Africans recently converted to Christianity.01-011492-1600
1761Portugal abolishes slavery in mainland Portugal and its possessions in India. 01-011701-1800
1491Portuguese envoy Pero da Coviha reaches Sofala on the Indian Ocean. By 1500 the Portuguese will establish trading posts along the East African coast. 01-011492-1600
1592Portuguese forces are defeated by the Zimba in the Zambezi Valley.01-011492-1600
1565Portuguese settlers, including African slaves, found Rio de Janeiro.01-011492-1600
1573Professor Bartolome de Albornoz of the University of Mexico writes against the enslavement and sale of Africans. 01-011492-1600
1450 (ca.)Sankore University and Mosque are founded at Timbuktu in the Songhai Empire. 01-011492-1600
1200 (ca)Slavery ends in England but continues in Ireland. Slavery flourishes among the European nations along the Mediterranean as well as all of North Africa.01-011492-1600
1772Slavery is declared illegal in England. 01-011701-1800
1793Slavery is declared illegal in Upper Canada. 01-011701-1800
1490Small populations of free and enslaved Africans extend for Sicily to Portugal.01-011492-1600
1787Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade is founded in London. 01-011701-1800
1400 (ca.)Songhai breaks free of the Mali Empire. 01-011492-1600
1536Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires. Among his party are a number of enslaved and free Africans.01-011492-1600
1526Spanish colonists led by Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon build the community of San Miguel de Guadape in what is now Georgia. They bring along enslaved Africans, considered to be the first in the present-day United States. These Africans flee the colony, however, and make their homes with local Indians. After Ayllon's death, the remaining Spaniards relocate to Hispaniola. 01-011492-1600
1524Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro overruns Ecuador and Peru. Among his conquering forces are free and enslaved Africans serving as sailors, soldiers, and laborers.01-011492-1600
1474Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella creat toe office of Mayor of the Africans in Seville.01-011492-1600
1260Spanish slavery code prevents married couples from being separated, provides legal protection against mistreatment, and allows slaves to inherit property.01-011492-1600
1568Spanish trade between Mexico and the Philippines introduces enslaved Africans to the Philippines. 01-011492-1600
1100 (ca.)Stone-built Great Zimbabwe is the capital of the surrounding state of Zimbabwe. 01-011492-1600
1433Taureg raiders conquer Timbuktu and briefly gain control over the western trans-Saharan trade routes. 01-011492-1600
1680The Ashanti Empire emerges in West Africa. 01-011601-1700
1600 (ca.)The Buganda Kingdom emerges along the shore of Lake Victoria. Its principal rival is the neighboring state of Bunyoro. 01-011601-1700
1681The Changamire Empire emerges in southern Africa. 01-011601-1700
1791The Haitian Revolution begins. 01-011701-1800
1230The Empire of Mali emerges in West Africa under Sundiata. 01-011492-1600
1460The Sultan of Bengal acquires 500 African slaves, dramatically increasing the slave trade on the Indian subcontinent. 01-011492-1600
1724The Black Code is enacted in New Orleans, French Territory, to control blacks and banish Jews. 01-011701-1800
1795The British capture the Cape of Good Hope and Capetown from the Dutch. 01-011701-1800
1661The British establish their first permanent settlement in Africa when they build Fort James at the mouth of the Gambia River. 01-011601-1700
1750The British take control of Grenada and introduce an economy dominated by slave labor. 01-011701-1800
1660The British take control of Jamaica. 01-011601-1700
1657The Danes drive out the Swedes from Carolusberg castle and take control over the trade in enslaved people along that coastal area of West Africa. 01-011601-1700
1660The Dutch defeat the Khoisan people and claim the right of conquest as boers (farmers) expand their control beyond the Cape peninsula. 01-011601-1700
1652The Dutch establish a naval supply station at the Cape of Good Hope. This supply station will become the first permanent white colony in Southern Africa. 01-011601-1700
1617The Dutch purchase Goree Island to establish their presence in the commerce of enslaved people. 01-011601-1700
1427The Ethiopian emperor, Yeshaq, sends an envoy to the King of Aragon (Spain) to forge an alliance against the Muslims.01-011492-1600
1494The first Africans arrive in Hispaniola with Christopher Columbus. They are free persons. 01-011492-1600
1511The first enslaved Africans arrive in Hispaniola. 01-011492-1600
1518The first shipload of enslaved Africans directly from Africa arrives in the West Indies. Prior to this time, Africans were brought first to Europe. 01-011492-1600
1550The first slave insurrection is recorded in Nicaragua.01-011492-1600
1550The first slave insurrection is recorded in Peru.01-011492-1600
1550The first slaves directly from Africa arrive in the Brazilian city of Salvador. 01-011492-1600
1796The French crush a revolt by the Garifuna in St Vincent. In the aftermath nearly 5,000 Black Caribs (Garifuna) migrate to Honduras and British Honduras. 01-011701-1800
1634The French establish St. Louis, their first settlement in what is now Senegal. 01-011601-1700
1670The French establish a trading station at Offa on the Dahomey coast. 01-011601-1700
1794The French Government abolishes slavery. The law is repealed by Napoleon in 1802. 01-011701-1800
1650The French take control of the island of Grenada. 01-011601-1700
1750The French take control of the Seychelles Islands. 01-011701-1800
1697The island of Hispaniola is divided between France which takes the western third, and Spain which retains the eastern two thirds. 01-011601-1700
1740The Lunda Kingdom emerges in central Africa. 01-011701-1800
1698The Omani Arabs take control of Mombasa in East Africa and the island of Zanzibar the following year. 01-011601-1700
1453The Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople and thus divert the trade in Eastern European slaves away from the Mediterranean to Islamic markets. The Italians increasingly look to North Africa as their source for slaves.01-011492-1600
1590The Portuguese are defeated by the combined African armies of Matamba and Ndongo.01-011492-1600
1615 (ca.)The Portuguese are exporting approximately 10,000 enslaved people per year to its Brazilian colony. 01-011601-1700
1470The Portuguese begin trading along the Gold Coast of West Africa.01-011492-1600
1482The Portuguese build Fort Sao Jorge da Mina (El Mina) on the Gold Coast. The fort was the first permanent structure built by Europeans in subSaharan Africa. 01-011492-1600
1662The Portuguese defeat the Kingdom of the Kongo at the Battle of Ambuila. 01-011601-1700
1434The Portuguese establish trading outposts along the West African coast.01-011492-1600
1491The Portuguese King establish diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Kongo and sends Catholic missionaries to the African ruler's court.01-011492-1600
1645The Portuguese take enslaved people from Mozambique to Brazil for the first time. 01-011601-1700
1784The Shelburne (Nova Scotia) Race Riot is caused by resentment over David George, a black Baptist preacher, baptizing white residents and organizing racially integrated churches. 01-011701-1800
1542The Spanish Crown abolishes Indian slavery in its colonial possessions. 01-011492-1600
1501The Spanish king allows the introduction of enslaved Africans into Spain's American colonies. 01-011492-1600
1734The Sultan of Bornu takes control of the neighboring state of Kanem, creating the Kanem-Bornu Empire in the central sudan region. 01-011701-1800
1650The Sultan of Oman ends Portuguese control over the East African city-states. 01-011601-1700
1752The Sultanate of Darfur extends from Kanem Bornu in the west to the Nile Valley. 01-011701-1800
1651The Swedes capture Carolusberg castle on the Gold Coast from the Dutch and establish their first slave trading center on the West African coast. 01-011601-1700
1617The town of San Lorenzo de los Negros receives a charter from Spanish colonial officials in Mexico and becomes the first officially recognized free settlement for blacks in the New World. 01-011601-1700
1513Thirty Africans accompany Vasco Nunez de Balboa on his trip to the Pacific Ocean. 01-011492-1600
1549Tome de Souza founds Sao Salvador in Bahia, Brazil. He is accompanied by a number of African slaves.01-011492-1600
1150Tsaraki dan Gimimasu, the ruler of Kano, completes the wall around the city. Kano will become the largest and most significant of the Hausa city-states. 01-011492-1600
1552Venezuela records its first slave insurrection.01-011492-1600
1742Jacobus Ellisa Capitein, an African-born Dutch scholar, receives an advanced degree from the University of Leiden for his dissertation on slavery and Christian liberty. 17421701-1800
1789Child musical prodigy George Bridgetower of Great Britain gives his first public violin performance in Paris at the age of 10. 17891601-1700
1791Slaves on Dominica initiate an unsuccessful rebellion against English plantation owners.17911701-1800
1791The Haitian Revolution begins when Toussaint L'Overture leads slaves in Saint-Domingue in a rebellion against French rule. 17911701-1800
1792The British government grants a charter to the Sierra Leone Company which is founded by abolitionists for the purpose of establishing a free labor colony for former slaves on the west coast of Africa. 17921701-1800
1793The British government outlaws the importation of enslaved people into Upper Canada (Ontario). The law also frees the children of enslaved women when those children reach the ago of twenty-five.17931701-1800
1796After Maroons in Jamaica attempt to instigate a general rebellion of slaves on the island, the British capture 600 of them and ship them to Nova Scotia and eventually to Sierra Leone. 17961701-1800
1796Slaves revolt in Saint Lucia. The rebellion ends when the British agree to free those who lay down their weapons.17961701-1800
1797British troops in the Cape Colony wage war against the Xhosa, initiating a series of wars of expansion that will eventually result in their conquest of all of South Africa. 17971701-1800
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