| 1441 | Portuguese sailors take the first shipload of Africans to Europe as slaves. |
| 1444 | First large group of enslaved Africans brought to Europe. |
| 1482 | Elmina Castle (one of the most known slave trading forts in West Africa) built by the Portuguese; first European fort built on the Gold Coast. |
| 1498 | Columbus takes black slaves to Hispaniola. |
| 1502 | First record of African slave in the New World. |
| 1510 | King Ferdinand authorizes the shipment of a group of Africans to Santo Domingo, thus beginning systematic importation of slaves into the New World. |
| 1517 | First Importation of Africans into Jamaica. |
| 1518 | First black cargo direct from Africa arrives in the West Indies. |
| 1538 | First Negro slaves brought to Brazil. |
| 1562 | Sir John Hawkins sets out on his first slaving voyage. |
| 1607 | The Dutch West India Company is established and dominates early slave trade to the Americas. |
| 1619 | The first black slaves are shipped to the English Colony of Jamestown, Virginia. |
| 1621 | The Dutch West India Company granted monopoly over the Dutch African slave trade. |
| 1637 | Elmina Castle is captured by the Dutch who keeps it for the next two centuries. |
| 1663 | King Charles II sets up the Company of Royal Adventures to trade with Africa. |
| 1672 | King Charles II forms the Royal African Company to control the English slave trade after the Company of Royal Adventures ran into debt problems. |
| 1698 | Act passes, which ends the Royal African Company monopoly. |
| 1759 | The abolitionist, William Wilberforce, is born. |
| 1760 | Thomas Clarkson, the abolitionist, is born. |
| 1770s | Abolitionist Granville Sharpe dedicates his time to collecting evidence against slavery. |
| 1772 | The Mansfield Judgement frees English slaves. |
| 1783 | An abolition bill is debated on moral grounds in the House of Commons but fails to get majority support. |
| 1787 | The Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade is formed in London. |
| 1788 | William Pitt
orders investigation of the slave trade.
First debates on the British slave trade in parliament. |
| 1789 | William Wilberforce delivers his first abolition speech in parliament. |
| 1791 | Wilberforce makes motion in the House of Commons to introduce an abolition bill but is unsuccessful. |
| 1791-92 | Second Maroon War in Jamaica. |
| 1791-1804 | Haitian revolt against slavery and the trade in humans, which effectively inspires and increases the abolition trade. |
| 1792 | House
of Commons votes in favour of the abolition but is rejected by the House
of Lords.
Denmark becomes the first country to pass a law abolishing the slave trade. |
| 1793-1802 | French revolutionary War between Britain and France effectively delays the abolition campaign. |
| 1794 |
France
passes initial laws abolishing slave trade. Legislation is passed by US Congress to prevent US vessels being used in the slave trade. |
| 1796 | House of Commons decides to end the British slave trade but the passing of an abolition bill is delayed. |
| 1804 | Haiti achieves its independence and becomes the first free nation in the Caribbean. |
| 1806 | Britain bans the sale of slaves to foreign colonies. |
| 1807 | Abolition
Bill passes in the British House of Lords in March and becomes a law in
May.
US ban the slave trade, to take effect the following year. Britain declares Sierra Leone a Crown Colony. |
| 1814 | Holland passes law abolishing slave trade. |
| 1816 | Easter Rebellion in Barbados. |
| 1818 | France outlaws the slave trade. |
| 1820 | Spain abolishes the slave trade. |
| 1831-32 | Christmas rebellions in St. James, Jamaica, led by Samuel Sharpe gives monumentum to the anti-slavery movement. |
| 1834 | Britain abolishes slavery in the British Empire. |