Answer:
An Atlantic trade in African slaves began in 1444, when the portuguese began to ship slaves from west Africa to Europe. For the next hundred years, the main market for these slaves were in Europe and the Atlantic islands owned by portugal and spain. However the discovery of the American in 1492 led to the creation of new colonies with a great need for cheap labour, and from the mid-sixteenth century European ships were carrying African slaves to Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America, in steadily increasing quantities.
