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1415
Prince Henry of Portugal
Prince Henry of Portugal commissioned successful voyages to Africa, which brought back gold and slaves for Portugal. This inspired the trade between Europe and Africa, thus leading to the formation of the Atlantic Slave Trade Triangle. -
1420
Madeira Island
In 1419, two Portuguese sailors came across the Madeira Islands in a storm.
The next year the Portuguese came back to colonize the island. They called the colony "Porto Santo".
The island settlers made their living off of growing sugarcane for Europe. African slaves were brought from the mainland to maintain the plantations. This caused the families to be broken apart and displaced. Madeira became the worlds largest exporter of sugarcane. -
1466
Cape Verde Monopoly and Colonization
In 1460, the Island of Cape Verde was colonized by the Portuguese under the order of the king. Then in 1466, the Cape Verde settlers are granted the monopoly over their Portuguese Slave Trade. This trade route is before the Middle Passage. Slaves would be shipped from the African mainland to Cape Verde where they would be transported to Europe. -
1498
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama first took a hold of Mozambique in 1498. He formed trading posts up along the coast. When the Portuguese arrived in Mozambique, they displaced the Arab traders already there from the coastal areas to the inner areas. Portugal also sent missionaries to convert the Africans to christianity. They believed this would build closer relationships between the Africans and Europeans. -
1575
Portuguese in West Africa: Making a Mark
The Portuguese already had a presence in the now Angola area since the 1400's. They were partners with the Kingdom of Kongo. The Chiefs would benefit from the Slave Trade by gaining weapons. But when the Kingdom would not allow Portugal to control more of the Slave Trade, they looked elsewhere.
This lead to the formation of the colony in Luanda in 1575, this started the time when the Portuguese really made an impact. -
Gaining Territory in West Africa
Through the early 1600's the Portuguese acquired a lot more territory from the Old Kingdoms. They acquired the land through treaties and wars with the local Kongo kings, in particular the Ndongo Kingdom.
After the period of war, the Portuguese had gained territory up the whole coast of modern day Angola.
Angola's main export was slaves which they got from wars with inter-African tribes, especially the Ndongo. When the Portuguese took a hold of Angola they controlled a lot of the slave trade. -
Abolishment of Slavery
The abolition of all types of slavery occurred in 1761 in Portugal. Then, in 1777 the Madeira Islands abolished the Slave Trade there as well. This is because of a decree made by Marquis Pombal. He was the head of the Portuguese government from 1750-1777. He banned the importation of slaves to Portugal. This benefited the Africans because they could be reunited with their families and they were free from kidnapping along control. -
The End of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
The Transatlantic Slave Trade was banned fully by Portugal in 1836, along with other European countries. This is because of Britain. Britain was one of Portugal’s closest allies and since Britain banned slave trade, this pushed Portugal to do the same. But not until 1869, did Portuguese-African countries ban slave trade. They finally abolished it because of British pressure. British ships would anchor out at sea and prevent slave ships from leaving Africa. -
Mozambican War for Independence
Mozambique wanted to be independent from Portugal. Thus the FRELIMO party was formed and led by Eduardo Mondlane and then by Samora Machel. At first they wanted peaceful negotiations to allow them to become independent. But when that didn’t work they started attacking in September of 1964, this began the war. The Mozambicans hated how they were exploited for Portuguese use, mistreated, and discriminated. After an 11 year war, the Mozambicans won independence in 1975. -
Guinea War of Independence
In 1974, Guinea becomes independent from Portugal. It becomes Guinea-Bissau. Conflict began in January, 1963. The Front for the Liberation of Portuguese Guinea (FLPG), launched the first armed rebellion. 30,000 Portuguese troops were placed in the colony. Over the course of the war, the UN Security Council interjected along with many other countries offering support. Finally, in September of 1973, the war ended with Guinea gaining independence.
