The Origins of the Transatlantic Slavery Trade

The Spanish and the Portuguese have already been getting involved in a slave trade which is established to some extent in Africa throughout the early centuries. So what they realize is that they can transport African slaves across the Atlantic primarily from West Africa, where they're already trading into the Americas. And around this time in 1500, the Spanish start to enact legislation which says this is okay. It's the beginning of what becomes obviously a massive trade, sadly in humans across the Atlantic. We know the consequences of that history all too well.