Here are the key dates and events marking the beginning and end of the transatlantic slave trade:
1525: The first recorded shipment of African slaves to the Americas arrives in Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and Dominican Republic).
1619: The first recorded arrival of African slaves in the English colonies in North America (present-day Jamestown, Virginia).
1713: The British, through the Asiento Treaty, gain a monopoly on the slave trade between Africa and Spanish America.
1794: The French National Convention abolishes slavery in all French colonies, including Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti).
1807: The British Parliament abolishes the slave trade in the British Empire, making it illegal for British ships to transport slaves.
1815: The Congress of Vienna declares the slave trade to be "repugnant to the principles of humanity and universal morality."
1820: The United States Congress passes the Missouri Compromise, which prohibits slavery in the newly acquired Louisiana Territory north of the 36°30' parallel.
1833: The British Parliament abolishes slavery in all British colonies, except for India and Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka).
1848: The French Second Republic abolishes slavery in all French colonies, including Martinique and Guadeloupe.
1850: The United States Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act, which requires all federal officials to assist in the capture and return of escaped slaves.
1861: The American Civil War begins, with the issue of slavery as one of the main causes.
1863: President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in Confederate territory.
1865: The American Civil War ends, and slavery is abolished in the United States with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
1867: The British Parliament passes the Reform Act, which extends voting rights to all adult male British subjects, effectively ending the legal basis for slavery in the British Empire.
1888: The Brussels Conference on the African Slave Trade is held, resulting in the signing of the General Act of Berlin, which commits European powers to suppress the slave trade in Africa.