When did the slave trade start?

Answer 1

It started around the 1430s and ended in the late 1800s.

West Africa was a part of a major trading network long before the Europeans.

From ancient times there were trade routes across the Sahara linking the north and west of the African continent. Large cities developed along the Saharan trade routes. The trade lead to the growth of great empires in the region.

Luxury goods such as gold and ivory had been imported from Africa by Arab traders. But in the 1430s, as European shipbuilding and skills improved, Portuguese sailors began to explore West Africa coast for them selves. By 1460s the Portuguese had reached the Guinea coast and in the 1481 they set up trading post called El Mina.

The Portuguese were soon followed by other European countries. They gradually established more regular trading relationships. Though they developed quick, the explorations in America led to great demands of Slaves to work in the new colonies. They did not want to do such works themselves, so they started to capture or rather kidnap the African people across the Atlantic Ocean.

Actually it depends on where you want to start.The first European country to start the slave trade was Portugal. In the early 1500's. North America stopped importing slaves on December 18, 1865. But European countries didn't stop the slave trade until about the 1920-1930's
Central / South America.

The Spanish conquered the Aztecs, and enslaved them during the early 1500's