Colonizing the Atlantic Islands

1100s        sugar plantations in the eastern Mediterranean

c1312        Lanzaroto Malocello rediscovers the Canary Islands

1402          the Normans invade the Canaries, but keep a tenuous hold over the native Guanches

1419          Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal establishes a school of seamanship and navigation

1420s         the Portuguese settle Madeira and Porto Santo

1430s         the Portuguese expore and settle the Azores, where they grow sugar and woad

1440s         the Portuguese start purchasing and raiding African slaves; they establish a slave castle on Arguin Island in 1445

1450s         Portuguese settlers on Madeira, now directly under the control of the Portuguese crown, start cultivating sugar;  they begin importing slaves, primarily                             from the Canary Islands

1460s         the Portuguese colonize the Cape Verde Islands

1479          after decades of competition among the Normans, Portuguese, and the Castilians for control over the Canary Islands, the Spanish prevail

1480s         the Portuguese colonize Sao Tome and Principe; they pioneer the concept of  the slave plantation

1482          the Portuguese build El Mina on the Gold Coast

1484         the Spanish introduce sugar to Gran Canaria

1488         Bartholemew Diaz rounds the Cape of Good Hope

1522         60 sugar plantations on Sao Tome using enslaved African labor