15th century – 16th century
Cape Verde archipelago and Atlantic slave-trade routes
The Cape Verde Islands were settled in 1462 under a Portuguese colonial model and returned to the Portuguese crown after 1484. Santiago became the capital and administrative centre, while the archipelago’s population quickly became predominantly enslaved people purchased in Senegambia and Upper Guinea. Sixteenth-century economic life combined stock-raising, cotton cultivation and weaving using African techniques. The islands also became a major entrepôt for enslaved people destined for Spanish America, with large-scale exports recorded in the second half of the century.
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The Story
The arid Cape Verde archipelago was first settled in 1462 on the model of Madeira. After the islands returned to the Portuguese crown in 1484, Santiago, the island closest to the mainland, served as the capital and residence of the governors. From 1535 it also became the seat of a bishop whose jurisdiction extended along the coast from Senegal to Cape Mesurado in Liberia.
The islands were rapidly populated by a majority of enslaved people purchased in Senegambia and Upper Guinea. In 1582, Fogo and Santiago together contained 1,600 white inhabitants, 400 free Black inhabitants and 13,700 enslaved people. These figures reveal the demographic foundations of an island society integrated into Portuguese Atlantic commerce.
Economic activity in the sixteenth century combined stock-raising, cotton cultivation and weaving, with African techniques playing an important role. The islands soon moved beyond supplying their own labour needs and began shipping enslaved people to the Americas. From 1530–1540, Cape Verde trade was directed especially toward Spanish America, while São Tomé and Kongo supplied Brazil.
The Portuguese system rested on a royal monopoly of trade granted to concessionaires for defined periods and regions. The Charter of 1466 authorized island inhabitants to trade with the coast known as Guinea de Cabo Verde, but later regulations restricted travel and settlement. Portuguese emigrants who settled on the mainland, married locally and acted as commercial intermediaries were known as lançados or tangomãos.
15th century – 16th century
Cape Verde archipelago and Atlantic slave-trade routes
The Cape Verde Islands were settled in 1462 under a Portuguese colonial model and returned to the Portuguese crown after 1484. Santiago became the capital and administrative centre, while the archipelago’s population quickly became predominantly enslaved people purchased in Senegambia and Upper Guinea. Sixteenth-century economic life combined stock-raising, cotton cultivation and weaving using African techniques. The islands also became a major entrepôt for enslaved people destined for Spanish America, with large-scale exports recorded in the second half of the century.
Continue exploring
The Story
The arid Cape Verde archipelago was first settled in 1462 on the model of Madeira. After the islands returned to the Portuguese crown in 1484, Santiago, the island closest to the mainland, served as the capital and residence of the governors. From 1535 it also became the seat of a bishop whose jurisdiction extended along the coast from Senegal to Cape Mesurado in Liberia.
The islands were rapidly populated by a majority of enslaved people purchased in Senegambia and Upper Guinea. In 1582, Fogo and Santiago together contained 1,600 white inhabitants, 400 free Black inhabitants and 13,700 enslaved people. These figures reveal the demographic foundations of an island society integrated into Portuguese Atlantic commerce.
Economic activity in the sixteenth century combined stock-raising, cotton cultivation and weaving, with African techniques playing an important role. The islands soon moved beyond supplying their own labour needs and began shipping enslaved people to the Americas. From 1530–1540, Cape Verde trade was directed especially toward Spanish America, while São Tomé and Kongo supplied Brazil.
The Portuguese system rested on a royal monopoly of trade granted to concessionaires for defined periods and regions. The Charter of 1466 authorized island inhabitants to trade with the coast known as Guinea de Cabo Verde, but later regulations restricted travel and settlement. Portuguese emigrants who settled on the mainland, married locally and acted as commercial intermediaries were known as lançados or tangomãos.