3. The Dutch entered the slave trade in the early 17th century
On January 20, 1648, the long periods of war between the Netherlands and Spain came to an end with the Treaty of Munster. It marked the recognition of the independent Dutch Republic. It also allowed the Dutch to enter into the increasingly lucrative slave trade. Both the Dutch and the British by then had extensive New World colonies. Dutch Brazil, and the British West Indies were important centers of sugar production, and Europe had a seemingly insatiable sweet tooth. The production of sugar was highly labor-intensive and a perpetual labor shortage existed on the plantations. The growing tobacco and rice plantations in British North America also demanded more and more workers. A new Atlantic system of trade began to replace the former monopoly held by waning Portugal. Dutch, British, and French ships began to trade between West Africa and the colonies.
Nearly all of the colonies in the New World, other than New England and the middle colonies, developed economies which depended entirely on forced labor. The Dutch ships used the same facilities developed by the Portuguese and built others on the African West Coast. British mercantile interests viewed the rise in Dutch wealth with considerable alarm. In 1660 the Duke of York, brother to King Charles II and heir to the throne joined with City of London merchants. They formed the Royal Africa Company. Their stated purpose was to mine the gold fields in the region of the Gambia River. The company held a Royal Charter which gave them a monopoly over British trade in Africa. Though they met limited success in the gold fields, they found another, highly profitable opportunity. Shipping slaves to the colonies proved highly lucrative.