1606–1833: The islands of Trinidad and Tobago received approximately 44,000 enslaved Africans directly from the coast, with the vast majority arriving in the…

1606–1833: The islands of Trinidad and Tobago received approximately 44,000 enslaved Africans directly from the coast, with the vast majority arriving in the final decades of the trade. British vessels dominated the traffic, particularly those outfitted in Liverpool, which alone carried over two-thirds of all documented captives. The Bight of Biafra and the Gold Coast served as the primary African regions of trade for these ships. While the traffic was relatively small in the seventeenth century, it expanded rapidly following the British acquisition of the islands. This continuous inflow of labor was essential for the late development of the sugar plantation complex in the southern Caribbean.