1640: The organizational center of gravity for the African slave trade underwent a sharp northward shift following this date.

1640: The organizational center of gravity for the African slave trade underwent a sharp northward shift following this date. Dominance passed from Iberian ports to northern European centers such as Liverpool, London, Bristol, and Nantes. Merchants in nearly every northern European port with significant Atlantic commerce began sending out slaving expeditions. This period saw these ports become as dominant as the Spanish and Portuguese centers had been in the previous century.