1861–1865: In the final years of the transatlantic traffic, Cuba remained the only major market in the Americas for enslaved Africans, drawing its labor supp…

1861–1865: In the final years of the transatlantic traffic, Cuba remained the only major market in the Americas for enslaved Africans, drawing its labor supply overwhelmingly from West Central Africa. Most other Atlantic nations had committed to ending the trade by this point, with Brazil having enforced serious suppression measures since 1850. The traffic to Cuba was sustained by a repressive local regime and officials who were frequently bribed to permit the arrival of illicit vessels. The end of this specific traffic in the late 1860s marked the final closure of the transatlantic slave system.