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 and European colonization of the Americas Slavery was practiced in some parts of Africa , [ 13 ] Europe , [ 14 ] Asia [ 15 ] and the Americas before the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade. There is evidence that enslaved people from some African states were exported to other states in Africa, Europe and Asia prior to the European colonization of the Americas. [ 16 ] The African slave trade provided a large number of slaves to Europeans . [ 17 ] [ 18 ] The Atlantic slave trade is customarily divided into two eras, known as the First and Second Atlantic Systems. The First Atlantic system was the trade of enslaved Africans to, primarily, South American colonies of the Portuguese and Spanish empires; it accounted for only slightly more than 3 % of all Atlantic slave trade. It started (on a significant scale) in about 1502 [ 19 ] and lasted until 1580 , when Portugal was temporarily united with Spain . While the Portuguese traded enslaved people themselves, the Spanish empire relied on the asiento system, awarding merchants (mostly from other countries) the license to trade enslaved people to their colonies. During the first Atlantic system most of these traders were Portuguese, giving them a near-monopoly during the era, although some Dutch , English , Spanish and French traders also participated in the slave trade. [ 20 ] After the union, Portugal was weakened, with its colonial empire being attacked by the Dutch and British. The Second Atlantic system was the trade of enslaved Africans by mostly British, Portuguese, French and Dutch traders. The main destinations of this phase were the Caribbean colonies, Brazil , and North America , as a number of European countries built up economically slave-dependent colonies in the New World. Amongst the proponents of this system were Francis Drake and John Hawkins . Only slightly more than 3 % of the enslaved people exported were traded between 1450 and 1600 , 16 % in the 17 th century. More than half