Portugal’s role in the Atlantic slave trade was foundational and far larger in scale than Britain’s, yet Portugal faces minimal reparations pressure from CARICOM or from the broader international reparations movement.
Portugal pioneered the Atlantic slave trade, beginning in the 1440s. It dominated the trade for its first 150 years. It transported approximately 5.8 million enslaved Africans, nearly half the entire total, over a period of roughly 400 years. Its colony of Brazil was by far the largest single destination for enslaved people in the Americas, receiving approximately 4.9 million people. Portugal abolished the trade only in 1836 and slavery in its colonies only in 1869.
On any proportional accounting of historical responsibility, Portugal bears greater culpability than Britain for the Atlantic slave trade by almost every measure: earlier start, longer duration, larger scale, and later abolition.
