1663 ROYAL APPROVAL GRANTED FOR BRITAIN TO BEGIN TRADING IN SLAVES
A royal charter is granted to the Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading into Africa. Issued by Charles II, this is the moment when the transatlantic slave trade formally begins. Around 630,000 Africans are forced into slavery between this year and 1700.
1775 AMERICAN REVOLUTION BEGINS
Following years of unrest the American Revolution begins with the battles of Lexington and Concord. Seven years of fighting follow,