Up to 1700

4 million B.C.E.–2.5 million B.C.E.

Two major groups of hominids emerge in East Africa.

c. 3400 B.C.E.

Egyptians adopt a special symbol for the number ten. Around the same time other symbols are adopted: a spiral for 100 and a lotus blossom for 1,000.

c. 3200 B.C.E.

Egyptian writing (hieroglyphics) is invented. Read more...

c. 3100 B.C.E.–2258 B.C.E.

Egypt's Old Kingdom thrives until famine and Bedouins attack the borders and the civilization falls into decline. Read more...

c. 2800 B.C.E.

Papyrus, a plant found along the banks of the Nile is made into writing material by the Egyptians. Read more...

c. 2680 B.C.E.–2565 B.C.E.

The first stone pyramid—and the oldest surviving example of an architectural monument—is built for the pharaoh Zoser.

c. 2134 B.C.E.–1668 B.C.E.

Egypt's Middle Kingdom thrives. During this time, the pharaohs establish a standing army and extend Egypt's influence toward Libya, Palestine, and into Nubia. Read more...

1730 B.C.E.–1580 B.C.E.

Kingdom of Kush controls Nubia south of the Elephantine. Read more...

1567 B.C.E.–1085 B.C.E.

Egyptians drive foreigners from their land and establish the New Kingdom. Tutankhamen ascends the throne at the age of nine and dies at age eighteen. Read more...

1504 B.C.E.

Hatshepsut becomes regent and rules for her infant nephew Thutmose III.

c. 1350 B.C.E.

Pharoah Akhenaton, regarded by some historians as the first monotheist, rules Egypt from 1350 to 1334.

c. 1000 B.C.E.–350 C.E.

Kingdom of Nubia flourishes. Read more...

c. 920 B.C.E.–250 C.E.

Nok culture thrives in central Nigeria. Read more...

c. 800 B.C.E.–146 B.C.E.

Carthage dominates the western Mediterranean region; Phoenician trade flourishes. Read more...

525 B.C.E.

Under the leadership of Cambyses II, Persia conquers Egypt; camels are introduced into Egypt.

332 B.C.E.

Greek presence in Africa begins with the entry of Alexander the Great into Egypt. Read more...

305 B.C.E.

Ptolemy, a Macedonian general, establishes the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. Read more...

146 B.C.E.

After the destruction of Carthage, Rome acquires its first territory in Africa—a province of about 5,000 square miles roughly corresponding to the boundaries of present-day Tunisia. Read more...

60 B.C.E.–30 B.C.E.

Cleopatra, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, forms alliances with Rome's most important leaders, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Read more...

1–100

Camels are introduced into the Sahara. By the 300s or 400s C.E., camels are transporting gold and salt across the desert. The use of camels increases the mobility of individuals and groups as well as the potential for nomads to attack Roman territories. Read more...

c. 50–900s

Aksum Kingdom flourishes in Ethiopia. Read more...

c. 106

Egyptian merchant compiles Periplus Maris Erythraei, a book that describes trade of the Red Sea, eastern Africa, and South Arabia with India and China.

354

Saint Augustine is born in North Africa to a pagan father and Christian mother. He is considered one of the “Doctors of the Church,” a title bestowed during the Middle Ages to particularly influential and saintly theologians. Read more...

400–1076

Kingdom of Ghana, the first large sub-Saharan state, flourishes. Read more...

640–1500s

Islam, which had its beginnings among Arabs who inhabited the desert of present-day Saudi Arabia, spreads in Africa through trade, missionary activity, and conquest. By the beginning of the eleventh century, Muslim sultanates exist throughout the region. Read more...

700s–1400s

Swahili civilization develops along the eastern coast of Africa. Read more...

784

Kingdom of Kanem-Bornu is founded between Lake Chad and the southern end of the Saharan trade route known as the Bahr al-Ghazal, providing the most direct line between the Lake Chad region and the Mediterranean.

800s–1500s

Ife, the urban center in southern Nigeria and homeland (according to oral traditions) of the Yoruba is founded and flourishes. Yoruba kings claim descent from Ife ancestors and most states on the Bight of Benin regard Ife as the source of Divine Kingship. Read more...

c. 900–present

Kingdom of Benin and its capital, Benin City, is founded on a sandy plain in the middle of the tropical rain forest of western Nigeria. The original inhabitants of Benin call themselves, their capital, and their language Edo, as their descendants do today. Read more...

969–1171

Fatimids, an expansionist military power and fervent evangelists for the Shiite branch of Islam, arrive in Egypt from the west and establish a dynasty.

1000–1100

Shona on the Zimbabwe plateau begin to export gold and build the stone structures that become Great Zimbabwe, which flourishes until its decline in the 1500s. Read more...

1056–1147

Almoravids, a confederation of Saharan Berbers, rule northwestern Africa and Muslim Spain. Read more...

1147–1269

Almohads displace the Almoravids and establish a dynasty ruling North Africa and Spain from Marrakesh in Morocco. Read more...

1169–1252

Under the Ayyubid dynasty Egypt becomes the most important center of Arabic civilization. Read more...

c.1200

Lalibela, the king of Ethiopia, creates a ceremonial center in the Lasta province of Roha, which is now known as Lalibela. Read more...

1240–1400

Kingdom of Mali, founded by Sundiata Keita, flourishes. Read more...

1260–1517

Mamluks, former slaves of Turkish descent, rule Egypt for almost three centuries. Read more...

1300s–early 1700s

Nimi Lukeni establishes the kingdom of Kongo, which is later ruled by Nzinga Mbemba (also known as Afonso I). Afonso opens the country to Portugal and makes Christianity the state religion. Read more...

1324

Mansa Musa, ruler of Mali, makes a pilgrimage to Mecca and returns with Muslim scholars and artisans. Musa reportedly ascended the throne when his predecessor left the region with 2,000 ships to explore the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

1434

Portuguese explorer Gil Eanes reaches the region that is present-day Western Sahara. This successful voyage inspires Henry the Navigator to pursue overseas exploration for Portugal. Read more...

1441

First black slaves and gold dust from West Africa arrive in Portugal.

1444

Portuguese captain Dinis Dias finds the Senegal River, the first great tropical river to be seen by Europeans. In the Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea, Gomes Eanes de Zurara recounts how 235 African slaves were brought to Portugal and sold. Read more...

1460–1591

Founded by fishermen from Dendi, the Songhai empire dominates the land along the right bank of the Niger River. Weakened by epidemic diseases and struggles within the royal family, the empire eventually falls to Moroccan invaders. Read more...

1481

To protect their monopoly of the gold trade, the Portuguese erect a stone fort at Elmina on the coast of Ghana. Read more...

1488

Under the command of Bartolomeu Dias, Portuguese ships round the Cape of Storms, later renamed the Cape of Good Hope, opening a new route to the east with great commercial potential.

1494

The Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal establishes the possessions of these two powers in the Americas.

1497–1498

Vasco da Gama explores the African coast and establishes an all-water route from Europe to the Far East. Read more...

1500

Pedro Álvares Cabral reaches Brazil and claims the land for Portugal. Read more...

1510

Transatlantic slave trade begins with Spain and Portugal bringing an estimated 367,000 Africans to the New World during the 1500s. By the 1860s an estimated 12 million men, women, and children will have been shipped to a life of slavery in the Americas. Read more...

1517

Sultan Selim I defeats the Mamluk army and brings Ottoman rule to Egypt.

26 December 1522

The first slave insurrection in Spanish America occurs on the sugar plantation of Diego Colon in Santo Domingo. Despite a valiant struggle, the rebels are defeated and most of their survivors are hanged. Read more...

1539

Esteban, an African who came to America with Panfilo de Narvaez in 1527, serves as guide and interpreter for an expedition to New Mexico seeking the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola. He also helps explore present-day Arizona before he is killed by Zuni Indians. Read more...

1554

Sa'adi dynasty begins with the taking of Fés in Morocco, followed by four decades of struggle against colonizing Europeans. Read more...

c. 1570

A ship carrying slaves from Guinea to Panama is wrecked off the coast of Ecuador. The escaped Africans, or maroons, establish the Republic of Esmeraldas. Read more...

1575

Paulo Dias de Novaes establishes the Portuguese colony of Angola in Loango. The following year, Portuguese settlers arrive in great numbers. Read more...

1605–1694

The quilombo (community of escaped slaves) of Palmares is established in Pernambuco in Brazil. The largest and best organized of the quilombos, Palmares flourishes for nearly a century. Read more...

1613

The mariner Jan Rodrigues, a Creole, is marooned on Manhattan Island, becoming the first nonindigenous resident of what will become New Amsterdam, and later New York City. Read more...

1619

A Dutch frigate sells "twenty and odd negroes" to authorities at Jamestown, Virginia. According to surviving documents, they are the first Africans to arrive in North America, and are classified as indentured servants, not slaves. As with the many English and Europeans who come involuntarily, as indentured servants or redemptioners, it is the Africans' labor—not their person—that is sold. Read more...

1624–1663

Baptized Dona Ana de Souza by the Portuguese, Nzinga Mbandi rules Matamba as regent from 1624 until her brother's death two years later and then as queen. Allied with the Dutch, she eventually defeats the Portuguese in Angola. Read more...

Isabel, the wife of Anthony Johnson, gives birth to William in Jamestown. William is probably the first black child born in an English mainland North American colony.

John Phillips, a “negro Christened in England,” is allowed to testify in a Virginia court case involving two whites.

1625–early 1800s

The kingdom of Dahomey flourishes in the southern region of present-day Benin, becoming a major force in the region. Read more...

1638

Black slaves are brought to Boston. They are probably the first slaves sold in the British mainland colonies. Read more...

1639

Virginia requires the arming of all white servants, but does not require that black servants be armed. The law does not specifically prohibit blacks from being armed, but the implication of the law is that they are not welcome in the colonial militia.

1640–1649

Anthony Johnson (brought to Virginia in 1621) and his family are freed and he is awarded land. Johnson acquires additional land and farms tobacco. Court records show he is one of the first black slaveholders in the colonies.

1641

Massachusetts gives statutory recognition to slavery in its Body of Liberties. This is the first colony to formally recognize slavery. Read more...

1642–1643

Virginia law taxes black female servants at the same rate as black and white male servants. White female servants remain untaxed.

1644

New England merchants send three ships to Africa to trade for gold dust and Negroes. Read more...

New Amsterdam authorities grant half-freedom and land to eleven black servants of the Dutch West India Company.

1650

Connecticut statutes recognize slavery. Read more...

1652

Massachusetts requires that all blacks and Indians living in settled parts of the colony be enrolled in the militia. Read more...

Dutch send a contingent to build a fort near the Cape of Good Hope as a stopover for Dutch ships sailing between the Netherlands and Java. By 1707, the fort is a Dutch colony consisting of nearly 1,800 free people and more than 1,100 slaves.

1655–1740

A series of slave rebellions against the English, known as the Maroon Wars, occur in Jamaica. Read more...

Elizabeth Key, a slave, sues for her freedom in Virginia. Her case is based on the argument that the status of her father, a free white man, should determine her station in life rather than that of her mother, a slave. William Greensted, her attorney, wins the case and marries Elizabeth.

1656

Massachusetts repeals its 1652 law and bans blacks and Indians from military service.

1660–present

Second Sa'adi dynasty (Alawites) rules Morocco. Read more...

Virginia law lowers the tax rate “if the said Dutch or other foreigners shall import any negro slaves.” This incentive to import new slaves into the colony marks the first time Virginia recognizes the legal existence of slavery.

1661–1662

Virginia rules that if indentured servants and slaves run away together, the indentured servants, if caught, will have to serve extra years to compensate the master for the loss of the slave's time, and to serve an extra four years if the slave dies or is never recovered. Read more...

1662

Virginia law establishes that children born in the colony will be free or held bond according to the status of the mother. Read more...

1663

The colony Maryland passes an "Act concerning negroes and other slaves,” which recognizes the existence of slavery in the colony. Read more...

1664

Maryland bans mixed marriages. Read more...

The former Dutch colonies of New York and New Jersey pass laws officially recognizing slavery, which existed under the Dutch and continues to exist under the English. Read more...

1665

Maryland suppresses independent economic activity by slaves in Calvert v. Wynne et al, in which the court declares that “noe person. . . shall trade, barter, commerce, or game, with slaves without the owner's permission.” Read more...

1667

Virginia declares that baptism will not affect the status of slaves. Read more...

1668

Group of independent English merchants establish the Gambia Adventurers Company to exploit the slave trade on the Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Sherbro rivers; it is replaced by the Royal African Company in 1672.

1669

John Locke writes the Fundamental Constitutions of South Carolina, providing that “Every freeman of Carolina, shall have absolute power and authority over his negro slaves.” Read more...

A Virginia act “about the casual killing of slaves” provides that masters and overseers will not be held liable for the death of any slave killed while resisting authority, or slaves who accidentally die during punishment or are killed while resisting their masters. The statute states that there can be no malice assumed if a slave dies during punishment because nothing could “induce any man to destroy his owne estate.” Read more...

1670–1680

Four empires—Aowin, Denkyira, Akwamu, and Asante—vie for primacy on the lower Guinea coast. By the mid-1700s, the Asante consolidate power over the others, forming a confederation of states. Read more...

So-called Bush Negroes of Suriname, descendants of runaway slaves, form into tribes in the dense tropical interior of South America to wage guerilla warfare against colonial and European forces. Read more...

A free African in Massachussets goes into business making chairs.

1676

During Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia white settlers in the western part of the colony challenge the authority of the governor. Bacon asks black servants and slaves to join his rebellion, promising them freedom. In addition to fighting colonial officials, Bacon directs his attack against Indians. Virginia later enslaves captured Indians. The rebellion has the effect of pushing Virginia planters to abandon white labor in favor of African slaves.

1681

Maryland (which passed an anti-amalgamation law in 1664) rules that though a white woman who marries a black slave will remain free, the slave's master and whoever marries the couple are to be fined. Read more...

1682

South Carolina recognizes the legal existence of slavery. Read more...

1686

African Americans in the Carolinas are prohibited from engaging in any trade or business.

1688

In the first formal antislavery declaration in English America, Quakers in Germantown, Pennsylvania, condemn slavery and the slave trade. Read more...

1689

Despite earlier bans on black military service, blacks serve in colonial militias in King William's War. Read more...

1690

South Carolina adopts its first slave code. Read more...

1691

Virginia passes its first slave code, which among other things, bans mixed marriages. Read more...

1692

Tituba, a West Indian slave accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, is the catalyst for the infamous Salem witch hunt and trials. Read more...