Cape Verde played a significant role in the Atlantic slave trade because of its strategic location off the West African coast. After their 15th-century settlement, the islands became an important Portuguese colonial and trading center and were closely tied to the broader Upper Guinea and Senegambia trade networks. Cidade Velha Slave Pillory became one of the earliest Atlantic slave-trading centers.

Because Cape Verde had limited natural resources and a relatively small population, its importance stemmed less from exporting large numbers of enslaved people directly from the islands and more from serving as a transit hub within the Portuguese Atlantic system. Enslaved Africans from nearby mainland regions — including present-day Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, and Guinea — were brought through Cape Verde before being transported across the Atlantic to the Americas.

The islands became deeply integrated into Portuguese maritime commerce, helping link West Africa, Europe, and the Americas in the early centuries of the transatlantic slave trade. Cape Verde was especially active in the 16th and 17th centuries, when Portuguese trading networks dominated much of the Upper Guinea Coast. Over time, however, the center of the Atlantic slave trade shifted farther east along the West African coast to regions such as the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra, which exported far larger numbers of enslaved Africans.

Today, Cape Verde’s history remains closely tied to the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade, as well as to the broader histories of Portuguese colonialism and Atlantic commerce.