Atlantic Islands

The Atlantic Islands were the birthplace of the Portuguese colonisation pattern of exploration, settlement, agricultural conversion of lands, the institution of the plantation model (donatary captaincy), and the incorporation of African slave labour on a large scale. The first recorded Portuguese expedition into the Atlantic took place in 1341 with its destination being the Canary Islands that were known to the ancient Greeks as the Fortunate Islands. The expedition successfully returned to Lisbon with a cargo of four indigenous people, fish oil, red wood and skins. Despite this success there was no immediate follow up to this expedition. Portuguese ventures at sea then consisted of raiding and trading with towns along the known coastline of Northern Africa, Europe and the Mediterranean. This continued until the era of Prince Henry when the Canary Islands became important as a supply way-station for expeditions sailing the Canary route that was the shortest course to the West African coast. One of Prince Henry's early expeditions into the Atlantic occurred in 1420 with the rediscovery of Madeira. Prince Henry instigated its colonisation because it was uninhabited and could easily be converted to the agricultural production of wheat and sugar. By 1500 Madeira was the leading producer of sugar and had incorporated a plantation system that depended heavily on African slave labour. The Azores were discovered in 1427 and colonised with criminals by Prince Henry and his associates. Again the pattern of agricultural production that incorporated the plantation model and slave labor was successful in producing wine, wheat, and sugar. Due to their location, the Azores also became an important way-station for the rapidly expanding African slave trade. This pattern of discovery and settlement was repeated in 1460 with Fernao Gomes' discovery of the Cape Verde Islands, and in 1470 with the discovery of Saõ Tomé. It is important to note that the Portuguese efforts in Africa and Asia were aimed at building trading posts rather than permanent settlements, in this regard the Atlantic Islands were unique until the discovery and settlement of Brazil in 1500.

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