1526

In 1526, a Spanish expedition led by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón attempted to establish a settlement called San Miguel de Gualdape in present-day South Carolina. The expedition included enslaved Africans, who were among the first Africans to arrive in what is now the United States. This early presence is a significant but often overlooked part of American history.

Hieronymous Seiler and Heinrich Ehinger of Konstanz become the first Germans we know to have become involved in the slave trade.