1500 - Columbus’ son, Diego Columbus, starts importing enslaved Africans to the island

Columbus’ son, Diego Columbus, starts bringing enslaved Africans to the island in 1505 after the Taínos and Arawaks are nearly annihilated from forced labor and diseases brought by the Spaniards.
The Transatlantic Slave Trade officially begins in 1518, when 4,000 enslaved Africans are brought into the city of Santo Domingo and other ports.
While the Spaniards operate mainly from Santo Domingo on the east, the French start occupying the western portion of the island.