1530s

In 1532, enslaved Wolof Africans aboard a Portuguese slave vessel revolted during the Middle Passage, making this the first documented slave ship revolt in the Atlantic. The uprising was suppressed. Ship revolts were a persistent form of resistance throughout the trade's history — scholars estimate revolts occurred on approximately one in ten slaving voyages, forcing traders to invest heavily in chains, armed guards, and netting. The ever-present threat of revolt shaped the brutal architecture of the slave ship.

In 1533 enslaved Africans and remaining Taíno indigenous people in Cuba staged a joint revolt against Spanish colonizers in the gold mining regions. The uprising was suppressed by Spanish military force and its leaders were killed. The alliance between African and indigenous resistance fighters illustrated both the shared experience of colonial exploitation and the potential for cross-ethnic solidarity that Spanish authorities worked deliberately to undermine in subsequent decades.