@xspotsdamark 1600s - 1800s For the next 300 years, British merchants were heavily involved in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
They set up trading forts and had strong commercial ties, but no political control yet.
@xspotsdamark 1553: The first recorded British expedition to West Africa. British traders arrived on the Niger Coast to trade in spices, cloth, and later, slaves.
This was mainly with the coastal kingdoms like Benin, Bonny, Calabar, and Warri.