1700-1800

1700 Governor of Cape Verde complained to the Bishop that marriages had been celebrated between Cape Verdean women and foreign pirates on Sao Nicolau and Santo Antao, despite the fact the "His Majesty does not want foreigners, much less pirates" in the colony. (Barcelos 1900 I:163)

1701 A royal letter directs that slave owners should cease to obstruct marriages between black freemen and slave women, which they had been doing by setting exorbitant prices for women's freedom Carreira 1972:282).

1708 Governor Cranston of Rhode Island reported that 103 vessels had been built in his tiny colony between 1698 and 1708 and in most cases made a slave voyage. Many of these ships stopped in Cape Verde to trade for salt or buy slaves.

1719 Drought and famine in Santiago.

1740s American ships begin to routinely call at Cape Verde for provisions. Before 1750 many crewmen aboard Nantucket whaling ships were Cape Verdeans. An all-male pattern of immigration to America begins.

1747 Crop failure in most of the Islands.

1753 The Provisions of 1753 (revised in 1792) state that it is "illegal for any foreigner of whatsoever Nation to open a house of business on the island, or make any stay or sojourn on it for more than 20 days without a special order from the Government..."

1754 Drought and famine in all of the Islands. High mortality.

1764 Drought and famine. Brava and Boavista suffer the worst of the crisis.

1766-1776 According to Cape Verdean historian Antonio Carreira, the Customs House records of Praia indicate that about 95,000 pieces of Cape Verdean body cloths (panos) were shipped to the Guinea Coast as part of the ongoing trade in slaves during this ten year period alone.

1770 The Lieutenant Captain from Fogo arrives in Brava to restore order following a riot.

1770s The record of the Connecticut Legislature identifies a certain petitioner as "Jonah, a black man native to the Cape Verde Islands". By the mid-18th century a few Cape Verdeans were residing in many Southern New England port towns.

1773 Famine in Fogo following a devastating locust infestation. The population of Fogo drops from 5700 to 4200 inhabitants. Incidents of cannibalism are recorded in official documents. (Antonio Carreira et al).

1774 (September) to 1775 (February) 22,666 people die in the archipelago. Some people are sold into slavery in exchange for food. All of the livestock died in Maio and Brava.

1776 The war of independence begins in the English colonies of America.

1788 (August) The log of the sloop Washington out of Boston records the death of Marcus Lopius, a ship's crewman taken on in Cape Verde. Lopius (Lopes) was killed by Tilamook Indians on the Oregon coast as he attempted to defend Captain Grey from attack. The site of the killing was later named Murderer's Cove. The ship was part of the expedition which "discovered" the Columbia River and opened up the fur trade in that region. This is the first record of an African in the Pacific Northwest region.

1790 Drought and famine in Brava.

1791 More than 800 people die from famine in Santo Antao.