did not prevail, it did receive the asiento as part of the Peace of Utrecht. This granted Britain a thirty-year asiento to send one merchant ship to the Spanish port of Portobelo, furnishing 4800 slaves to the Spanish colonies. The asiento became a conduit for British contraband and smugglers of all kinds, which undermined Spain's attempts to keep a protectionist trading system with its American colonies. Disputes connected with it led to the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739). Britain gave up its rights to the asiento after the war, in the Treaty of Madrid of 1750, as Spain was implementing several administrative and economic reforms. The Spanish Crown bought out the South Sea Company's right to the asiento that year. The Spanish Crown sought another way to supply African slaves, attempting to liberalize its traffic, trying to shift to a system of the free trade in slaves by Spaniards and foreigners in particular colonial locations. These were Cuba, Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, and Caracas, all of which used African slaves in large numbers. Holders of the Asiento Early: 1518–1595 1518–1527: Laurent de Gouvenot (aka Lorenzo de Gorrevod or Garrebod), Governor of Bresse and majordomo of Charles I of Spain. The first known transatlantic slave ship—sailed from São Tomé in 1525. Outsourced to Domingo de Forne, Agustín de Ribaldo and Fernando Vázquez, all Genoese established in Seville. 1528–1536: The Welser and Fugger families from Augsburg. 1536–1595: Liberalization. Portuguese: 1595–1640 Six Asientos were granted to: 30 January 1595 – 13 May 1601: Pedro Gomes Reynel 13 May 1601 – 16 October 1604: João Rodrigues Coutinho. 16 October 1604 – 27 September 1615: Gonçalo Vaz Coutinho 27 September 1615 – 1 April 1623: António Fernandes de Elvas. The two main places in the Spanish Americas that slaves were brought were Cartagena de Indias (in modern Colombia) and Veracruz (in modern Mexico) from here they were distributed out towards what is today Venezuela, the Antilles and Lima (through Portobello and Panama) then to Upper Peru and Potosí. 1 April 1623 – 25 September 1631: Manuel Rodrigues Lamego; 59 ships were licensed for Africa, where around 8,000 African slaves were purchased from West African merchants, mostly from Luanda. 25 September 1631 – 1 December 1640: Melchor Gómez Angel and Cristóvão Mendes de Sousa. In 1640 the Iberian Union fell apart; the Portuguese Restoration War began. Between 1640 and 1651 there was no asiento. ) Slave