Editing Equatorial Guinea (section)

=== Early Spanish rule and lease to Britain (1778–1844) ===
[[File:África Ecuatorial Española.svg|thumb|left|Evolution of Spanish possessions and claims in the Gulf of Guinea, 1778–1968 (in Spanish)]]

In 1778, Queen [[Maria I of Portugal]] and King [[Charles III of Spain]] signed the [[Treaty of El Pardo (1778)|Treaty of El Pardo]] which ceded [[Bioko]], adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the [[Bight of Bonny|Bight of Biafra]] between the [[Niger River|Niger]] and [[Ogoue River|Ogoue]] rivers to [[Spanish Empire|Spain]] in exchange for large areas in South America that are now Western Brazil. Brigadier Felipe José, Count of Arjelejos formally took possession of Bioko from Portugal on 21 October 1778. After sailing for Annobón to take possession, the Count died of disease caught on Bioko and the fever-ridden crew mutinied. The crew landed on São Tomé instead where they were imprisoned by the Portuguese authorities after having lost over 80% of their men to sickness.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 6. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref> As a result of this disaster, Spain was thereafter hesitant to invest heavily in its new possession. However, despite the setback Spaniards began to use the island as a base for slave trading on the nearby mainland. Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of what became Equatorial Guinea was administered by the [[Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata]], based in [[Buenos Aires]].<ref name="Fegley, Randall 1989 p. 6-7">Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 6–7. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>

Unwilling to invest heavily in the development of Fernando Pó, from 1827 to 1843, the Spanish leased a base at Malabo on [[Bioko]] to the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] which it had sought as part of its efforts to suppress the [[Atlantic slave trade|transatlantic slave trade]].<ref>"Fernando Po", Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911.</ref> Without Spanish permission, the British moved the headquarters of the Mixed Commission for the Suppression of Slave Traffic to Fernando Pó in 1827, before moving it back to [[Sierra Leone]] under an agreement with Spain in 1843. Spain's decision to abolish slavery in 1817 at British insistence damaged the colony's perceived value to the authorities and so leasing naval bases was an effective revenue earner from an otherwise unprofitable possession.<ref name="Fegley, Randall 1989 p. 6-7" /> An agreement by Spain to sell its African colony to the British was cancelled in 1841 due to metropolitan public opinion and opposition by Spanish Congress.<ref>Fegley, Randall (1989). ''Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy'', p. 7–8. Peter Lang, New York. {{ISBN|0-8204-0977-4}}</ref>