Commercial Transitions and Abolition in West Africa 1630-1860

Commercial Transitions and Abolition in West Africa 1630-1860 by Angus Dalrymple-Smith offers a new interpretation of the move from slave exports to 'legitimate commerce' in the Gold Coast, the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra. Commercial Transitions and Abolition in West Africa 1630–1860 3 Copyright 4 Contents 7 List of Figures, Maps and Tables 9 List of Appendices 12 Introduction: Historiography of the Commercial Transition 13 1 From Slaves to 'Legitimate Commerce' Different Places, Different Times 15 2 West African Trade with the Atlantic World 24 3 Accounting for Regional Differences 25 3.1 Shared Factors that cannot Explain Regional Variation in the Commercial Transition 25 3.2 British Slave Trade Patrols 25 3.3 Changing Demand for, or Changing Supply of, African Slaves 29 3.4 Factors that may Explain Regional Variation in the Commercial Transition 31 4 Organisation 35 Part 1: Trends in the (Non-Slave) Trade With West Africa Over the Eighteenth Century 37 1 Regional Patterns of (Non-Slave) Trade in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century 39 1 The Commodity Trade in the Early Eighteenth Century 41 2 Trade in Africa in the Eighteenth Century 44 2 Commercial Agriculture and Slave Ship Provisioning 1680-1800 47 1 Did the Transatlantic Slave Trade Boost West African Commercial Agriculture? 49 2 Main Results 60 3 Changing Relative Prices and Trade Risks 66 4 Revised Estimates of West African Food Exports, 1681-1807 69 5 Why did British Provisioning Strategies Differ and what were the Impacts on Different Regions? 71 Appendices 80 3 The Transatlantic Slave and Commodity Trades in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century 126 1 Measuring the Volume and Value of the Commodity Trade 129 1.1 Real Value of Trade 130 1.2 Regional Origin of Different Products 133 2 Real Value and Structure of West Africa's Commodity Trade 134 2.1 European Demand 137 3 Regional Trade 142 3.1 The Bight of Biafra 142 3.2 The Gold Coast 145 3.3 The Bight of Benin 148 4 Market Exchange and the Slave Trade 149 Appendices 150 Part 2: The Long-term Roots of the Commercial Transitions: Case Studies 151 4 The Gold Coast: Gold, Wealth and Power Amongst the Akans 153 1 Area of study 155 2 Long-term Trade Contacts 156 3 A New Interpretation of the Impact of Abolition 161 4 Economic and Political Considerations in 1808 167 4.1 The Financial Cost of Abolition 167 4.2 Asante and Regional Hegemony 173 4.3 Outsiders as Slaves 175 5 Gold and the Asante State 177 6 Household Labour Decisions 183 Appendices 187 Appendix 4.2b Sources on Asante Population 188 5 The Bight of Biafra: From Export Slavery to Slave Production 190 1 Area of Study 192 2 External Trade 193 3 The Value of the Commodity Trade and 'comey' 197 4 Britain and Palm Oil Trading 201 5 Institutional Development in Biafra 209 6 The Demand for Labour and the Internal Slave Trade 213 7 Household Production of Palm Oil 218 Appendices 225 6 The Bight of Benin: Dahomey and the Dominance of Export Slavery 230 1 Area of Study 232 2 Long-term Trends in Dahomey's Trade 233 3 Comparative Value of the Slave and Commodity Trades 236 4 Trading Partners 239 5 Dahomean Militarism 241 5.1 The Seventeenth-century Roots of the Dahomean Military State 242 5.2 Regional Politics and the Maintenance of Militarism 244 5.3 Militarism and Elite Power 247 6 Militarism and Labour 249 6.1 Demographic Impact 249 6.2 Female Labour 251 6.3 Production for the Army 254 Conclusion 260 1 Long-Term Patterns of Trade 261 2 Diverging Trajectories 262 3 The Real Impact of Britain's Abolition Campaign 265 4 Implications and Future Research 265 Bibliography 267 Published Contemporary Sources 267 Secondary Sources 269 Online Sources 285 Index 286 "Commercial Transitions and Abolition in West Africa 1630-1860 by Angus Dalrymple-Smith offers a fresh perspective on why the most important West African states and merchants who traded with Atlantic markets became exporters of commodities instead of slaves in the nineteenth century. This study takes a long-term comparative approach and makes of use of new quantitative data. It argues that the timing and nature of the change from slave exports to so-called 'legitimate commerce' in the Gold Coast, the Bight of Biafra and the Bight of Benin, can be predicted by patterns of trade established in previous centuries by a range of African and European actors responding to the changing political and economic environments of the Atlantic world"-- Provided by publisher Commercial Transitions and Abolition in West Africa 1630–1860 offers a fresh perspective on why, in the nineteenth century, the most important West African states and merchants who traded with Atlantic markets became exporters of commodities, instead of exporters of slaves. This study takes a long-term comparative approach and makes of use of new quantitative data. It argues that the timing and nature of the change from slave exports to so-called ‘legitimate commerce'in the Gold Coast, the Bight of Biafra and the Bight of Benin, can be predicted by patterns of trade established in previous centuries by a range of African and European actors responding to the changing political and economic environments of the Atlantic world.