Eurafricans in Western Africa: Commerce, Social Status, Gender, and Religious Observance from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century (Western African Studies)

From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries Luso-Africans, the descendants of Portuguese traders and African women, exercised important roles in commerce along the riverine networks of the West African coast. They were influential in the development and dissemination of the Crioulo language, the diffusion of numerous fruits, food crops and domestic animals, and influenced many African social and religious practices. When Sephardic Jews, French, Dutch, and English traders arrived in western Africa, they and their Eurafrican offspring were constrained by African societies to accommodate to the same circumstances as Portuguese and Luso-Africans. During the latter part of the eighteenth century, Eurafricans' circumstances significantly changed in places where French and British colonial officials introduced European legal codes that enabled Eurafricans to acquire freehold property, bequeath dwellings, trading vessels, and other possessions to descendants, and exercise civic responsibilities. Eurafricans in Western Africa traces the rich social and commercial history of western Africa. The most comprehensive study to date, it begins prior to the sixteenth century when huge profits made by middlemen on trade in North African slaves, salt, gold, pepper, and numerous other commodities prompted Portuguese reconnaissance voyages along the coast of western Africa. From Senegal to Sierra Leone, Portuguese, including New Christians who reverted to Judaism while living in western Africa, thrived where riverine and caravan networks linked many African groups. Portuguese and their Luso-African descendants contended with French, Dutch, and English rivals for trade in gold, ivory, slaves, cotton textiles, iron bars, cowhides, and other African products. As the Atlantic slave trade increased, French and Franco-Africans and English and Anglo-Africans supplanted Portuguese and Luso-Africans in many African places of trade. Eurafricans in Western Africa follows the changes that took root in the eighteenth century when French and British colonial officials introduced European legal codes, and concludes with the onset of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, when suppression of the slave trade and expanding commerce in forest and agricultural commodities again transformed circumstances in western Africa. Professor George E. Brookss outstanding history of these vital aspects of western Africa is enriched by his discussion of the roles of the women who married or cohabited with European traders. Through accounts of incidents and personal histories, which are integrated into the narrative, the lives of these women and their children are accorded a prominent place in Professor Brookss fascinating discussion of this dynamic region of Africa. Eurafricans In Western Africa Follows The Changes That Took Root In The Eighteenth Century When French And British Colonial Officials Introduced European Legal Codes, And Concludes With The Onset Of The French Revolution And Napoleonic Wars, When Suppression Of The Slave Trade And Expanding Commerce In Forest And Agricultural Commodities Again Transformed Circumstances In Western Africa.--book Jacket. Western Africa : Ecological Zones And Human Geography -- Commercial Networks : Biafada-sapi, Banyun-bak, And Cabo Verdean-lançado -- Portuguese, Luso-africans, And European Competitors -- Western Africa And The Onset Of An Era Of Droughts, Famines, And Global Economic Transformations -- The Evolution Of Nharaship In Senegambia -- Trade With The Kaabu Empire And Serra Leoa -- Era Of The Second Cacheu Company -- Expanding Slave-trading Networks And The Corruption Of African Social And Cultural Patterns -- Senegambia : Luso-africans Supplanted By Franco-africans -- Geba-grande And Serra Leoa : Luso-africans Challenged And Supplanted By Anglo-africans. George E. Brooks. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 317-342) And Index.