Slave Traders by Invitation: West Africa in the Era of Trans-Atlantic Slavery

The Slave Coast, situated in what is now the West African state of Benin, was the epicentre of the Atlantic Slave Trade. But it was also an inhospitable, surf-ridden coastline, subject to crashing breakers and devoid of permanent human settlement. Nor was it easily accessible from the interior due to a lagoon which ran parallel to the coast. The local inhabitants were not only sheltered against incursions from the sea, but were also locked off from it. Yet, paradoxically, it was this coastline that witnessed a thriving long-term commercial relation-ship between Europeans and Africans, based on the trans-Atlantic slave trade. How did it come about? How was it all organised? And how did the locals react to the opportunities these new trading relations offered them? The Kingdom of Dahomey is usually cited as the Slave Coast's archetypical slave raiding and slave trading polity. An inland realm, it was a latecomer to the slave trade, and simply incorporated a pre-existing system by dint of military prowess, which ultimately was to prove radically counterproductive. Fuglestad's book seeks to explain the Dahomean 'anomaly' and its impact on the Slave Coast's societies and polities. "The Slave Coast, roughly the shores of present-day Benin and Togo, was the epicentre of the Atlantic Slave Trade. But it was also an inhospitable, surf-ridden coastline, subject to crashing breakers and devoid of permanent human settlement. Nor was it easily accessible from the interior due to a lagoon which ran parallel to the coast. The local inhabitants were not only sheltered against incursions from the sea, but were also locked off from it. Yet, paradoxically, it was this coastline that witnessed a thriving long-term commercial relationship between Europeans and Africans, based on the trans-Atlantic slave trade. How did it come about? How was it all organized? And how did the locals react to the opportunities these new trading relations offered them? The Kingdom of Dahomey is usually cited as the Slave Coast's archetypical slave raiding and slave trading polity. An inland realm, it was a latecomer to the slave trade, and simply incorporated a pre-existing system by dint of military prowess, which ultimately was to prove radically counterproductive. Fuglestad's book seeks to explain the Dahomean 'anomaly' and its impact on the Slave Coast's societies and polities."--(Book jacket) Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgements List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Maps Introduction Part A: Structures And Trends 1. The Slave Coast: A General Presentation 2. Historiography, Sources and Epistemology 3. Societal, Religious and Political Structures: A Model 4. Some Concrete, Practical Implications 5. A Few Comments on Certain Economic Matters 6. The Database and the Slave Trade from the Slave Coast Part B: Chronological Overview: Early Days to the 1720s 1. Focus on the European Side 2. The African Side: Early/Legendary Past 3. Allada, Its Vassals and Neighbours, and the Europeans 4. Dahomey and Its Neighbours: Early Beginnings and After 5. Convulsions Further West 6. The 1680s-1720s: An Overview Part C: Chronological Overview: The 1720s –1850/51 1. The Dramatic and Decisive 1720s 2. Aftermath and General Considerations 3. Near Disaster: The First Years of the Tegbesu Era 4. More about the Tegbesu Era 5. Continuation 6. The Long Goodbye Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index