The+Bight+of+Biafra+and+Angola

In the 18th century the slave trade expanded eastward to the Bight of Biafra. The powerful merchant princes of the coastal ports made European traders give them a lot of presents. There were rarely any wars that went on because of the lack of large states and organizations. Instead, kidnapping was the major source of slaves. Through a network of markets and inland routes, some inland African merchants supplied European slave traders at the coast with debtors, victims of kidnapping, and convicted criminals. Aro of Arochukwu used their control of a famous religious oracle to enhance their prestige and this made them the largest inland traders. The Aro did business with mostly powerful inland families and merchants on the coast through many gifts and even marriage alliances. As the volume of the Atlantic trade along the Bight of Biafra expanded near the late 18th century, some of the inland markets evolved into giant fairs with different sections consisting of slaves and imported goods. In 1780 an English ship’s doctor reported that “slaves were bought by the black traders at fairs, which are held for that purpose, at a distance of upwards of two hundred miles from the sea coast.”He claimed seeing twelve hundred enslaved men and fifteen hundred enslaved women arriving at the coast only from one single fair. South of Congo estuary at Angola was the greatest source of slaves for the Atlantic trade and was the one place along the Atlantic coast where Portugal controlled a significant amount of territory. Some markets met in the shadow of Portuguese frontier forts while powerful African kings controlled the other. Many of the slaves sold at these markets were prisoners of war captured by expanding African states. Most prisoners were usually the byproduct of African wars rather than the purpose for which the wars were fought. Research has linked other enslavement with environmental crises in the hinterland of Angola. They periodically suffered from droughts, which drove famished refugees to better-watered areas nearby. This allowed rich Africans take control of these refugees because they supplied them with food and water. They sold adult male refugees because they were more likely to escape compared to the women and children who were working for them. Rising Angolan leaders parceled out the Indian textiles, weapons, and alcohol the received in return for such slaves as gifts to attract new followers and to cement the loyalty of the people such as their alliances. The most successful of these inland Angolan leaders became heads of powerful new states the stabilized areas that were unfortunate by war and drought and also repopulated them with the refugees and prisoners they obtained. The slave frontier then moved farther inland. Even though a cruel system, it did work to benefit a few African rulers and merchants at the expanse of the many thousands of Africans who were sent to death or perpetual bondage in the Americas. Although the organization of the Atlantic trade in Africa varied, it was based on a partnership between European and African elites. To obtain foreign textiles, metals, or weapons, African rulers and merchants sold slaves and many products. Even in the absence of the strong controlling states, powerful African merchant communities everywhere dominated the movement of goods and people. The Africans who gained from these exchanges were only the rich and powerful few of them, the rest of them didn’t work out too well.

Ashly Ludwig