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

461 Pages·2018·4.41 MB·English

by  Finn Fuglestad

SLAVE TRADERS BY INVITATION

FINN FUGLESTAD
Slave Traders by Invitation
West Africa’s Slave Coast
in the Precolonial Era
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Finn Fuglestad.
Title: Slave Traders by Invitation: West Africa’s Slave Coast in the
Precolonial Era / Finn Fuglestad.
Description: Oxford [UK]; New York: Oxford University Press, [2018]
ISBN 9780190876104 (print)
ISBN 9780190934750 (updf)
ISBN 9780190934972 (epub)
Dedicated to the memory of Stephen Ellis (1953–2015)
Y para Elisa Pérez-González de la Barreda

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
List of Illustrations xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Maps xv
Introduction 1
PART A
STRUCTURES AND TRENDS
1. The Slave Coast: A General Presentation 21
2. Historiography, Sources and Epistemology 37
3. Societal, Religious and Political Structures: A Model 57
4. Some Concrete, Practical Implications 69
5. A Few Comments on Certain Economic Matters 81
6. The Database and the Slave Trade from the Slave Coast 91
PART B
CHRONOLOGICAL OVERVIEW: EARLY DAYS TO THE 1720s
1. Focus on the European Side 113
2. The African Side: Early/Legendary Past 129
3. Allada, Its Vassals and Neighbours, and the Europeans 139
4. Dahomey and Its Neighbours: Early Beginnings and After 159
5. Convulsions Further West 171
6. The 1680s-1720s: An Overview 179
vii
PART C
CHRONOLOGICAL OVERVIEW: THE 1720s –1850/51
1. The Dramatic and Decisive 1720s 199
2. Aftermath and General Considerations 215
3. Near Disaster: The First Years of the Tegbesu Era 225
4. More about the Tegbesu Era 237
5. Continuation 249
6. The Long Goodbye 265
Epilogue 289
Notes 295
Bibliography 393
Index 435
viii