Annamboe: The Role of The Port in The Slave Trade

Introduction

The remarkable Trans-Atlantic slave trade transpired from the late 15th century to the mid-19th century. As a whole, millions of Africans were sent to America and became slaves. Because most commodities in Africa were essential to the growth of industrialisation in Europe such as gold, ivory, rice, camwood and guineawood, Europeans used Annamaboe as a major slave-trading port (Rice, 2017). Annamaboe was once a sleepy fishing village until the Europeans came and turned the peaceful place into a slave-trade hub.

At first, Europeans thought about forcing slave trade on African leaders but realized that they had to use diplomacy. While the African slaves were forcibly sent to America, Europeans did not actually have to use force on African leaders because they paid them massive amount of money to use their fellow Africans as slaves. This event sparked the beginning of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and the destruction of the once quiet and peaceful village, Annamaboe.

African Kings and Merchants Sold Fellow Africans

Europeans were viewed by many as selfish and cruel because of what they did to African slaves. Many of the slaves died from hunger and exhaustion while Europeans were enjoying their lives caused by the growth of industrialization in Europe. Their actions were apparently unforgiveable especially for Africans who became slaves for a long span of time. However, people should also look at the other side of the coin. By looking back at the entire history of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and having a comprehensive analysis of what really happened centuries ago, one would realize that Europeans were not the only perpetrators of the slave trade. African leaders and merchants too are to be blamed for the death and suffering of millions of Africans whom they sold to Europeans. In point of fact, the Portuguese sent African princes to Portugal to study there.

Also, African kings and merchants did not regard poor Africans as fellow Africans but as debtors, criminals or prisoners. They looked down on them because of their social status and they did not care if they become slaves or die while working. For the African kings and merchants, the important things were money, power and safety against neighbouring enemies (Hazard, 2014). By selling these people as slaves to Europeans, they would have lots of money while still maintaining their power and influence. Because of the slave trade, African kingdoms even prospered while their fellow Africans were suffering from intense cruelty and greediness of Europeans. As they worked hard all night and day, African royalties and merchants were enjoying their wealth and power.

Though the Africans sent to America were mostly debtors, criminals and prisoners; it was still unjust to just sell them and turn them into slaves. They were kidnapped and forced to work for the benefit of Europeans and also for African traditional rulers. Some even died before they reached their destination because of the long, tiring journey. Apparently, Europeans denied buying the slaves from kings and African leaders also denied selling the slaves to them. It was also surprising that the Africans who died in this period outnumbered the African slaves who actually worked for the Europeans. This was because African kings killed anyone who would disagree with the slave trade. It was also known that African kings collaborated with Arab slave traders even before the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Arabs kidnapped adults and children and had them convert to Islam (Priolo, 2008).

The slave trade occurred many years ago but people especially Africans find it difficult to move on from such unpleasant event. In 2009, a Nigerian Civil Rights group asked their tribal leader’s ancestors involved in the slave trade to apologize like what US and Britain did. According to the group, not only the white men should be blamed but also the African leaders who cooperated with them and sold fellow Africans as slaves. Some chiefs also played a role in capturing these Africans by kidnapping them. The head of the Congress, Shenu Sani, called for an apology from traditional rulers because they were looking for inclusion in a constitutional amendment in Nigeria (Smith, 2009). Though the issue was not the priority of most Africans these days and many politicians remained silent about this shameful history of their ancestors, it is still reasonable for them to receive an apology for what these leaders have done to their people and their country. Instead of fighting for their people, traditional rulers pursued their selfish intentions.

Considering these facts, it can be determined that Europeans did not really force the slave trade on their African counterparts in Annamaboe. African merchants and kings also had selfish intentions and reasons for allowing the long lasting slavery where fellow Africans were the victims. Eventually, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade left a huge impact on Africans especially on the poorest ones. Because of the slavery that occurred for many years, Africans suffered from racism where they were looked down by white men and were treated unjustly. Up to this day, the memories of the slave trade were still fresh in Africans’ minds and the issue in racism has not been solved as other races still see them as slaves and consider them weak and useless.

The Power Dynamics in Annamaboe

Even before the slave trade, Europeans had links to Africa and as they discovered the advancement in various African societies, they became interested in the country’s natural resources and civilization. During that time, the country was ruled by kings and they have different kingdoms and empires. Significantly, Annamaboe was the place where Fante merchants had daily contact with different people such as Rhode Island Rum men, European slave traders and Englishmen from the Royal African Company. African leaders and merchants were free to negotiate with European traders especially if the conditions were beneficial to them (Heller, 2016). In Annamaboe, the Fante merchants and traditional African leaders were powerful and anyone who would abide to their rules would either die or suffer from their hands or from the hands of Europeans. Because of the slave trade, the power of Annamaboe grew and in there were gods in every Fante town who lived in sacred areas (Sparks, 2014).

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the root of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was selfishness among two groups which were the Europeans and the African traditional rulers themselves. While people all over the world continue to blame Europeans and Americans for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, they should also consider the involvement of African kings and merchants in the most tragic and horrible event in the history of Africa. In fact, an apology for what has been done by the African rulers was not enough to eradicate the pain of Africans and the suffering of the people who died in the slave trade. This historical event only proved that money, wealth and power are the roots of most evils and conspiracy is something difficult to avert at present and even in the old days. As the Europeans drooled for wealth and power, the African rulers and merchants desired continuous prosperity, security and influence. If the traditional African leaders did not negotiate with the Europeans, they could have saved their fellow Africans from slavery and brutality. Unfortunately, they did not care about the consequences of their actions and only thought about their personal intentions and satisfaction.