History · Lesson 5

European contact, the Atlantic slave trade, abolition and legitimate trade

JAMBWAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

JAMB: Section A 5b European contact and the trans-Atlantic slave trade; Section B 8 Abolition and suppression, legitimate trade, consuls and trading companies

WAEC: Early European contact; the trans-Atlantic slave trade; abolition and legitimate trade; Paper 2: Nigeria and the Europeans in the 19th century

NECO: Early European contact; the trans-Atlantic slave trade; abolition and legitimate trade; Paper 2: Nigeria and the Europeans in the 19th century

What you will learn

Explain why the Portuguese and other Europeans came to West Africa.
Describe how coastal trade was organised.
Explain the causes and organisation of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Use published estimates of the scale of the trade with their source.
Assess the effects of the trade.
Explain why Britain abolished the slave trade and how it was suppressed.
Describe legitimate trade and its effects.
Explain the roles of consuls and the Royal Niger Company in extending British control.

Key points

Portuguese: Elmina 1482; Benin c.1485 (d’Aveiro); goods: pepper, ivory, cloth for manillas, brass, cloth.
Coastal trade under African control: middlemen, comey, trust, manillas.
Slave trade causes: plantations, decline of Native Americans, profit, racism, African supply.
Sources of captives: wars, raids, kidnapping, judicial enslavement, debt.
SlaveVoyages: ~12.5 million embarked, ~10.7 million landed.
Bight of Benin ~2.0 million; Bight of Biafra ~1.6 million embarked.
Effects: depopulation, wars, firearms, racism; some states enriched. Rodney debate.
Abolition: 1807 trade; 1833 slavery. Humanitarian, economic (Williams), resistance (Haiti).
Suppression: West Africa Squadron 1808; treaties; Lagos 1851; annexed 6 August 1861.
Legitimate trade: palm oil, Oil Rivers, Jaja; continued internal slavery.
Consuls: Beecroft 1849; Courts of Equity; Hewett treaties; Oil Rivers Protectorate 1885.
RNC: charter 10 July 1886; Akassa 1895; to the Crown 1 January 1900.

Start here: The Portuguese arrive

For centuries, West Africa’s main external links ran north across the Sahara (hi3). From the fifteenth century a new link opened: the Atlantic. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach the coast of the Nigeria area by sea.

Why the Portuguese came

Gold. They wanted to reach the sources of West African gold directly, avoiding Muslim middlemen in North Africa.
A sea route to Asia and its spices.
Religion. They hoped to spread Christianity and to find the legendary Christian king "Prester John" as an ally against Muslim powers.
Navigation technology: the caravel, the compass and the astrolabe made long ocean voyages possible; Prince Henry "the Navigator" sponsored early voyages.
National rivalry with Spain and the wish for glory and profit.

Contact with Benin and the coast

The Portuguese built a fort at Elmina (São Jorge da Mina, in present-day Ghana) in 1482. Around 1485 João Afonso de Aveiro reached Benin through its port of Ughoton, and an ambassador from the Oba returned with him to Portugal. Trade followed: Benin sold pepper, cloth, ivory, beads and, for a time, captives (some sold on to the Gold Coast to buy gold). The Portuguese brought brass manillas (bracelet-shaped currency), copper, cloth, coral beads and, later, firearms. The flood of brass contributed to the great age of Benin casting, and many Benin plaques show Portuguese soldiers.

Portuguese missionaries visited Benin under Oba Esigie, and later Warri, where an Olu was baptised (hi2). The name Lagos comes from the Portuguese word for lagoons or lakes. Portuguese words entered the coastal trade language: Nigerian Pidgin palava (trouble, dispute) comes from Portuguese palavra (word), and pikin (child) from pequeno (small).

Limits

The Portuguese did not conquer the Nigeria area. African rulers controlled access to the interior and set the terms of trade, and tropical diseases such as malaria killed many Europeans.

Worked example 5.1 (JAMB-style)

The first Europeans to establish contact with Benin were the (A) British (B) Dutch (C) Portuguese (D) French. Answer: C, in about 1485.

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Practice questions

1. The first Europeans to reach the coast of Benin were the

Portuguese
British
Dutch
French

Show answer

A: Portuguese
In the 1480s.

2. The Portuguese reached Benin about

1600
1807
1885
1485

Show answer

D: 1485
João Afonso de Aveiro.

3. Britain abolished the slave trade by an Act of Parliament in

1885
1914
1807
1833

Show answer

C: 1807
Slavery in the colonies was abolished in 1833.

4. The trade that replaced the slave trade on the Nigerian coast was in

coal
palm oil
gold
cars

Show answer

B: palm oil
Called ‘legitimate trade’.

5. The ‘triangular trade’ linked Europe, Africa and

the Americas
Asia
Australia
the Arctic

Show answer

A: the Americas
Manufactures → slaves → plantation goods.

Key words

Caravel: Small, manoeuvrable Portuguese sailing ship.
Manilla: Bracelet-shaped brass or copper currency.
Comey: Customs duty paid by European traders to Delta rulers.
Trust: Credit in goods advanced by European traders to African traders.
Middleman: A trader who buys from producers and sells to final buyers.
Middle Passage: The Atlantic crossing of enslaved Africans.
Asiento: Spanish contract to supply enslaved Africans to its colonies.
Abolition: Making the slave trade (1807) or slavery (1833) illegal.
Recaptive: A freed captive taken off a slave ship by the navy.
Legitimate trade: Trade in goods other than people; also called commodity trade.
Consul: Official representing a government’s interests abroad.
Court of Equity: Court of European traders and local chiefs settling trade disputes.

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