University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS)

Ho
Department of General and Liberal Studies
UHAS 114:
Introduction to Ghanaian and African Studies

Hon. Samuel Bewiadzi

• introduction

•The Introduction of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade in the C15th

• The Impacts of Slave Trade on Africa

•The Abolition of Slave Trade

•The Introduction of Colonial Rule in Africa

• The colonial politics of Indirect Rule

•The Impacts of Colonial Rule on Africa

• Nationalism and Independence in Africa
The institution of slavery was a global phenomenon; in this sense, it
was not alien to Africa. The practice has always been there from time
immemorial in African history. According to Perbi (2004:2) “Slavery
and slave trade have been immemorial institution and practices in
almost every continent in the world.

Orlando Petterson, G. Muckmunn, H.S. Klein, W.K. Scarborough and

others agree that slavery is a worldwide, immemorial institution.

But the fact of the issue is that, the nature of the institution and the
practices surrounding it differed from one continent to the other
though certain similarities abound.
Slavery was an indigenous institution in Africa. Perbi (2004:3) argues
that “Donko” in Akan, “Kluvi” in Ewe, “Nyon” in Ga, “Dabli” in
Dagbani are terminologies used to refer to slaves in these indigenous
Ghanaian languages.
Sources of Slaves
Warfare
Raiding and kidnapping
Pawning
Market supply
Gifts, Convicts
Betrayal
Communal and private sales
•Reasons for the Acquisition of
Life-ways of Slaves in Africa
•Slaves
•They had the right to be fed
•For agricultural purposes •The had the right to be clothed
•For trading purposes •The had to right to own property
•For mining purposes •Right to marry and be married
•Military adventure
•They were not regarded as chattel or
commodity
•Hunting and fishing •They were not subjected to brutality
•Administrative reasons •They could purchase their freedom
•Care-takers of royal mausoleum •They could be manumitted
•Livestock rearing •They could be incorporated back into
•For prestige
society
•They could rise to important political
•Marriage and reproduction positions in the society
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was forced transportation of Africans
from their homeland to destinations in Europe and the Americas during
the 15th Century through to the 19th Century. Europe and North
American slave traders transported most of African slaves to areas of
tropical and subtropical America where they vast majority worked as
labourers on large agricultural plantations. It emerged as a result of the
founding of the Newfoundland/Americas/West Indies by the
Portuguese explorers. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade changed the
history of Africa, Europe, and America and its impacts and legacies
still live with us today.
Source Regions of Slaves
They were geographical areas where slaves were obtained.
a. The Sene-Gambia b. Ivory Coast c. The Gold Coast d. The Bight
of Benin e. The Bight of Biafra f. The Congo Area

Points of Embarkation
They are towns along the coast where slaves were finally shipped to
Europe and the Americas.
Elmina, Cape Coast Accra (Gold Coast
Whydah, Porto Novo, Bonny (Dahomey)
Grand Popo (Dahomey)
Badagri, Calabar (Nigeria)
Destinations of Slaves Slave Markets
They were the final places They were centers or places
where the African slaves where slaves could be bought
arrived from transit. and sold.
•The Caribbean
•Ouagadougou – Burkina Faso
•Buna and Bonduku – Cote d’
•Jamaica
Ivoire
•Brazil •Salaga, Yendi, Bole, Wa –
•Haiti Gold Coast
•Barbados •Whydah, Grand Popo, Bonny
•Europe – Benin
•Abomey – Benin
•The Americas etc •Sansan Mango – Togo
•Economic Life-ways
•Slaves lived and worked on
plantations.
•Crops cultivated on these
plantations were cotton,
tobacco, rice, corn, sugarcane.
•Slaves engaged in planting
and harvesting of crops.
•Slaves clear land, dig ditches,
cut and haul wood, slaughter
livestock, make repair of
buildings, and tools.
• slaves worked as mechanics,
drivers, blacksmiths etc
Political Life Ways
•Property or chattel.
•Slaves were forbidden to enter
legal contract.
•He was denied right to commercial
enterprise.
•The slave could not testify in court.
•The slave could not perform public
function unless permitted by his
master.
•He could not inherit his masters
property.
•He could not bring legal charges
against anyone.
•His testimonies were deemed
invalid. He could not own firearm.
•Social Life-ways
•Slaves lived in dehumanizing
conditions during the middle
passage.
•They were packed like tin fish.
•They were chained
together/they were in shackles.
•Water supply was poor – once
a day.
•They were poorly fed.
•They lived in unhygienic
conditions.
•There were spread of diseases.
•The women were sexually
abused and exploited by white
men – they were raped, they
served as concubines.
•Social Life Ways
•A black man cannot have
sexual relations with a white
woman.
•Sexual exploitation happened
onshore, on the middle passage
and on the plantations.
•The blacks formed
communities within the
plantations- the maroon
communities: e.g. Cumbes,
Mambise, Palenque, Quilombos
•The practiced slave religion on
the plantations, e.g. Candomble,
Vodoo, Umbumdu, Macumba,
Santeria etc.
Slave Revolts
Haitian Revolution of 1791 – this was led by Francois Dominique
Toussaint L’ouverture. It lasted for 13 years.
Stono Rebellion of 1739 near Charleston, South Carolina.
Nat Turner Insurrection of 1831, Southampton City – Virginia
Denmark Vesey Rebellion of 1822
Resistance on the middle passage:
Less Organized Resistance
Less organized resistance was both more spread and successful.
These include:
Silent sabotage, Foot dragging , Stealing of livestock
Feigning sickness, Playing deaf and dumb
Learning how to read and write.
Running away to form maroon communities in the interior
 The demand for slaves affected local polities – warfare
The emergence of empires; E.g. Dahomey, Asante
The decay of African states
Corruption of local laws
Decline in population
Decline in agricultural productivity
Decline in the growth of marketing activities
Decline in international trade and commerce
Decline in technological development etc.
Abolitionist movement often called the anti-slavery movement began

during the 18th and 19th centuries. It sought to end the enslavement of

Africans and people of African descent in Europe, the Americas and

Africa itself. It also aimed at ending the slave trade carried out in the

Atlantic ocean between Africa, Europe and Americas. The slave trade

was abolished by Britain in 1807.

The abolition was championed by the Humanitarians the it was also

influenced by the emergence of industrial revolution in Britain.

Theories of European Imperialism in Africa
a. Theory of Civilizing Mission/White-man’s Burden.

b. The theory of Diplomacy and Balance of Power.

c. The theory of European Nationalism and National

Prestige

d. The Strategic Theory

e. The Economic Theory

• The Colonialists operated the Indirect Rule System.
•It was introduced by Lord Lugard in 1922 in Northern
Nigeria.
•The Indirect Rule was a system of rule where the
Europeans rule the local people through their chiefs.
•The chiefs served as agents for tax collection.
•They recruited people for crop cultivation.
•They recruited people to construct roads and railways.
•The chiefs adjudicated cases in their local courts and
imposed fines on offenders.
•They recruited men into the local colonial army.
•The chiefs constituted part of the colonial administration.
Political Social
•The colonial powers set up systems•They constructed hospitals.
of administration. •Establishment of schools.
•The indirect rule system.
•Emergence of European
communities.
•The governor was the head and •They provided electricity.
leader of this administration. •They provided pipe borne water.
•He administered the colony with •They constructed roads and
assistance from council of advisors railways.
on legislative and executive •These developments were found in
councils. urban centers.
•The colonies were divided into
provinces and districts.
•At the local level, the imperial
powers
•There was massive infrastructure development – roads,
railways, harbours etc.

•Establishment of plantations and farms.

•Confiscation of local farmlands.

•Intensification of international trade.

•Introduction of currency
Economic Impacts
•There was massive infrastructure development – roads, railways,
harbours etc.
•Establishment of plantations and farms.
•Confiscation of local farmlands.
•Intensification of international trade.
•Introduction of currency.
Political Impacts
•The establishment of continuous peace and stability in Africa after
the First World War.
•Political demarcations of countries in contemporary Africa.
•The emergence of nationalism and pan-Africanism in Africa.
•The emergence of professional armies in Africa.
•Problem with inter-state boundaries due to arbitrary drawing of
boundaries.
•The delay in political development and maturity of African states.
•The loss of sovereignty by African states.
•The loss of independence by the local people.
•Africans were prevented from conducting their own international
affairs.
•Africans lost control over their own local affairs.
•Inadequate infrastructure and uneven distribution of this
infrastructure.
•Delay in industrial and technological development in Africa.
•It saddled local economies with mono-crop economy.
•It neglected other sectors of the economy especially the production
of food to feed the local consumption.
•It prevented inter-African trade.
•The monetary economy is the contributory factor to
persistent underdevelopment in Africa.
•It promoted a gap between the urban and rural areas.
•Inadequate social services and uneven distribution of these
services.
•High level of illiteracy because of inadequate educational
facilities.
•Down grading of the status of women in Africa
•Psychological effects
Nationalism began in Africa even before 1945
Its features could be seen in the earliest resistance movements such
as the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, the National Congress of
British West Africa etc.
But it rose to its peak after the end of the Second World War in
1945.
The role of the 1945 Manchester Conference.
The impacts of the Second World War on the colonial economies.
The economic hardships on the local people.
The exploitation of the colonial economy by the imperialists.
The rise of local intellectuals etc