ePub The Cambridge Guide to African American History by Raymond Gavins in History

Description

The Slave Trade and Culture in the Bight of Biafra dissects and explains the structure; dramatic expansion; and manifold effects of the slave trade in the Bight of Biafra. By showing that the rise of the Aro merchant group was the key factor in trade expansion; G. Ugo Nwokeji reinterprets why and how such large-scale commerce developed in the absence of large-scale centralized states. The result is the first study to link the structure and trajectory of the slave trade in a major exporting region to the expansion of a specific African merchant group - among other fresh insights into Atlantic Africa's involvement in the trade - and the most comprehensive treatment of Atlantic slave trade in the Bight of Biafra. The fundamental role of culture in the organization of trade is highlighted; transcending the usual economic explanations in a way that complicates traditional generalizations about work; domestic slavery; and gender in pre-colonial Africa.