African History to 1870 Blog

1. Introduction

In many curriculums, pre-colonial African history has largely been passed over to discuss European imperialism across the continent of Africa later in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. If pre-colonial Africa is discussed, it is largely contextualized by the trans-Atlantic slave trade and its connection with the plantations and the institution of slavery in the Americas. Although the topic of slavery is an important pillar of this project, the main subject is the importation of firearms from Europe to West Africa and its effects on the militaries, politics, and economies of West Africa. Although a broad history could track this relationship from the origins of the firearm trade in the 15^th century, this project primarily focuses on the late-17^th through the mid-19^th centuries. 

To better contextualize the situation in West Africa during this time period, it is important to understand the origins of the firearm trade in the region. The Portuguese are believed to be the first Europeans to bring firearms to the West African coast in the 15^th century during their exploration of the continent. The weapons received demand from the West Africans due to their range, the earliest weapons fired up to 200 yards and three times further than bow and arrows, and their psychological effect from the booming noises. Although there were several more types, there were three primary weapons imported from Europe to the region until the end of the 19^th century: the matchlock, the wheellock, and the flintlock – also known as the Dane gun and the most popular of the three.^[1] Records show that other muskets, pistols, buccaneers, and other guns were sent to Africa, as well.^[2] Over the following centuries, other European merchants entered the firearms trade in West Africa, including the English, Danish, Dutch, and Bradenburgers. Firearms were one of the most valuable trade commodities from the 17^ththrough 19^th centuries.^[3]

This project aims to shed light on how firearms were manufactured in Europe, shipped to Africa, and their impacts once traded in Africa. Of the selected sources, it highlights a variety of voices: accounts from Englishmen in the 18^th century, economic historians, black historians, and other modern-day historians. From these sources, it is clear that the introduction of firearms and their dispersion impacted militaries, social structures, and economies in pre-colonial West Africa. They originated across Europe, notably Birmingham, England, and imported from merchants and slave traders. Once in 

West Africa, firearms largely changed the weaponry used in battle, transitioning away from hand-to-hand combat and towards guerilla warfare.^[4] With rising militarism, firearms were also responsible for militarizing the political structure of some West African states. Some states, notably the Akwamu, became more centralized with military leaders garnering more power.^[5] Although firearms were a part of the militarism and political structure in some states, the most controversial aspect of the firearm trade is its role in the exportation of slaves from West Africa, which some historians posit as a manifestation of the heightened militarism. Modern-day historians have provided ample evidence to support the gun-slave cycle theory, which states: African states and individual slave gathering groups purchased firearms to capture slaves and would purchase firearms again to continue the process, focusing the local economies around weapons and slaves. Furthermore, states that were not a part of slave gathering needed to purchase firearms for defensive purposes, igniting the firearm trade and heightening militarism across the region.^[6] Firearms were one of the most valuable commodities in the trade with Africa, and were matched by a strong demand in slaves from Europeans.    

1. Methodology

In my previous history coursework, military history across the world has always fascinated me, particularly the weaponry and tactics employed in battle. I have no prior coursework experience in African history, so my knowledge of African military history was predominately through a westernized lens, which certainly had many misconceptions and other inaccuracies. Therefore, I was interested in broadening my horizons to ascertain a better understanding of African military history. Given that I have no prior experience in this subject field, I needed to do background research to narrow my topic to a specific time, geography, and focus. Over the course of the semester, my topic has evolved from North African weaponry during the “Military Revolution” to focusing on West Africa to specifically focusing on firearms and their broader influence on the economic, political, and military environment in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. My topic evolved because I had interest after doing more background research. Ultimately My guiding research question for this project was: Given West Africa’s historical connection with Europe, how did the importation of firearms to West Africa affect the political stability of the region and the trans-Atlantic slave trade? How do historians evaluate Europe’s escalating interest in the continent, as well as the military, political, and economic environment in West Africa? These questions guided my extensive research, which helped me highlight several important voices on the subject. 

To begin my research on this topic, I used Wikipedia as my initial starting point to get a general background on firearms and West African history. Once I had a starting point, it was much easier for me to advance through the process of finding useful sources.  I was able to generate multiple keywords that I could plug into search queries on ZSR, JSTOR, EBSCO, and Making of the Modern World. Some of the keywords that I inputted were “firearms”, “Thomas Dalby”, “Galtons”, “muskets”, and “Dane gun” among others. Through the library and databases, I was able to find a litany of primary and secondary sources. I spent a significant period of time reading through these sources to improve my understanding of the topic. The secondary sources were particularly useful because the footnotes led me to even more sources. Specifically, the first chapter of Guns and Society in Colonial Nigeria: Firearms, Culture, and Public Order played a critical role in helping me discover other sources, particularly “The Atlantic Slave Trade: A tentative economic model” and “The Galtons of Birmingham”. That reading also expanded my understanding of the topic. Fortunately, I was able to collect my sources that could only be found in ZSR Library before Thanksgiving, and most sources that I found could be accessed online. My biggest challenge in this phase was reading through the dense sources because I had to determine which information was relevant, which made it a time-consuming process. 

Eventually, I was able to compile a list of twelve sources that I considered for this project. To narrow my sources down to six, I looked at their arguments and relevance to my research questions. For my final list, I did not want sources that were too similar to each other because I wanted a diverse set of sources to provide quality analysis to my research question. I also looked at the voices in the sources to include as many voices as possible. As mentioned before, my final sources included voices from Englishmen in the 18^th century, two black historians, and two other modern-day historians. It is important to recognize who wrote the sources to understand the lens in which they were written.  

To formulate an analysis on the role firearms played in shaping the political structures, militaries, and economies of West Africa, I did extensive reading and note taking. After this step, I evaluated my notes and the arguments being made in each source.  This process helped me then formulate a narrative arc for this project. Once establishing this in an outline, I was able to organize the rest of the paper from there.

1. Curated Collection

Smith, Barbara M.D. “The Galtons of Birmingham: Quaker Gun Merchants and Bankers, 1702-1831.” Business History, July 1, 1967, 132–50. https://doi.org/http://web.b.ebscohost.com.go.libproxy.wakehealth.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=0e90b240-316f-4fc0-baf2-5598f104dbda%40sessionmgr103. 

Smith’s work gives a background in the multi-generational Birmingham, England gun-manufacturing business led by the Galton family during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Although Smith’s work is not primarily focused on Africa, she provides an important background into the origins of the firearms that were eventually sent to West Africa and their motivations for sending them to the continent. A critical analysis of the impact of firearms on the social and economic environment of West Africa cannot be properly performed without looking into the firearms’ origins. Historians have found that there is a connection that firearms from the Galton family can be traced in connection with the slave trade, although no explicit joint-venture has been found.^[7] The Galton family thus received scrutiny from other Quakers, who revered pacificism, because of the family’s involvement in gun-manufacturing and its connection to the slave trade. Samuel John Galton provides an alternative response that challenges the assertion that firearms were responsible for perpetuating the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Instead, Samuel John Galton asserts that firearm production is simply the response to wars and not a cause of any phenomenon. He then says it is the consumers who buy the products produced from slave plantations that are responsible for fueling the institution on slavery and people should be boycotting the products of the East India Company. ^[8] Weather Galton is correct or not, his statements must be analyzed and considered in the broader argument. However, given other records uncovered by historians, it seems that there is evidence that the Galtons provided firearms for slave traders. The source also provides insight into the manufacturing of firearms and how they made their way to Africa. 

The Galtons may have dealt in merchandise other than guns. Certainly in the earlier years the Farmer and Galton business ‘had wider ramifications: there were large transactions in Lisbon, and on one occasion £ 54,000 of slaves were handled in America’. A careful estimate of the ‘Expenses attending the Ship Perseverance on a Voyage from Liverpool to Africa, thence to the West Indies, and from the West Indies, back to England’ with a cargo of goods and 527 slaves has been found. £6,430 ‘nett gain’ was expected from the sale of the slaves at £50 each and from the freight on £7,000 of unspecified cargo; total expenses on the voyage were £22,920. The connection between guns and slaves is clearly there in the Galton business though no joint ventures have been found in their papers. On 17 June 1806, Samuel Galton complained to the Board of Ordinance that due to the abolition of the slave trade in that year ‘they were shut from the Market at which they had been enabled to dispose of the the Barrels which were rejected by the Ordinance’

The quality and quantity of guns made in Birmingham has been a matter of much controversy both during its existence and since…(Lady Shelburne’s) more interested husband, however commented to his wife that for the last twenty or twenty-five years, Birmingham had practised ‘gun-making to a prodigious amount for exportation…[and] send annually well above a hundred and fifty thousand to the coast of Africa, some of which are sold for five and sixpence a-piece, but what is shocking to humanity, above half of them from the manner they are finished in are sure to burst in the first hand that fires them’.

Under a series of ‘Observations’, he included some more general comments. He declared that his reasons and feelings convinced him ‘that the manufacture of arms implies no approbation of offensive war’, nor ‘promotes war, or increases its calamities’.

Turning to the slave trade, which seems to modern eyes a more serious offence to religious principle than trading in arms, Galton wrote: – 

‘The censure, and the Laws of the Society, against Slavery, and Oppression, are as strict, and a decisive, as against War – Now, those who use the produce of the labour of Slaves, as Tobacco, Rum, Sugar, Rice, Indigo, and Cotton, are more intimately, and directly the Promoters of the Slave Trade, that the Vendor of Arms is the Promoter of War; – because the Consumption of these Articles, is the very Ground and Cause of Slavery; – but the Manufacture of Arms is not the cause, but only the consequence of War.’

Kea, R. A. “Firearms and Warfare on the Gold and Slave Coasts from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries.” The Journal of African History 12, no. 2 (1971): 185–213. https://doi.org/10.1017/s002185370001063x. 

Kea’s work provides detail into the firearm trade between Europe and West Africa, their eventual spread from the coastal regions to the interior, and their impacts on West African economies, militaries, and politics. Kea specifically focuses on the Gold Coast between the 16^th and 19^th centuries. His work is important to an analysis of the impact of the firearm trade on West Africa because it is the topic of his work, and he provides thorough evidence, drawing from many sources. In addition, Kea is a renowned African American historian, so his work can be seen as an effort to decolonize history. Much of Kea’s piece focuses on the European’s trade of firearms in West Africa, particularly the models and quantities of guns, and their impacts on West African society. He explains that the dispersion of guns coincided with the rise of expansionist states. This notion supports the theory that firearms were a catalyst for a militant environment that created instability. He explains how firearms had an impact on the political structures of some West African states where they became much more militarized, and military figures held more power.^[9] With heightening militancy, firearms certainly affected the stability of the region. Kea also explains how they fought before the implementation of guns – typically with spears, arrows, swords, and battle axes – and then after with firearms and swords.^[10] Although, the coastal states were skilled in their use firearms by the 18^th and 19^th centuries, their military tactics were not as advanced as the inland states, giving interior powers, like the Akwamu and Asante, significant military advantages.^[11]These advantages, combined with centralized, militaristic political environments, clearly enabled West African states to become aggressive in their expansionist aspirations.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, firearms spread deeper into the lands behind the coast. This gradual dispersion of guns coincided with the rise and consolidation of expansionist states like Akwamu, Denkyira, Asante and Dahomey, whose military prowess was based on the firearm. By the mid-eighteenth century Asante and Dahomey dominated the Gold and Slave Coasts, politically and militarily.

When most or all coastal armies were equipped with guns, skirmish tactics were adopted. Soldiers in extended order advanced towards the enemy under cover of vegetation, fired, retreated to reload, and then ran forward again. Among other things this meant that hand-to-hand combat was less common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than in the seventeenth century…In the late seventeenth century, the coastal peoples were considered very good shooters and very adept users of the musket. Yet in spite of their early acquaintance with the gun, the coastal people succumbed to the military power of inland states like Akwamu and, later, Asante. Several factors account for this, two of which can be noted here. First, when most or all coastal armies were equipped with guns, skirmish tactics were adopted. Soldiers in extended order advanced towards the enemy under cover of vegetation, fired, retreated to reload, and then ran forward again. Among other things this meant that hand-to-hand combat was less common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries than in the seventeenth century. 

Akwamu is credited with having introduced in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century a politico-military form of government in which the heads of clans (the abusuahenfo) were replaced by military commanders, the Benkumbene, the Nifahene, the Adontenhene, etc., as politico-administrative officials in the state. A similar form of political organization existed in early seventeenth century Denkyira, where the people were divided for political and military reasons into three groups: the Akumatire or Nifa, the Kyeremfen or Benkum and the Agona Adontendom or the vanguard. Each of these divisions was under a Safohene or military commander. In the I640s there are Dutch references to the ‘Cocoroties’ (or ‘Cocoritische’) and the ‘Crisacqueesche’ of ‘Akany’. Both names were probably politico-military designations similar to the Benkum of Akwamu and the Akumatire of Denkyira, and they indicate that militarization of the political structure of some inland Gold Coast states had already been achieved by the mid-seventeenth century. 

Davenant, Charles. Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of the Trade to Africa. Gale Primary Sources. London: J. Morphew, 1709. https://go-gale-com.go.libproxy.wakehealth.edu/ps/quickSearch.do?quickSearchTerm=arms&stw.option=publication&optionIndex=1&stw.publication.option=document&quicksearchIndex=TX&fuzzyLevel=HIGH&tcode=0QFM&document=GALE%7CU0100459199&edition=&collectionId=Goldsmiths%27Kress+Library+of+Economic+Literature&workId=&userGroupName=wfu_pcl&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&prodId=MOME&pageType=Document&tabIDForDocDisplay=Monographs&docId=GALE%7CU0100459199&tabID=Monographs&searchId=R1&issue=&pubDate=117090000&boolCnt=1&nwf=y&relatedSubjects=Royal+African+Co.%7CSlave+trade%7CUnited+Kingdom%7CWest+Africa&pubMcode=0QFM. 

Davenant, an English mercantilist, provides first-hand accounts into events surrounding trade and relations with the other forces in West Africa. This text is important because it gives insight into the daily events occurring in the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries. It provides many anecdotes about how commodities were traded, pricing, disputes, and descriptions of the European fortifications. He also includes anecdotes about disputes among the English, West Africans, and other Europeans, which most other sources do not discuss. It seems that there was a significant amount of indirect conflict between the European powers in the region where they would make trade alliances to gain influence in a region to thwart other Europeans from gaining traction.^[12] These alliances were beneficial for the Europeans because it gave them political and economic influence. Although these alliances may have helped some African peoples economically and politically, they were ultimately harming one another, especially with the rise of expansionist states and exportation of slaves. This meddling placed the Africans as pawns in a greater chess match between European powers. As shown in the excerpts below, the Dutch and English engaged in this, as they attempted to gain power in West Africa, which promoted small scale warfare, heightening militarism among the African peoples.^[13] A large portion of the text revolves around the many English fortifications along the West African coast. There are many accounts and descriptions about the armaments, soldiers, and other defenses at the forts. 

It has been an old and constant Practice of the Dutch-West-India-Company, by Presents and otherways, to create and soment Quarrels between some of the neighboring petty Kings and States; and to assist the one side with Arms, Ammunition and other Necessaries upon Promise and Condition, that (after prevailing against their Enemies; they’d turn all other Europeans out of their Country, or at least to bring and confine as much as possibly they could of their Trade to the Dutch Forts and Settlements. This necessarily oblig’d the Royal-African-Conpany’s Agents, in Self-Defence, to follow much of the fame or the like Methods: Which indeed produced not only many Skirmsishes and Fightings between the Natives, Allies of the said respective Companies, insomuch that the Agents and Servants of the Companies themselves came, at last, to be often personally engaged therein.

From Mr. Thomas Cooper (Chaplain) dated Cape-Coast-Castle, 19 September 1701.

There is a War between us and the Blacks of Anamaboe, and all things are in disorder and confusion; and likewise it is reported that the Dutch (contrary to the Articles agreed upon) assist the Blacks with Powder and Guns.

From Sir Dalby Thomas, dated 10 February 1704.

…the Dutch had delivered out Arms, Powder, and Ammunition to all the people of Betteroe, Pampaney, and all other Places thereabouts; and had given them Orders to destroy all the People of Taccarado; and murther the White-Men; particularly, if they catch me alive, to cut off my Head, and send it to Mr. Nuyts, Copeman of Mina. I ask;d them how they could tell those Particulars? The said, they had Friends and Relations among them who had sent them word of it; and the next Day after my Arrival, they told me they had destroy’d and burnt the Town of Taccarado, killed one, and wounded four.

Aderinto, Saheed. Guns and Society in Colonial Nigeria: Firearms, Culture, and Public Order. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2018, 31-32, 34, 35.

Aderinto’s work is important in the analysis of the importation of firearms to West Africa because he discusses the origins of the firearm trade in West Africa, the slave-gun cycle theory, impacts on warfare in the region, among other topics of firearms in pre-colonial Nigeria. Aderitino explains that the gun trade initially began in the Benin kingdom in the mid-16^th century with the Portuguese. The firearms were well received by the Benin kingdom because of the noise and psychological effects that could turn into advantages over enemies on the battlefield.^[14] However, not all ethnicities in the region were readily willing to adopt and trade for firearms. There was a significant learning curve with learning to use firearms. As peoples became more accustomed to using them and the technology improved over time, the use of firearms developed in different areas of West Africa.^[15] In Aderinto’s discussion of the slave-gun cycle, he draws from Inikori and W.A. Richards, supporting their stance on theory.  Firearms also influenced military tactics in West Africa. The Dane gun, one of the most popular guns in the region from the 17^th to 19^th centuries, was deadly from short distance and created a booming noise that intimidated enemies on the battlefield.^[16] Given its effectiveness at short distances, it largely replaced hand-to-hand combat. An interesting point that this piece highlights is the names different names that the West African civilizations used to describe guns – Yoruba translations: muskets (ibon), gunpowder (etou ibon), pistol (olewo), cannon (akba)^[17]. Their ability to be incorporated into local languages shows the popularity of firearms in West Africa. 

It is safe to say that the role of firearms in Benin’s military history evolved: like most Africans encountering guns for the first time, the people struggled with the new technology, only to become highly skilled with it over time. During the late sixteenth century and much of the seventeenth, they probably did not have as much access to firearms as they wanted, but their possession of lethal weapons increased (and kept fluctuating) as trade relations between West Africa and Europe intensified. In addition, the technological transformation of firearms must have shaped attitudes toward their use, as well as toward their effects and outcomes, at different stages of the evolution and consolidation of military culture. Hence, learning and unlearning different types of firearms imported to Benin, as elsewhere in West Africa, must have produced divergent and shifting outcome from one century to another.

According to Benson Osadolor, “The conditions of exchange of European firearms for slaves gave Benin warriors the opportunity to make wars successfully, and captives became the means of exchange, this completing the gun-slave cycle, which made Benin a more vigorous state, and placed it in the position of subduing her neighbors.” Yet, to ignore other means by which guns were acquired in large quantity is to underestimate the dynamism of precolonial political economies. When Ogunmola, an Ibadan warrior, detained Edward Roper of the Church Missionary Society in the early 1860s, he demanded the following items as ransom: two hundred kegs of gunpowder, two hundred guns, and two hundred bags of cowries (equivalent then to £200).

By this era, muskets had become the major weapon among all the Yoruba groups. The impact of the Dane gun of the nineteenth century went beyond its ability to work mayhem at a relatively short distance; its noise created a terrifying atmosphere that was a significant element in the military tactics of the period. Thus, the widespread use of firearms radically transformed not only war fatalities, but military culture and warfare tactics as well. It reduced hand-to-hand battle, changing how conflict was prosecuted. The wounds inflicted by copper and iron bullets during the Ijaiye War in the 1860s, according to the Baptist missionary R. H. Stone, “tended to become gangrenous.”

Inikori, J.E. “The Import of Firearms into West Africa 1750-1807: A Quantitative Analysis.” The Journal of African History 18, no. 3 (1977): 339–68. https://www.jstor.org/stable/180637?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents. 

Inikori’s work is important in an analysis of the impact of firearms into West Africa because he provides evidence in support of the gun-slave cycle theory. This theory states that states and individual slave gathering groups purchased firearms to capture slaves. Then, they would purchase firearms again to continue the process.^[18] Inikori is able to support this theory because he finds that there was a significant amount of firearm trade to the Bonny area, where slave exporting was one of the most prevalent commodities. He also finds communications between slave-trading companies and gun manufacturers.^[19] In addition, Inikori conducts research to determine an estimate of the number of firearms annually transported into West Africa from Europe, concluding that between 283,000 to 394,000 guns were imported per year in latter half of the 18^th century.^[20] From records, Inikori also finds that firearms had a much stronger trading value than other commodities imported to West Africa. This evidence shows that firearms were in high demand and carried tremendous value. Firearms were in high demand from both slave raiding states and non-slave raiding states. The slave raiding states needed the firearms to capture slaves. On the other hand, non-slave trading states acquired guns to defend against the slave-raiders. Therefore, there was a high dependence on firearms from different parties in West Africa. The importation of firearms then promoted warfare between these Africans states. 

Where slave gathering was a state affair, the slave-gathering state may not only have waged offensive wars calculated for the capture of slaves. Its slave-gathering activities would of necessity provoke attack by its neighbours and so be forced to defend itself. On the other hand, the ‘non-slaving’ states that acquired large quantities of firearms through the sale of slaves did so in order to be able to defend themselves effectively against the onslaught of slave-gathering states and others. Because slave-gathering by its very nature provoked interterritorial wars in different ways, in addition to interterritorial conflicts arising from other causes, firearms acquired for slave-gathering or for defence against slave-gatherers may have been employed in a host of operations not directly connected with slave-gathering. 

The very high demand for guns which prevailed in West Africa in the eighteenth century is reflected in the fact that £1sterling of guns had a much greater purchasing power in West Africa than £1 sterling of other goods. The trade of the Fly on the Windward coast in I787, may be used as an illustration. The vessel carried textiles, guns, brass kettles, brasspans, and other goods. The average prices of the selected goods in England were, textiles, 22s. 5d. per piece; guns, 7s. 8d. per gun; brass kettles, 4s. 1d. per kettle; and brass pans, 2s. 5d. per pan. The account of the vessel’s trade on the coast was drawn up in bars. This account shows that the average prices of these commodities on the coast were: textiles, 4.5 bars per piece; guns, 5.38 bars per gun; brass kettles, 1.74 bars per kettle; and brass pans, 1 bar per pan. Thus, £1 sterling of textiles was worth 4 bars on the coast, £1 sterling of guns I3 bars, £1 sterling of brass kettles 8.5 bars, and £1 sterling of brass 8.3 bars 

Taking out imports into the Congo-Loango area, the numbers yearly imported from Europe into West Africa proper, may be put at something between 283,000 and 394,000. These imports were due very largely to the strong preference for firearms by slave sellers and gatherers. The preference of ivory sellers for guns came a distant second to that of slave sellers. Sellers of other commodities, particularly foodstuffs, do not seem to have had any strong demand for firearms. The implication of all this is that the firearms imported into West Africa in the second half of the eighteenth century were used mainly for slave-gathering and the wars largely stimulated by the latter. This is why the most important slave exporting areas of the time, in particular, the Bonny trading area, were also the largest firearms importers in West Africa during this period. Not only did the Bonny trading area import more guns absolutely than other parts of West Africa, but also, it imported far more guns for every slave exported. 

Gemery, Henry A., and Jan S. Hogendorn. “The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Tentative Economic Model.” The Journal of African History 15, no. 2 (1974): 223–46. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021853700000852. 

Gemery and Hogendorn bring an economic perspective to West African trade. Although the piece primarily focuses on slavery, much of the text discusses the role of technological advancements, particularly with firearms, in igniting the trade. They were used by the slave gatherers and middlemen and were responsible for rounding up captives to be sold in the slave markets. Not only were they lethal, the guns produced booming sounds, which were useful in crowd control. With the advancement in weaponry, slave trading became more widespread because it became easier to gather captives from war and slave raiding.^[21] As militarism in West Africa escalated from the practice of slave raiding, there was an apparent need to stockpile firearms for defensive purposes, even for non-slave gathering states. Unfortunately, to acquire more firearms, one of the most demanded commodities in pre-colonial West Africa was slaves, so slave gathering spread rapidly around the region.^[22] Other technological advancements decreased expenses and improved the mechanics of the gun-slave trade, expanding it to a larger scale. Ships in Liverpool, a port with many slave trading ships, grew in weight over the 18^th century. In 1730, the average tonnage of ships heading to Africa were 75 tons, while those ships were 226 tons in 1805, meaning more commodities (firearms) were being sent to Africa. More humans were packed in the ships with frequent overcrowding, increasing the volume of slaves being exported from Africa and decreasing expenses for slave traders. Ship captains became more learned in navigation of West Africa, especially maneuvering around sand bars, which made voyages more efficient and cost effective, expediting the trade. Lastly, the implementation of currency and credit between slave traders and local suppliers developed the trade from bartering to a structured, institutionalized economic activity.^[23] In all, their work is important because it provides an economic lens for viewing the slave trade. Advancements over time decreased costs, especially with economies of scale, that expedited the slave trade. This was paired with a rising militaristic environment in West Africa, resulting from the saturation of firearms in the region and the high trading value of slaves. 

The major manifestation of technical change which accompanied these entrepreneurial developments and in part made them possible was the rapid increase in the use of firearms by the armies and raiding bands that captured the slaves in the first place, and by the middlemen who brought them to the coast. From small beginnings, imports of firearms reached large-scale proportions in the second half of the seventeenth century on the Gold and Slave Coasts, although imports to the Benin area and Hausa- land apparently were not large in quantity until the eighteenth century.

It was not that the firearms themselves were necessarily so lethal, but the effect on morale of their discharge was considerable. Although the musket and blunderbuss were slow to load and inaccurate, their efficacy in managing crowds had long been apparent even in Europe, which had several centuries’ experience with these weapons. How much greater must have been the effect on African villagers not familiar with firearms. 

Through time, muskets, flints, powder and ball thus tended to take on an importance over and above their direct use in slave-gathering. States playing no role in the slave trade, and therefore not receiving muskets in payment for slaves, found themselves on the losing side of an arms race. Their dilemma: without firearms defence was precarious. To get muskets, there must be something to export. The only item in great demand was slaves. Thus it is not surprising that slave trading spread rapidly, especially in the eighteenth century when the flintlock replaced the cumbersome matchlock with its tell-tale glowing match.

1. Conclusion

To develop an understanding of the role firearms played in shaping the political, military, and economic structures in African, it is important to get a wholistic view on the process of firearms originating in Europe to their spread across West Africa. The sources above provide a wide view of the impact of firearms in the region, which largely had a negative effect on those societies. Firearms carried tremendous value compared to other commodities imported to West Africa because of their need in the heightened militaristic environment. There is evidence that the spread of firearms across West Africa coincided with the consolidation of expansionist states. These states changed their political structures to become more centralized around military leaders. State expansion and war threatened peace and stability, which created a steady supply of captives for slave traders to traffic across the Atlantic and into servitude into the Americas. Economically, firearms devastated the local states because it caused them to revolve around slavery, especially guns and slaves were often exchanged for one another.  

When studying pre-colonial African history, it is important to evaluate the role firearms played in shaping societies because firearms were widespread in their usage geographically and across time. The firearms trade established a bond, often for worse, between Europe and West Africa and included the West Africa in the technology transfer being taken place with the rest of the Atlantic world. Given this importance, there are many writings, especially over the last century, from historians trying to evaluate this broad period, which has established many theories and evidence to support them. It is important for people today to evaluate these sources to better understand these critical events in pre-colonial West African history that shaped those societies. 

---

^[1] Saheed Aderinto Guns and Society in Colonial Nigeria: Firearms, Culture, and Public Order. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2018), 30. 

^[2] R. A. Kea, “Firearms and Warfare on the Gold and Slave Coasts from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries.” The Journal of African History 12, no. 2 (1971): 198.

^[3] Saheed, Guns and Society, 32.

^[4] Kea, “Firearms and Warfare”, 209. 

^[5] Ibid., 210.

^[6] J.E. Inikori “The Import of Firearms into West Africa 1750-1807: A Quantitative Analysis,” The Journal of African History 18, no. 3 (1977): 340.

^[7] Barbara M.D. Smith “The Galtons of Birmingham: Quaker Gun Merchants and Bankers, 1702-1831.” Business History, (July 1, 1967): 38-39. 

^[8] Smith, “Galtons of Birmingham”, 145-146.

^[9] Kea, “Firearms and Warfare”, 210.

^[10] Ibid., 209.

^[11] Ibid., 201.

^[12] Charles Davenant, Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of the Trade to Africa (London: J. Morphew, 1709), 28, Gale Primary Sources. 

^[13] Ibid., 85.

^[14] Aderinto, “Guns and Society”, 30.

^[15] Ibid., 31-32.

^[16] Ibdi., 35.

^[17] Ibid., 41-42.

^[18] Inikori, “Import of Firearms”, 340.

^[19] Ibid., 342.

^[20] Ibid., 361.

^[21] Henry A. Gemery and Jan S. Hogendorn, “The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Tentative Economic Model.” The Journal of African History 15, no. 2 (1974): 241.

^[22] Ibid., 241-242.

^[23] Ibid., 242-243.

 The Mfecane was a period of unrest from 1810 to 1840 in southern Africa, which was largely a result of the rising power of Chaka and the Zulu people. Since then, there have been oral traditions, accounts from Europeans in the region, books, and a docuseries that provide a history of the Mfecane. History, as we learned earlier in this course, is the way in which historians choose to tell the past, similar to the way an artist decides to depict a landscape. Therefore, history is a subjective field, so it is up to the authors’ discretion in the way they choose to display the past. In the context of the Mfecane, the works that exist today all provide subjective lenses into understanding the era, which is important to recognize in order to form a basis of understanding on the subject. 

A claim that I find important to the debate about the Mfecane is the evaluation of Chaka’s rule. There is no denying that Chaka was a violent, war-loving leader, who was very good at inspiring his troops to win on the battlefield. However, there is dissention between different groups, especially among the Zulus and non-Zulu Africans, about whether Chaka should be viewed as a positive or negative actor in the Mfecane. As seen in the Commission of Inquiry, the Zulu experts argued that Chaka should be lauded for leading what was essentially a powerful military state and uniting the fragmented region. European sources even write, “The Zulu state which emerged from this destruction was far more cohesive and centralized than Dingiswayo’s confederation. Shaka was the supreme commander exercising direct, personal control over affairs throughout his reign” (Robison and Smith 27). Shaka was admired by outsiders for establishing a controlling centralized government. On the other hand, the non-Zulu African experts argued that despite his accomplishments, Chaka was a brutal leader, who killed thousands of people, including women and children, forced the unification of the region, and caused widespread migration. These experts point towards Mofolo’s work for providing a more accurate depiction of Chaka’s rule: “I shall kill whomever I wish to kill, whether he is guilty or not, because that is the law of the world, I will never have mercy on a person simply of his pleadings” (Mofolo, 48). Chaka, in his own words, is a ruthless being and willing to inflict violence on anyone. Therefore, these experts see Chaka as an infamous figure in the history of the Mfecane. People today must evaluate the claims made by all sides of the Mfecane to come to a conclusion because both sides have adequate justification, so this topic does not have one correct perspective. 

The discussion of the Mfecane is important to the confines of African history to 1870 because the discussion brings broader course themes from throughout the semester to the forefront. One of the course themes, the subjectivity of history, was alluded to in previous paragraphs. The discussion is also important for evaluating other claims calling for colonialism and white racial supremacy. European colonizers used the Mfecane to justify destroying the Zulu state because they feared its potential power when strongly united, as seen in the introduction in the Faure docuseries. Then, the Apartheid government in South Africa used the primitiveness and savage depictions from sources, such as Faure’s docuseries, for justifying racial supremacy over the black African people. It is important for our class to recognize the broader implications that historical works have, so the Mfecane is a great discussion to end the semester.

            Linda Heywood’s Njinga of Angola: Africa’s Warrior Queen provides insight into one of the most influential women in the 17^th century and her role in statecraft of the Kingdom of Ndongo, which was largely situated in present day Angola. Njinga was the first female ruler of Ndongo and came to power nearly a century after the kingdom’s formation. Her queenship spanned a turbulent time in her kingdom’s history, as European outsiders vied for religious, political, and economic dominance in Central Africa, in order to spread Christianity, expand political power, and expand the slave trade. There is a vast corpus of literature on the subject of early modern queens, particularly Elizabeth I of England. These works deservedly highlight their skills as politicians, diplomats, and religious leaders. However, Njinga, a lesser known figure in the West, rivaled their military prowess and cunning diplomacy. Heywood, a Professor of African American Studies and History at Boston University, expands the corpus of early modern era queenship into the Kingdom of Ndongo with the reconstruction of Njinga’s life and broader history of Central Africa. Heywood’s aim is to promote Njinga’s agency in resisting European oppression and potential captivity or death. Much of the narrative is focused on Njinga’s role in warfare and diplomacy with the Portuguese throughout the 1620s and 1630s and her cunning alliance with the Dutch in the 1640s. Heywood’s narrative, moving chronologically, places Njinga within the context of broader regional events across the 15^th to 17^th century, which emphasizes Njinga’s agency in statecraft, diplomacy, and resisting European domination. 

            Although Heywood’s work is a biography on Njinga, she writes it as a narrative starting with the origins of the Kingdom of Ndongo through her life. One might expect a biography to solely revolve around the life of Njinga; however, Heywood chooses to open the introduction and the first two chapters with a detailed background on the largest regional power, Kongo, the formation and expansion of the Ndongo Kingdom, and the growing presence of the Portuguese. Heywood only references Njinga a handful of times in the first two chapters. Heywood’s ordering decision is controversial, since the book is a biography. However, it is critical in achieving her goal of presenting Njinga’s agency in diplomacy, statecraft, and resisting Portuguese subordination within this broader context. Given that most readers have little to no prior knowledge on Njinga and precolonial Central Africa, it is critical that she provides the reader with a detailed background on the unravelling events before Njinga’s birth, in order to show Njinga’s strength as a queen and military commander. To further accommodate the reader, Heywood provides a glossary for African words, a list of important names, and a timeline. 

The first ruler of Ndongo was Ngola Kiluanje kia Samba, and he took power in 1515, a few decades before Njinga’s birth. His military prowess helped expand the borders of the kingdom from the Atlantic coast to the interior of the country. Heywood discusses the kingdom’s relationships with other regional powers, particularly the largest kingdom in the region, Kongo, which extended along Ndongo’s northern border, and the foreign colonizing power, Njinga’s main adversary, Portugal. The leaders of Ndongo expanded the kingdom’s borders from the Atlantic coast to the interior of the continent. Ndongo had a unique political structure in which the king (Ngola) exercised authority over hundreds of local leaders (sobas) that paid tribute to the king. In the early years, the kingdom enjoyed relative stability. However, this situation began to change with the introduction of the Portuguese. 

The Portuguese first arrived in Central Africa in a coastal Kongo province in 1483 (Heywood, 3). Kongo rulers embraced the Portuguese arrival. The entire leadership converted to Catholicism in 1491 and instated policies to transform Kongo into a leading Catholic kingdom in Central Africa. Subsequent Kongo rulers welcomed the Portuguese and Catholic missionaries into the kingdom, carrying out a massive religious and cultural revolution. Children of the elite were sent to be educated in Lisbon, Portuguese craftsman helped construct churches and other buildings, rulers took on European titles, such as marquis and duke, and Portuguese laws greatly influenced the kingdom’s legal system (Heywood, 6). Kongo became Europeanized and lost much of its traditional identity.

Not only did this revolution suppress traditional religious activities and local customs, but the Kongo elite allowed the Portuguese to engage in slave trading. During this period, there was a significant increase in the number of people condemned to slavery, many of which were captured in war or criminals in Kongo. Many Kongo elite and their Portuguese slave trading partners owned slaves. These slaves were then traded with the Portuguese and shipped like commodities to Portuguese kings as gifts, plantations along the Central African coast, or across the Atlantic to remain enslaved in South America. Besides the ethical facet of slavery, the slave-trading economics had damaging effects on the broader region. Kongo kings had to expand wars to capture slaves and engage in slave raiding expeditions in neighboring kingdoms, including Ndongo, in order to keep the slave economy churning (Heywood, 7). This economy was not stable, damaged the population, and further engrained the Portuguese presence into the region. Heywood opens the book with background on Kongo and the kingdom’s relationship with Portugal because it shows the reader how the Portuguese became a powerful external threat to local powers. Although not explicitly stated, the reader can understand the dilemma that Njinga faced in the 17^th century when the Portuguese sought to conquer Ndongo. Heywood’s introduction justifies her refusal to become a vassal to the Portuguese crown and her staunch resistance to colonial domination, which the reader should recognize as an important accomplishment, especially as other male leaders ceded their power. 

Heywood’s organization of the book is one of the most important functions to achieving her ultimate goal of depicting Njinga as a leader deserved of being recognized as a significant early modern queen. Heywood’s audience are not experts in African studies, rather they are undergraduates and other educated people who do not know of Njinga and the history of Central Africa between the 15^th and 17^th centuries. Therefore, it is important to give the reader broader context into the history of the region. Heywood goes into detail into the origins and rise of Ndongo chronologically over the 16^th century, moving from one ruler to the next until Njinga’s coronation in 1624. Heywood could have simply written a biography on Njinga, giving a brief introduction to set the context, while primarily focusing on Njinga’s life from the cradle to the grave. Instead, Heywood chose to tell Njinga’s life through a narrative of Central African history. The previous paragraph exemplifies the importance of Heywood’s organization because the reader can recognize Njinga’s refusal to become a vassal to the Portuguese crown and staunch resistance to colonial domination as an important accomplishment, especially given that other male rulers ceded their power. From this position, Heywood can communicate to the reader that Njinga was a brave queen who transcended gender barriers in resisting Portuguese oppression. 

Through this organization and narrative style of writing, Heywood is able to communicate Njinga’s agency in statecraft and diplomacy to the reader. Heywood shows Njinga’s adeptness during her delegation trip to Luanda to negotiate peace with the Portuguese, on behalf of the feeble Ngola, in 1622. Njinga seized this opportunity to present herself as a political force before she ruled Ndongo. She travelled two-hundred miles from the capital to Luanda with a large entourage and many male slaves carrying her and many gifts along the way. Despite her glamourous arrival, Heywood says, “Her consummate performance, however, was in the negotiating room with the governor and his advisors, where her royal demeanor and legal arguments would become legendary (Heywood, 61)”. Besides giving off a powerful appearance, she was a formidable opponent in negotiating with the Portuguese leaders. She had a powerful presence in the negotiating room. The Portuguese had a method to humiliate African diplomats by having them sit on the floor to reflect their subordinated status. Instead, Njinga had a slave act as a human chair – a cunning move to heighten her authority in peace talks (Heywood, 62). Ultimately, Njinga accomplished the Ngola’s political goal of attaining peace with the Portuguese, and secretly, she received a promise from the Portuguese governor that would help her consolidate power in the future (Heywood, 62). In the peace talks of 1622, Heywood is able to show that Njinga was a formidable figure in diplomacy. Defying gender roles and status as a diplomat seeking for peace with the mighty Portuguese, she refused to become subordinated in negotiations, starkly contrasting herself from the ineffective leadership of the Ngola. 

Although Heywood is effective in organizing the book and presenting the narrative in achieving her purpose, Heywood’s sources are questionable at certain points. Most of her sources come from the Portuguese and Cavazzi, a Capuchin missionary living in Njinga’s court. It seems that some of the acts being committed by the African peoples were seen as much more brutal than the Portuguese atrocities. The Portuguese engaged in the slave trade and slave-raiding operations, which decimated the villages and perpetuated warfare in Central Africa. Furthermore, they cut off noses of fallen Ndongo troops – collecting 619 noses as trophies in one instance (Heywood, 26-27). However, there were very little mention of atrocities going forward in the narrative. On the other hand, there are many instances when the narrative discusses assassinations, cannibalism, and human sacrifices among the Ndongo and Imbangala peoples. While it is fair to point these brutal acts out, these descriptions were more excessive than the violence committed by the Portuguese. Therefore, the sources can be questioned about their fairness in describing both sides.

In all, Heywood effectively organizes the narrative to present Njinga as an agent of warfare and diplomacy in the face of European colonization. The book properly recognizes Njinga’s accomplishments, similar to those of the revered Elizabeth I. This book should certainly be read by world history students in high school and college and any other people interested in the subject, especially since African figures are not typically included in this curriculum. In addition, Heywood’s work should be read in world history class because she provides a model for historical work. History is the way historians choose to represent the past, meaning it is arguments and interpretations based on evidence from the past. History is a very subjective field, in which there is gatekeeping and filtering of what gets included and what does not. Historians decide what everyone else gets to understand the past. Heywood used limited sources to best reconstruct Central African history and Njinga’s life, making subjective decisions to best write her narrative. Therefore, this book should be read by all world history students.

Sources

Linda Heywood. Njinga of Angola: Africa’s Warrior Queen (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2017).

The Life and Struggles of Walatta Petros is an English translation by Wendy Belcher and Michael Kleiner about an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian nun who dispelled European Jesuits in the 17^th century. Her life story was written down in the Ge’ez language thirty years after her death by a monk, Galawdewos. Since then, there have been several other editions in that language. Belcher and Kleiner translated twelve manuscripts, consisting of thousands of pages and a laundry list of notes. Then they both reviewed the variations to determing the best translation. Their final English translation was intended to serve as an authoritative text on Walatta Petros. However, their work received significant backlash, notably from Ethiopian academic, Yirga Woldeyes.

The major issue at stake in the Belcher-Kleiner/Woldeyes debate is the methodology used in the English translation of Walatta Petros, which connects back to broader History 268 course themes from Unit 1. Woldeyes holds intense vitriol for the translation, accusing Belcher and Kleiner of providing a “colonial rewrite” of Ethiopia’s most sacred text (Woldeyes 133). He states, “An African text has been translated and interpreted by western scholars who have little to no knowledge of the language and context in which the text was written” (Woldeyes 134). He accuses Belcher of having the translation based on stereotypical assumptions because Woldeyes believes that she portrays Walatta Petros as a sexualized, exoticized, violent black woman (Woldeyes 134). Woldeyes criticism seems to stem from our course themes of writing “good history” and decolonizing history. History is a malleable field, in which scholars have the authority to present the past through a select lens. In class, we have learned that past historians have failed to present African history fairly, especially since little to no African scholars have been involved in writing their history. Woldeyes believes that the English translation is a continuation of this problem. He writes that the text colonizes Ethiopian history because the editors ignored testimonials from local experts and distorted the characterizations of Walatta Petros and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Whether Belcher and Kleiner intended to or not, the misinterpretations degrade and abuse African peoples. 

Criticism for the English translation was significant enough to the point that Belcher wrote a response article about the controversy over Walatta Petros where she tried to explain issues, particularly those regarding Walatta Petros’ sexuality and relationship with other women in the hagiography. She does not address the issues that Woldeyes proposes – colonizing African history and misinterpreting the original manuscripts.

In academia and the broader world, precolonial African societies have been subject to both historical erasure and illumination. Historians should look to address these issues and create “good history” – referenced in my previous blog post. Although both issues would be appropriate to fix, historians of precolonial African societies should prioritize writing about how such societies have been subject to erasure and misrepresentation in order to explain why the general public knows so little of the subject and why what they “know” is problematic. It is important to bring erasure to light because the general public should acknowledge that they know little about African societies and what they do know is likely flawed before any real progress can be made in understanding and interpreting precolonial African society. In Unit 2, we explored Imperial Mali, a society that clearly suffered from erasure. I knew virtually nothing about the empire prior to this course despite its immense wealth, culture, power, and connectivity to the broader region. 

Several of the works covered in Unit 2, whether knowingly or not, seemed to counter the issue of erasure. 

In the Preface of Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali, the author directly attacks Western though that delegitimizes the use of oral sources: “Unfortunately the West has taught us to scorn oral sources in matters of history, all that is not written in black and white being considered without foundation” (Niane xxiv). This epic has been passed down orally for centuries until it was recently put into written form. The author directly attacks the Western principle that undermines the verifiability of the story for being an oral source, which likely led to its suppression for several centuries. This shows the reader why we know so little on the subject of Mali and Sundiata. 

In “The Meanings of Sundiata and the Dawn of Imperial Mali”, Michael Gomez discusses the Western hierarchy of sources, oral sitting below written. Gomez’s interpretations of the written and oral sources sheds light on why we know so little on the subject because written sources have historically trumped oral sources in Western history. Instead, he counters this notion, saying that the two should not be viewed as divergent narratives but are proximate, especially in the context of the Sundiata epic and the establishment of Imperial Mali. External written sources give insight into the political climate, while oral traditions explore the social and cultural dynamics of Mali (Gomez 1). This dialogue of sources provides a method for improving the public’s understanding of precolonial Africa and displacing any misconceptions on the subject.

Lastly, in “Did Africa Invent Human Rights”, Jean-Loup Amselle explores the Kurukan Fuga, Sundiata’s oral declaration dividing the Mali Empire and laying out laws, and the rediscovery of the declaration in the last two centuries. Although Kurukan Fuga predates “The Bill of Rights” from the Glorious Revolution by roughly five centuries, Sundiata’s declaration is a significantly less popular topic in world history. The context of the article, the rediscovery of a milestone declaration, exemplifies the issue of erasure in African studies (Amselle 1). The article shows that the public’s knowledge of Africa (misconceptions of the continent’s history) can be in part to the declarations lack of prominence. The mere existence of the Kurukan Fuga would likely show the public how problematic their knowledge of Africa is. 

In all, it is important for historians to address the subject of erasure placed on precolonial African studies. It is important to inform the public of the error in the understanding of precolonial Africa before challenging their preconceptions and illuminating them on the topic. The sources from Unit 2, whether directly or indirectly stating the issue of erasure, challenged the mode most Westerners understand history, while showing them how it should be studied.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

This WordPress install has been customized for WakeSites. Best practice plugins and a theme (Astra) are included!

Check out the plugins in the admin menu at Plugins > Installed Plugins – you will find a selection of helpful tools for creating forms and tables, site analytics, and more. Just activate what you need.

Best practice plugins have been activated for security, optimization, and accessibility. Enter your email address at Wordfence > Dashboard to complete the Wordfence security plugin installation.

If you want to get started quickly, check out the Starter Sites available at Appearance > Astra Starter Sites. To customize Astra with your own look, go to Appearance > Customize.

Extra theme functionality is available with the Astra Pro, Astra Premium Sites, and WP Portfolio plugins. Faculty, staff, and students may download the licensed versions at software.wfu.edu.

You can always install another theme if you wish!

For more information, please check out the Official WakeSites Documentation.