Money, Slavery and Political Change in Precolonial West Africa
Lead Research Organisation:
King's College London
Department Name: History
Abstract
This project brings together two vital aspects of precolonial West African history which hitherto have been analysed separately. It places new pan-Atlantic perspectives on the history of slavery and the African diaspora alongside new archival data on the currencies linking West Africa and the Atlantic world, to offer a new approach to the history of economic underdevelopment in African and world history: the core argument is that the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the currencies linking African and world economies from the 17th to the 19th centuries formed part of the same economic structure which led to underdevelopment in precolonial West Africa.
Since the 1960s, historians have focussed on the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a key factor in shaping the history of precolonial West Africa, with important discussions as to whether the slave trade expanded forms of slavery in West Africa itself (Rodney 1966; Fage 1969; Lovejoy 1983). Meanwhile, economic historians looked in some detail at the history of currencies in precolonial West Africa, and at how currency imports and currency-use reflected social and economic changes also linking Africa and the world economy (Adebayo 1994; Guyer 2004; Hogendorn/Johnson 1986; Inikori 2007; Lovejoy 1974). Yet until now, there has been no systematic analysis of the way in which the history of slavery and the history of currency were interdependent, reflecting key aspects of precolonial West African political change which created the indigenous economic and political structures which faced the rise of colonialism in the late 19th century.
The PI's key hypothesis is therefore that the analysis of both the history of slavery and of the emergence of economic underdevelopment in West Africa emerges more clearly if slavery and currency histories are analysed together. Where enslaved Africans were used as forms of currency and credit in early Atlantic economies (cf Newson/Minchin 2007; Newson 2013), understanding the trans-Atlantic slave trade as part of the economic complex which contributed to underdevelopment can make a real contribution to understanding processes of economic change both in Africa and in the world; such a focus reveals also how economic patterns and cross-cultural exchange were connected. Meanwhile, new evidence on pan-Atlantic diasporas in the history of slavery (Barcia 2014; Candido 2013; Ferreira 2012; Green 2012) show how histories of slavery, racism, and histories of economic divergences offer close correlations: where racial stereotypes were not universal as late as the 1640s, as the portraits of Kongolese ambassadors by Albert Eckhout in Brazil make clear, the emergence of such stereotypes went with the rapid expansion of the Atlantic slave economy from West Africa after 1660 (Gikandi 2011).
The new archival data found -- and theoretical advances made -- since African currency history was last debated in detail can build on new directions in the field. New institutional economics' focus on trust builds heavily on African examples (Cohen 1971; Greif 1993). In the Dutch Atlantic context, Nimako and Willemsen (2011) have indeed argued that the slave trade needs to be viewed partly through the lens of world economic history; meanwhile, work on slavery in precolonial northern Nigeria has shown that slaves were used as a form of currency in the 19th century (Hogendorn 1977). Bridging the histories of slavery and economic change in Africa therefore can produce leading contributions to core fields.
The project thus allows the PI to enhance the leadership role which their publications (Green 2011; 2012; 2016) have developed. This leadership will be further consolidated through mentoring a postdoctoral researcher working on a specific case study that supports the hypothesis; staging public impact events alongside Ecobank and the OCR A Level examination board; and organising an academic colloquium in Brazil, and discussion panels in the USA and the UK.
Since the 1960s, historians have focussed on the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a key factor in shaping the history of precolonial West Africa, with important discussions as to whether the slave trade expanded forms of slavery in West Africa itself (Rodney 1966; Fage 1969; Lovejoy 1983). Meanwhile, economic historians looked in some detail at the history of currencies in precolonial West Africa, and at how currency imports and currency-use reflected social and economic changes also linking Africa and the world economy (Adebayo 1994; Guyer 2004; Hogendorn/Johnson 1986; Inikori 2007; Lovejoy 1974). Yet until now, there has been no systematic analysis of the way in which the history of slavery and the history of currency were interdependent, reflecting key aspects of precolonial West African political change which created the indigenous economic and political structures which faced the rise of colonialism in the late 19th century.
The PI's key hypothesis is therefore that the analysis of both the history of slavery and of the emergence of economic underdevelopment in West Africa emerges more clearly if slavery and currency histories are analysed together. Where enslaved Africans were used as forms of currency and credit in early Atlantic economies (cf Newson/Minchin 2007; Newson 2013), understanding the trans-Atlantic slave trade as part of the economic complex which contributed to underdevelopment can make a real contribution to understanding processes of economic change both in Africa and in the world; such a focus reveals also how economic patterns and cross-cultural exchange were connected. Meanwhile, new evidence on pan-Atlantic diasporas in the history of slavery (Barcia 2014; Candido 2013; Ferreira 2012; Green 2012) show how histories of slavery, racism, and histories of economic divergences offer close correlations: where racial stereotypes were not universal as late as the 1640s, as the portraits of Kongolese ambassadors by Albert Eckhout in Brazil make clear, the emergence of such stereotypes went with the rapid expansion of the Atlantic slave economy from West Africa after 1660 (Gikandi 2011).
The new archival data found -- and theoretical advances made -- since African currency history was last debated in detail can build on new directions in the field. New institutional economics' focus on trust builds heavily on African examples (Cohen 1971; Greif 1993). In the Dutch Atlantic context, Nimako and Willemsen (2011) have indeed argued that the slave trade needs to be viewed partly through the lens of world economic history; meanwhile, work on slavery in precolonial northern Nigeria has shown that slaves were used as a form of currency in the 19th century (Hogendorn 1977). Bridging the histories of slavery and economic change in Africa therefore can produce leading contributions to core fields.
The project thus allows the PI to enhance the leadership role which their publications (Green 2011; 2012; 2016) have developed. This leadership will be further consolidated through mentoring a postdoctoral researcher working on a specific case study that supports the hypothesis; staging public impact events alongside Ecobank and the OCR A Level examination board; and organising an academic colloquium in Brazil, and discussion panels in the USA and the UK.
Planned Impact
The project will achieve substantial impact among a variety of non-academic users through a combination of means. One of the purposes of the project is to establish the PI as a leader in public engagement in the economic and political history of Africa, and how the deep precolonial history may relate to more contemporary questions of international development and political stabilisation. This will be achieved through a clear and directed impact strategy which has 3 main planks:
1) The directed promotion of the new OCR A level option in African Kingdoms.
:- In 2014 the PI began collaborating with the OCR Examinations Board in developing a new option at A Level, called African kingdoms. There has already been some media coverage of this development in professional teaching magazines, and the option is to be piloted in September 2015:
http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/africa%E2%80%99s-kingdoms-find-place-level-course
The OCR option involves the study of 5 major kingdoms in West Africa: Benin, Dahomey, Kongo, Oyo, and Songhay. Some of the material developed by the PI for the coursebook involves the study of the history of currencies. Working now more concentratedly on this project, the PI will build on his research through the fellowship to develop a series of summer schools and workshops in conjunction with OCR looking at the economic impact of the history looked at on the option, and its relationship to current questions of development. This will showcase the vital importance of precolonial history to contemporary debates. These workshops and materials will then be taken together by OCR and the PI to important educational fora in order to promote the option. This will include working with focus groups of teachers in key areas of the country to explore methods of teaching and identify necessary resources, and presentations at the Schools History Project and The History Association Conference. This concerted effort in terms of mentoring and training teachers in the delivery of this option will greatly expand its dissemination in schools and create real educational impact.
2) Collaboration with a major African bank, Ecobank, to develop policy papers and collaborative workshops
:- The PI will work with the Ecobank Academy in Lome, Togo, to develop a workshop on Past, Present and Future Perspectives on Money in Africa. The key idea of this workshop is to bring together scholars who work on the history of currencies in Africa with economists and those working in the finance sector in Africa today. Ecobank is the "pan-African bank", working in every country between North Africa and the Rand Zone in the south, with 40% of its market in Francophone countries (http://www.ecobank.com/). By bringing economists and historians together, there will be a major multi-disciplinary dialogue linking practice and theory. The workshop will also lead to a policy paper published by Ecobank, which will be disseminated both in Africa and to policy fora in the UK such as APPGs.
3) Public dissemination and impact through the media
The PI's new research project will lead to the publication of a book by Allen, Lane (aimed for 2018, once the research is completed). Through the PI's established track record of media coverage (see Pathways to Impact), and the liaison with the publicity team of Penguin, this book publication will lead to many opportunities to disseminate the key project findings to a broad audience of the general public. This will occur through print media and radio.
1) The directed promotion of the new OCR A level option in African Kingdoms.
:- In 2014 the PI began collaborating with the OCR Examinations Board in developing a new option at A Level, called African kingdoms. There has already been some media coverage of this development in professional teaching magazines, and the option is to be piloted in September 2015:
http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/africa%E2%80%99s-kingdoms-find-place-level-course
The OCR option involves the study of 5 major kingdoms in West Africa: Benin, Dahomey, Kongo, Oyo, and Songhay. Some of the material developed by the PI for the coursebook involves the study of the history of currencies. Working now more concentratedly on this project, the PI will build on his research through the fellowship to develop a series of summer schools and workshops in conjunction with OCR looking at the economic impact of the history looked at on the option, and its relationship to current questions of development. This will showcase the vital importance of precolonial history to contemporary debates. These workshops and materials will then be taken together by OCR and the PI to important educational fora in order to promote the option. This will include working with focus groups of teachers in key areas of the country to explore methods of teaching and identify necessary resources, and presentations at the Schools History Project and The History Association Conference. This concerted effort in terms of mentoring and training teachers in the delivery of this option will greatly expand its dissemination in schools and create real educational impact.
2) Collaboration with a major African bank, Ecobank, to develop policy papers and collaborative workshops
:- The PI will work with the Ecobank Academy in Lome, Togo, to develop a workshop on Past, Present and Future Perspectives on Money in Africa. The key idea of this workshop is to bring together scholars who work on the history of currencies in Africa with economists and those working in the finance sector in Africa today. Ecobank is the "pan-African bank", working in every country between North Africa and the Rand Zone in the south, with 40% of its market in Francophone countries (http://www.ecobank.com/). By bringing economists and historians together, there will be a major multi-disciplinary dialogue linking practice and theory. The workshop will also lead to a policy paper published by Ecobank, which will be disseminated both in Africa and to policy fora in the UK such as APPGs.
3) Public dissemination and impact through the media
The PI's new research project will lead to the publication of a book by Allen, Lane (aimed for 2018, once the research is completed). Through the PI's established track record of media coverage (see Pathways to Impact), and the liaison with the publicity team of Penguin, this book publication will lead to many opportunities to disseminate the key project findings to a broad audience of the general public. This will occur through print media and radio.
Organisations
- King's College London (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Sierra Leone (Collaboration)
- Federal University of Bahia (Collaboration)
- West African Education Council (Collaboration)
- Black Cultural Archives (Collaboration)
- Schools History Project (Collaboration)
- European Union (Collaboration)
- African Studies Association of the UK (Collaboration)
- Cambridge Assessment Group (Project Partner)
- Ecobank (Project Partner)
People |
ORCID iD |
Toby Oliver Ray Green (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Green T
(2017)
Baculamento or Encomienda?
in Journal of Global Slavery
Silva C
(2021)
Enslaving Commodities: Tobacco, Gold, Cowry Trade, and Trans-Imperial Networks in the Bight of Benin (c. 1690s-c. 1790s)
in African Economic History
Description | 1) A new connection between the growth in trade and patterns of capital accumulation, linking African and world economic histories. These have potential implications for understanding the relationship between trade and economic development, relating to Africa's long-term economic history and future economic development, as well as the political problems of postcolonial states. There are wide ramifications. 2) Two new websites related to pedagogy for African history -- one with a scheme of work and eresources to teach both the new A level option run by the OCR (African Kingdoms) and African history at Key Stage 3 in the UK schools curriculum, and the other for the West African secondary school syllabus which for the first time offers a free web resource tailored to the syllabus to students from across the region. This is being taken up across the region, with over 250,000 unique views to date. 3) One monograph published on African economic history, called A Fistful of Shells: West Africa From the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution (Penguin and Chicago University Press, Jan 2019), which was awarded the Nayef Al-Rohdan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding of the British Academy, the American Historical Association's Jerry Bentley Prize in World History and the Historical Writers' Association Non-Fiction Crown, as well as being shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize (McGill University; the World's leading international book prize), the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History, the Wolfson History Prize, The Pen Hellell-Tillman Prize and the Pius Adesanmi Memorial Award (the Best Book Award of the African Studies Association of Africa); an edited book arising out of the major project conference in Salvador (March 2017) is in preparation and will be published over the next 2-3 years. |
Exploitation Route | This research should be important for policymakers trying to assess economic potential and contexts for growth; it could also be used by activists and public intellectuals interested in the debate on reparations for the trans-Atlantic slave trade, as it proposes clear economic impacts of the cumulative effects of the trade in Africa. |
Sectors | Environment Financial Services and Management Consultancy Other |
Description | 1) The development of a properly resourced A level history option in precolonial African history for the first time. :- This was part of the Impact pathway for the grant proposal, and thus far on the grant we have done the following: A/: Run a summer school in July 2016 for teachers. 6 teachers attended and this has led to an increased uptake of the course, and visits to schools. B/: developed further impact outreach in partnership with the Black Cultural Archives, in Brixton C/: Delivered the plenary lecture at the Schools History Project July 2017 conference D/:Developed a website with a scheme of work and eresources to enable teachers to deliver the option. E/: Participated in a range of events and resources run by the Historical Association (HA) on Precolonial African History, including: 1) Participation in a HA Fellowship programme on teaching the trans-Atlantic slave trade in schools -- this has led to 3 teachers developing new resources for teaching African history at Key Stage (KS) 3 and 5. 2) Delivered two HA webinars on teaching precolonial African history 3) Recorded 5 podcasts on teaching precolonial African History for the HA website 4) Been invited to deliver a plenary lecture on African History at the Historical Association Conference in Bristol in May 2020. 2) An extension of this impact (as approved by the AHRC) was in using this course as a model now to extend the impact through developing a similar sort of free ebook course for use for the West African English-language schools syllabus (WASSCE). :- This led to a meeting in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in May 2017, which was then co-sponsored by the ASAUK to deliver a writing workshop. The authors of this ebook met there and discussed the parameters of the ebook and its marketing in West Africa. The ebook has since been written and edited and is now available online here https://wasscehistorytextbook.wordpress.com . It was then launched at the annual meeting of the West African Education Council in Banjul on March 24 2018, where the authors met with the West African Education Council history subject coordinator and also delivered a second ASAUK writing workshop; prior to this, the PI travelled to Kumasi in Ghana to deliver two workshops on the ebook alongside two of its authors, as conceived in the proposal to revise impact approved by the AHRC. It is important to note that the impacts of 1 and are now being extensively added to through a new Follow-on Funding for Impact Grant from the AHRC which is seeing 4 pedagogy workshops in West Africa, and a suite of new events and discussions with teachers in the UK. 3) Alongside this, the PI completed their monograph, which was published by Allen Lane and Chicago University Press early in 2019. Media interest included interviews on Radio 3 and the World Service, and reviews in the Financial Times, Guardian, New Statesman, New York Review of Books, Prospect, Spectator, Telegraph, Times Higher Education, Times Literary Supplement, and the Wall Street Journal, all cementing the dissemination of the findings of the project. The book won the British Academy's prestigious Nayef Al-Rohdan Prize, and was shortlisted for major prizes in Africa, Canada and the USA. |
First Year Of Impact | 2016 |
Sector | Education |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
Description | African Studies Association of the United Kingdom |
Organisation | African Studies Association of the UK |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Learned Society |
PI Contribution | We led two writing workshops which are key parts of the ASAUK programmes, one in Freetown (May 2017) and one in Banjul (March 2018) |
Collaborator Contribution | They funded the workshops through British Academy grants. |
Impact | The workshops were multidisciplinary, there are no outputs as yet. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Collaboration with Black Cultural Archives (BCA) |
Organisation | Black Cultural Archives |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | 1) Hosting major conference organised by the BCA at King's, August 25-26 2018 |
Collaborator Contribution | The BCA is one of the major public institutions dealing with Black History in the UK. The Director, Paul Reid, offered to host the second summer school associated with this grant, related to the delivery of the OCR A Level option on "African Kingdoms". The BCA also offered to host a 1-day workshop in March 2018. |
Impact | The main output are the workshops at the BCA and at King's. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | International Conference: Dinheiro e Poder na Era do Trafico. |
Organisation | Federal University of Bahia |
Country | Brazil |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | As PI and with my postdoctoral researcher, Carlos da Silva Junior, we arranged a major conference in collaboration with the Linha de Escravidao of the department of History of UFBA. The conference took place from March 15-17 2017. |
Collaborator Contribution | UFBA hosted the conference, arranging transfers fromt he airport and from the conference room to the hotel, and lunch and coffee breaks. |
Impact | Progress with the edited volume has been made. We have a potential publisher (Civilizacao Brasileira), and controbutors have been asked to produce their chapters by March 31st 2018. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Marie Curie sponsorship of conference |
Organisation | European Union |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | I led intellectually and through networks to develop the conference programme which was cofinanced by the EU programme and the money freed up within the grant through the additional support given to the programmes in Africa by the ASAUK. |
Collaborator Contribution | The EU sponsored a Marie Curie Fellow under my supervision,and we collaborated with his award to add an additional academic research conference to conclude the grant in June 2018. The theme bridged both of our projects, and was on Cultural and economic transformations in the Atlantic world (16th-19th centuries), in which 3 of the 6 panels were on Africa. |
Impact | The conference is multidisciplinary. There are no outputs as yet. It will take place in March 2018. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Plenary Lecture to the Schools History Project |
Organisation | Schools History Project |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | I gave one of the plenary lectures at the Schools History Project (SHP) annual conference in July, around teaching African history at schools. This then led to the development of a new partnership with SHP, and together with a colleague from King's and two teachers we have been invited back to give two workshops on schools history teaching in 2018. |
Collaborator Contribution | They have offered to host the lecture and waive the fee attached to the conference for 2017; for the 2018 conference we received a 50% discount. |
Impact | Lecture on teaching African history at schools. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Plenary meeting and writing workshop for young scholars |
Organisation | Fourah Bay College |
Country | Sierra Leone |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We led the financing and organising of a workshop held there from May 3-6 2017 with two major goals: 1) To plan the writing and delivery of the new ebook for West African Schools as part of the Impact of the grant 2) To run a writing workshop for young scholars, in which leading international journal editors will work with them to try to improve the publication rates for African-based scholars in global journals. This side is supported by the ASAUK, who have offered a grant of an additional £3000 towards the extra costs involved. |
Collaborator Contribution | We are led the finance side but all local arrangements were organised by the partner. |
Impact | The workshop was multi-disciplinary, with participants from the fields of agronomy, history, linguistics, media studies, political science, and theology. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | WASSCE textbook and WAEC |
Organisation | West African Education Council |
Country | Ghana |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | One of the major impacts of the project has been the development of an online textbook freely available to schoolchildren across West Africa. This follows the syllabus for History of the West African Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (WASSCE), which is shared among all English-speaking countries in West Africa. This textbook has been developed in collaboration with historians teaching in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, building on the model of the OCR A level textbook. As PI I organised the textbook, the chapters, edited it, and through this contacted WAEC, who immeditaely saw the pedgaogical potential of this resource for schoolchildren in West Africa. We have therefore developed a vital resource for WAEC. |
Collaborator Contribution | WAEC invited us to present the textbook at their annual meeting in Banjul (March 23-24 2018) and to promote it through their networks of country-based teachers, thereby hugely enhancing the reach of the impact. |
Impact | The online resource is freely available here. It is not a multidisciplinary output. https://wasscehistorytextbook.wordpress.com/ |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Schools outreach |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Several school visits to promote the African Kingdoms A level option, to The Piggott School (Wargrave), Newham 6th Form College (Twice), and St Saviour's and St Olave's School, Southwark |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |