The slave trade and the development of the Atlantic Africa port system,1400s–1800s

Atlantic Africa port system: The sub-systems

Since the ancient period, several ports located in the north of Africa maintained active contacts with their European counterparts across the Mediterranean Sea. In these commercial exchanges gold, ivory and slaves always played an important role alongside other African ‘goods’. ⁹ Portuguese maritime expansion in the early fifteenth century and the continuation of military campaigns against Muslim powers in the north of Africa, leading to the conquest of Ceuta, Tangier and other cities and ports in the region, stimulated African involvement in the commercial activities of European merchants. Simultaneously, the Portuguese voyages of exploration along the Atlantic coast of present-day Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania contributed to the gradual integration of those regions and their ports into the Atlantic economy, which was then starting to take shape. The inclusion of this African port sub-system was to a great extent motivated by the growing interest and ambition of Europeans in getting closer access to the supply markets of gold located in sub-Saharan Africa. Among the ports of this sub-system, Arguin, in Atlantic Africa would play a key role for a great part of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as the main gateway for gold, as well as slaves, some ivory and other goods. ¹⁰ However, as Portuguese maritime exploration moved southwards, other ports would be brought into contact with the European trade fleets and the rising Atlantic economy, overshadowing the central role played by the northern-African port system in this early period of European contact with Atlantic Africa.

The second port sub-system to emerge in Atlantic Africa and to be integrated into Atlantic trade was Senegambia and Cape Verde. Like other port systems and sub-systems, this also included a set of ports with specific functions at a local, regional and international level. In the Cape Verde archipelago, Ribeira Grande and São Filipe do Fogo were the two most important ports for a great part of the period under review. ¹¹ The other islands, however, had a small number of natural harbours that were also part of this network of ports, namely the isles of Maio, Sal, and later, São Nicolau, São Vicente and Santo Antão. ¹² These sets of ports were paramount for the survival and economic success of the islands, since the potential of each island was quite distinctive. Some islands like Santiago and Fogo were more suitable for agriculture, while others such as Maio, Brava, and Sal were better for cattle breeding and salt production. Intra-insular trade between the different ports and natural harbours would, therefore, become of great importance.

This sub-system also included a set of ports on the coast of the African continent. Many of these ports, especially the river ports on the estuaries of the Guinea-Bissau waterway system, as well as those along the Gambia and Senegal rivers, existed and flourished prior to the arrival of the Portuguese and, later, other Europeans in these areas. However, the presence of Portuguese and European merchants connected these ports to the Atlantic Africa port system and stimulated their growth. ¹³

The third set of African coastal and river ports to be brought into contact with European trade fleets circulating in the Atlantic was the Gulf of Guinea sub-system. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, this port sub-system comprised three main sets of interconnected ports, namely the Portuguese fortress-ports in the Gold Coast: São Jorge da Mina (present-day Elmina), Axim and Shama (all in present-day Ghana); the ports of São Tomé and Santo António in Príncipe (present-day São Tomé and Príncipe), Fernão Pó and Annobon (i.e. Ano Bom, in Portuguese; present-day Equatorial Guinea); the coastal ports along the Bights of Benin and Biafra, and ports further south down to Cape Lopez.

The fourth set of ports in Atlantic Africa to be brought into contact with European trade during the sixteenth century was located south of Cape Lopez and stretched along the coast as far as Benguela. This was the west-central Africa or Kongo-Angola port sub-system, which included several ports located both north and south of the Congo River, namely Mpinda (present-day Congo-Brazzaville), Malembo, Loango, Ambriz and Cabinda, and Luanda and Benguela (present-day Angola). In this sub-system, Luanda, and later Benguela and Cabinda, appear as the main ports, with Luanda a clear leader throughout the entire period. Their gradual integration into the Atlantic economy was to a great extent driven by the demand for slave labour in the Americas, although these ports were also involved in the import or export of various Africans goods.

Sub-systems: Leading ports, functions and change over time

The port sub-systems of Atlantic Africa underwent several changes over time, including shifts in their leading and satellite ports, and in terms of their functions within each sub-system and at an international level within the broader Atlantic Africa port system. The volume of shipping serves as a valid economic indicator of the importance of ports at a local, regional and international level, and of shifts over time. Let us start by looking into the leading ports, their roles, and the local and regional shifts in the various sub-systems briefly outlined earlier.

In the Senegambia and Cape Verdean sub-system, regular circuits connecting the ports of Ribeira Grande and São Filipe in Fogo with the natural harbours of Maio, Brava and Sal, developed soon after settlement and colonization started in the fifteenth century. These two circuits had three main functions: i) to acquire goods needed for daily life in the islands; ii) to gather cotton, cloth and other export goods on the islands of Fogo and Santiago, and salt and meat from the islands of Maio, Brava and Sal; ¹⁴ and iii) to supply goods such as leather for the long-distance circuits. Ribeira Grande therefore played a key role at a local level.

In the long-distance trade, this port supplied international markets with the aforementioned commodities produced on the islands, which were regularly shipped to Portugal, Spain and Flanders (Antwerp). It also redistributed enslaved Africans and goods imported from present-day Senegambia, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone to international markets in Europe and later in the Americas. And, in addition, it functioned as port of call for vessels heading further south along the African coast as well as for ships heading to Brazil and Asia, guaranteeing fresh supplies of water and foodstuffs, allowing for repairs and, eventually, offering some sort of health care for crew members and passengers. ¹⁵

For most of the sixteenth century, Ribeira Grande also played an important role at a regional level, given its contacts with the set of ports located on the coast of present-day Senegambia and Guinea-Bissau, which was also integrated into this port sub-system. ¹⁶ In most cases, once in Senegambia and Guinea-Bissau, the merchants of Ribeira Grande engaged in trade with several coastal routes to guarantee the distribution of the islands’ products (including salt, cotton cloths and other items) to various regions, namely the Gambia River, the Petite Côte of Senegal, the Guinea-Bissau waterways and the Sierra Leone estuary. ¹⁷ There, these goods were bartered for slaves, ivory and foodstuffs such as maize and rice. Most of the enslaved Africans and elephants’ tusks imported into the port of Ribeira Grande were re-exported to Portugal, Spain, Antwerp, Hamburg and Amsterdam (essentially ivory in the latter three ports). From the Canary Islands, they were often further exported to the Spanish American colonies. Foodstuffs, in contrast, were consumed in the archipelago and used to supply vessels operating in the long-distance circuits. ¹⁸

By the mid-sixteenth century, however, Portuguese and other European merchants had started to settle temporarily in these coastal areas, challenging the privileged position that Cape Verdean merchants had enjoyed so far, who, as settlers in the islands, had been granted commercial privileges to trade with the nearby coastal areas by the Portuguese Crown in the fifteenth century. ¹⁹ Their presence connected the coastal ports with the Atlantic port system and stimulated their economic growth. ²⁰ Cacheu, ²¹ and later Bissau (both in present-day Guinea-Bissau), Gorée and Saint-Louis (present-day Senegal), as well as several ports in the Gambia estuary, are cases in point. The aforementioned merchants engaged in trade with the Gambia River, the Petite Côte of Senegal, the Sierra Leone estuary and sometimes with the Cape Verde islands, here in particular with Ribeira Grande in Santiago, and São Filipe in Fogo, where they could acquire European products and locally produced goods in demand in the coastal markets. ²² For goods traded in the commercial networks along the various waterways and land routes that linked the interior of the island with the coast, the port of Cacheu became an important gateway to the international markets. Cacheu, and later Bissau, Gorée and Saint-Louis, therefore had a local and a regional function, and later also acquired an international function. ²³ Locally these ports were important for the connection of the coast with the hinterland through river waterways that guaranteed the circulation of different goods, including foodstuffs (rice, maize, etc.), labour (slaves) and ivory. Regionally, they allowed for the circulation and exchange of enslaved Africans and various goods produced in the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone regions. Internationally, they gradually developed into gateways for the commerce of enslaved Africans, ivory, wax and other goods produced or obtained locally that were in demand in Europe and especially in the Americas.

In the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, under the growing presence and economic activities of the Dutch, French and English, the ports of Gorée, Saint-Louis, and those in the Gambia River estuary would acquire a leading role in the slave trade, the commerce of ivory and other African goods such as beeswax (see Figure 1). ²⁴

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 1.

Main ports of slave embarkation in the Cape Verdean Islands, Senegambia and Guinea-Bissau region, 1510–1860.

Changes can also be found within the Gulf of Guinea sub-system. During the sixteenth century, the sub-system had two main leading ports connecting it to the wider Atlantic Africa port system: São Jorge da Mina and São Tomé. At a local level, São Jorge da Mina had two main functions. It was the port responsible for supplying provisions, ammunitions, soldiers and European merchandize for bartering to the other Portuguese fortresses on the Gold Coast. It also collected all purchases of gold and other commodities in the Portuguese fortresses on the coast for re-exportation. ²⁵ At a regional level, this port had two other main functions. It was the main purchaser/importer of enslaved Africans in the region, stimulating the development of commercial routes between this port and the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, as well as various ports on the Bights of Benin and Biafra, the region of present-day Cameroon, and further south. Unlike in other African ports linked to the Atlantic slave trade at that time, most of the slaves traded here were not re-exported to Europe or the Americas, but rather used as barter in the commercial transactions with local traders on the coast to purchase gold. In addition, São Jorge da Mina was also a main buyer of different African products from various points on the coast, especially from the Bight of Benin and the regions of present-day Gabon and Cameroon. Among those commodities were different types of beads and cloths. Finally, at an international level, São Jorge da Mina shipped cargoes of gold to Portugal, specifically Lisbon, ²⁶ and also assured the military presence of the Portuguese Crown in the region for questions of political sovereignty and commercial jurisdiction.

For the aforementioned importation of slaves into São Jorge da Mina, the ports of São Tomé and Príncipe (in particular the former) maintained the connections between the Portuguese fortresses on the Gold Coast and another set of coastal ports. ²⁷ Like Ribeira Grande in Cape Verde in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, São Tomé was of paramount importance at a local, regional and international levels and fulfilled several functions. At a local level, these two ports ensured commercial exchanges between various islands of the archipelago (i.e. São Tomé, Príncipe, Fernão Pó and Ano Bom). This was also the case in Cape Verde, where the islands were differentiated in their economic activities, which facilitated economic exchanges among them.

At a regional level, São Tomé and Príncipe (the latter to a lesser extent) were the main entrepôts in the Gulf. These two islands, and their main ports of Povoação (later named São Tomé) ²⁸ and Santo António do Príncipe, ²⁹ were linked through various commercial circuits to a great number of ports along the nearby coast. From the outset of Portuguese settlement on the islands of the Gulf of Guinea, a wide number of ports located on the nearby continental coast were also directly engaged in this port sub-system. Although they were never under the effective control of the Portuguese authorities (i.e. the representatives of the Portuguese Crown in the region), for most of the sixteenth century, and again in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, these ports appear to have been under the economic influence of Portuguese and Brazilian merchants and their trading networks. In the 1500s, this port sub-system also included Benin, Ardra, Jabu, Popó, Oere, Gabon, Cape Lopez, Loango, Mpinda, stretching as far as the island of Luanda. ³⁰ In these ports, settlers and merchants based on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe acquired slaves, beads and various other African products. Some slaves were kept on the islands – mainly in São Tomé – to meet the labour needs created by the deforestation process and the subsequent sugar cane cultivation and sugar production. Other enslaved Africans were imported onto the islands to be re-exported to the Portuguese fortress-ports on the Gold Coast and, as mentioned earlier, exported to the European and American labour markets. Thus, at an international level, the port of São Tomé functioned as a supplier of the slave labour force to Europe and, later, to the Americas, especially the Spanish American colonies. In the sixteenth century, many of these slaves would be transported to Lisbon, the southern ports of Portugal, the south of Spain or even to the Canary Islands, and from there re-sent to the American colonies. In the late sixteenth century, the port of São Tomé would start exporting slaves directly to the Spanish American colonies in the Caribbean and on the mainland. ³¹

Moreover, during much of the sixteenth century, São Tomé supplied European markets with sugar. This was done either directly through routes connecting the island with Antwerp and Amsterdam, or indirectly via Portugal, where a small part of the sugar was kept for local consumption, while most was shipped to key redistribution ports in northern Europe or to sugar refining centres like Hamburg, Amsterdam and Antwerp. ³² However, the production of sugar of higher quality in Brazil and reduced crop yield due to a bug in the São Tomé sugar cane deprived this port of its role as main supplier of sugar for the northern European markets.

In the seventeenth century, the arrival of other European merchants and several state-sponsored companies – first the Dutch followed by the English, Swedish, Danes and the Brandenburgers – at different posts along the Sierra Leone estuary, the Grain, Ivory, Gold and Slave Coasts brought about some changes to the system. Leading ports like São Jorge da Mina (named Elmina by the Dutch) could retain many of their functions due to their importance for the logistics of Dutch operations in the region. There was, however, a major change in the slave trade. Most of the slaves imported into Elmina were at that time re-exported to the Americas. However, Elmina’s role in the slave trade was gradually surpassed by a new set of ports that emerged in the region during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Between the 1690s and the 1830s, Whydah, Bonny, Ardra, Anomabu and Cape Coast [castle] became the most active ports (in this sub-system) for the export of gold and ivory to Europe and, more importantly, for the export of slaves, as well as the import of a wide array of European and American products, including tobacco, alcoholic beverages, textiles, guns and other items (see Figure 2). ³³

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 2.

Main ports of slave embarkation in the Gulf of Guinea, 1510–1860.

The new role of Elmina, and the emerging ports, also led to changes in the position and function of São Tomé within this sub-system. On the one hand, the establishment of various European merchants and state-sponsored commercial companies on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in the seventeenth century would overshadow São Tomé’s role as intermediary between the ports on the African continent and the Atlantic economy, as had happened with the Cape Verdean ports. On the other hand, the emergence of new coastal ports and the growth of the slave trade in the second half of the seventeenth and especially in the eighteenth century gave the islands of São Tomé (as well as Príncipe) an important role as a port of call for slave vessels conducting trade in the near coastal areas, such as the so-called ‘Costa da Mina’ (i.e. the coast of Mina, present-day Bight of Benin), ³⁴ and further south-east up to Cape Lopez. On their return voyages, they headed either to Brazil or to other European colonies in the Americas.

Like the leading ports of these sub-systems, Luanda, as the leading port of the Kongo-Angola sub-system, had various functions at local, regional and international levels. ³⁵ At a local level, Luanda was the head of an extensive network of coastal ports, river ports and land routes, which guaranteed that supplies for local consumption arrived in the city, as well as enabling the redistribution of products to other important Portuguese settlements, especially along the Kwanza River, namely Massangano (1580/1583), Muxima (1594/1599) and Cambambe (1609). From Luanda, ships sailed into the Kwanza, the Dande, the Bengo and the Lucala Rivers. ³⁶ The coastal ports of Angola were also connected to the hinterland markets through land routes. Luanda and the surrounding region were therefore directly connected to the fairs in the interior. During the seventeenth century, the main fairs were in Samba (in the region of Encoge), Lucamba (in Ambaca), Trombeta (in Golungo), Dondo (in Cambambe), Beja (in Pundo-Andongo) and Quilengues (in the region of Benguela). During this period, the sobados ³⁷ of Haco, Libolo, Sumbe and Caconda (hinterland of Benguela) also contributed to the growing number of fairs in the hinterlands of Angola. ³⁸

At a regional level, Luanda was also an important centre for the purchase and resale of products from various regions. The port was the starting point of several commercial routes. Northwards, there were circuits connecting the town with the ports of Mpinda, Loango, São Tomé, Príncipe, and several other places on the Slave Coast and even the Gold Coast. In the south, Luanda was linked to Benguela and Maniquicombo.

At an international level, Luanda (and later Benguela) would emerge as a main gateway for the export of enslaved Africans and various African products, including ivory, redwood, beads and wax. Both the enslaved Africans and the aforementioned commodities were acquired in various locations, including sea-ports, river-ports and inland trading centres. The involvement of Luanda in the slave trade proved to be the main driving force behind the city’s emergence as the main port of the west-central Africa port sub-system and, more importantly, of the whole Atlantic Africa port system. This dominance of Luanda is evident both in the number of voyages and in the quantity of enslaved Africans shipped from there to the Americas (see Figure 3).

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 3.

Main ports of slave embarkation in west-central Africa, 1510–1860.

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, three other main ports developed in this sub-system: Benguela, Cabinda and Malembo. ³⁹ Their rise was directly linked to the growing demand for slave labour in the European colonies in the Americas. ⁴⁰ However, these ports were also important gateways for the establishment of contacts between the hinterland regions of the continent and the outside world, allowing the import of American products, the establishment of straight links between the two continents – still visible nowadays in the intense economic and cultural connections between these regions and the Americas (see Figure 3). Let us now turn our attention to the shifts between the ports within the whole Atlantic Africa port system in connection with the development of the transatlantic slave trade.

Major shifts in the Atlantic Africa port system, 1500s–1800s

The number of slave voyages leaving Atlantic African ports represented in Figure 4 offers an insight into changes over time in the roles played by these ports, as well as their rise and fall within their port system. In the sixteenth century, the ports of Arguin, Ribeira Grande and São Tomé were dominant in the slave trade to Europe and across the Atlantic. In terms of port systems, this means that the Senegambia and Cape Verdean sub-system, and the Gulf of Guinea sub-system, played a key role in the whole port system of Atlantic Africa, serving as gateways for the re-export of African labour and commodities imported from the mainland into the European markets, as well as gateways for the export of their own products (mainly agricultural).

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 4.

Main ports of slave embarkation in Atlantic Africa, 1510–1860.

The import of enslaved Africans from the inland routes, in the case of Arguin, and the nearest coastal areas in the case of Ribeira Grande and São Tomé, and their re-export to Iberia, the Canary Islands, and Madeira were paramount for the rise of these ports. At least two main factors contributed to this ongoing trade in human beings: i) the growing demand for labour in the developing economies of the islands, and ii) the constant scarcity of labour in Portugal and Spain due to the drain of human resources to the overseas enterprises in the case of Portugal, and the ongoing war against Granada and the maritime expeditions into the Atlantic in the case of Spain.

Over time, Arguin lost its importance, perhaps due to the opening of new coastal markets better able to supply the international demand for slave labour. In the 1580s and 1590s, a new set of ports emerged in Atlantic Africa, the so-called ‘Rivers of Guinea’ and Luanda, which over time would develop as important ports within the system. This is especially true of Luanda. The rise of these ports was directly linked to the slave trade and the growing demands for slave labour in the Americas. Their growth brought changes to the Atlantic Africa port system and various sub-systems as explained earlier. The Senegambia and Cape Verdean sub-system was from then on led (at least economically) by a set of ports in the ‘Rivers of Guinea’, with Cacheu becoming the most important and surpassing Ribeira Grande on the island of Santiago. The latter would never recover its leading position in the port sub-system. However, by the 1590s, the west-central Africa sub-system and its leading port – Luanda – would take over the leading position in the whole Atlantic Africa port system.

During the seventeenth century, a new sub-system emerged in the broad Atlantic Africa port system – the west-central Africa, or the Kongo-Angola, sub-system. Led by the port of Luanda, this sub-system played a dominant role in the slave trade with Brazil and especially the Spanish Americas, which in return was of paramount importance for the formation of this sub-system and the rise of Luanda. However, the dominance of Luanda was challenged during the second half of the seventeenth century, as shown in Figure 4, due to warfare between the Dutch Republic, Spain and Portugal (Eighty Years’ War, 1568–1648; Thirty Years’ War, 1618–1648; War of Portuguese Independence, 1640–1668) as well as the rise of other African ports under the control and influence of the Dutch, English and French. Among these ports where those located in the so-called Costa da Mina (present-day Bight of Benin), Whydah and later Bonny (see Figure 4). However, by the 1730s and 1740s Luanda had recovered its leading position in the system, and would hold it until the end of the transatlantic slave trade.

In the eighteenth century, there were three important changes in the Atlantic Africa port system. Firstly, there was the rise of new ports in the Senegambia and Cape Verdean sub-system, namely the ports in the estuary of the Gambia River, as well as the ports of Saint Louis and Gorée. All had an international orientation and function, and their development was directly linked to the growth of the transatlantic slave trade, and the increasing participation of the English and the French in this inhumane business. Secondly, there was the rise of new ports in the west-central Africa sub-system, also with an international orientation and function, as was the case of Benguela, Cabinda (as well as Malembo). ⁴¹ The sharp rise of Cabinda, in particular after 1807, was directly related to the abolition of the slave trade by the British, the international pressure put upon other imperial powers to adopt identical measures, and the establishment of British squadrons to control slaving activities along the coast, especially in major ports. These meant that illegal trade in ports flourished, often further away from the reach of the authorities and naval patrols. ⁴²

Thirdly, there was the growth of ports and sub-systems that had had a leading role in the overall port-system in earlier periods: the Senegambia and Cape Verdean sub-system after the 1730s (especially between 1750s and 1810s), and the rise of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea sub-system after the 1690s (and more visibly after the 1780s). The re-emergence of the ‘Rivers of Guinea’ ports (under Portuguese control) was stimulated by the growing demand for labour in the American colonies, with plantations and the Brazilian mining industry requiring a considerable labour force.

The resurgence of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea sub-system between the 1710s and the 1780s was, on the other hand, due to changes in the policies of the Portuguese Crown concerning the access of its subjects to the coastal areas around the Gulf of Guinea, in particular the Costa da Mina. In the 1670s, addressing the economic decline of the Gulf of Guinea archipelago in the 1650s and 1660s and the difficulties faced by the Portuguese Atlantic economy as a whole, Portugal’s monarchs granted all its subjects (‘from this kingdom and the Conquests’) permission to trade with the aforementioned coast. This permission included not only subjects from the kingdom, but also from the ‘Conquest’. As a consequence, over time, several ports in Brazil were also authorized to trade directly with the Costa da Mina, namely Salvador (Bahia), Rio de Janeiro, and Recife, Goiana and Paraíba (Pernambuco). Portugal- and Brazil-bound vessels called at São Tomé on the way to the coast to pay the duties owed to the Portuguese Crown. This change in economic policies would stimulate the increasing presence of merchants in the region, both from Portugal and Brazil and, in this way, contribute to the re-emergence of São Tomé. ⁴³ However, in the nineteenth century, the emergence of São Tomé was due to two factors: i) the introduction and development of cocoa production in the islands; and ii) as in the case of Benguela, the illegal slave trade. Although these new and old ports would compete directly with Luanda, after the 1720s the importance of Luanda as a slave-labour supplying port began rising steadily again and its leading role was never truly challenged after the 1750s.

Conclusion

This article embraces a first attempt to place the study of African ports, and the impact of the European arrival on the western coast of Africa, into the broader field of port history and its latest theoretical discussions. Using the volume of shipping as main analytical measure, this study provides the first comprehensive overview of the Atlantic Africa port system during the early modern period, and highlights the main shifts in port hierarchies within the port system and its sub-systems.

Overall, the arrival of Europeans on the coast of the African continent has helped shape its port system and its hierarchies. Throughout the early modern period, the Atlantic Africa port system underwent several changes. From the analysis of these transformations, five main trends emerge. The period 1400–1500 corresponded with the rise and fall of the north-African port sub-system, whereas the following century was dominated by the rise and fall of African insular ports. In the seventeenth century, in contrast, the port system in west-central Africa dominated Atlantic trade. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw an expansion of the African mainland ports, which assumed important roles in the Atlantic Africa port system.

The analysis clearly indicates that most shifts in port hierarchies have been brought about by political and institutional changes promoted by European states and their representatives (either royal or companies’ officials) in the posts and settlements in the Atlantic Africa ports, including trade privileges, bans or taxation. Similarly important for changes in port systems were economic shifts caused by major market trends, particularly the demand for metals in Europe, and the demand for labour in southern Europe, the Atlantic islands and the European colonies in the Americas.

It is, therefore, vital that future research on African ports moves beyond the analysis of the volume of shipping and trade and starts paying special attention to the geomorphologic and demographic conditions of ports, the types of trade and traffic, the amount of capital available, and the administrative roles played by ports in relation to central, regional and local governments, in order to determine the role of these variables in the development and performance of ports over time.