History of the Upper Guinea Coast: 1545-1800 by Walter Rodney

History of the Upper Guinea Coast: 1545-1800 Reviews

• 
  JRT

  The great Walter Rodney details the history of this West African region prior to the advent of Euro-colonial boundaries. He notes that this particular region was geographically and ethnically unified (despite various tribal differentiations), consisting of both cultural and linguistic unity among all peoples of this region. Rodney explores the sociopolitical structure of these littoral and interior societies, noting that contrary to popular belief, the majority of the societies in this region were “states” insofar as they had traditional Kingships and chiefs ruling over the people and controlling the land. One of the more fascinating aspects of Rodney’s historical account of this region was his identification of class distinctions in the various states / societies of West Africa. Rodney also identified the existence of “private” property—owned by the Kings, chiefs, and nobility. Rodney notes that contrary to popular belief, common property was rare in these West African states, and as such, inequality did indeed persist. Nevertheless, Rodney does make clear that the economics of the region was noticeable different than that of Europe. Africans generally did not take more than they needed and were not driven by profit. That positively impacted how they dealt with one another, but also opened them up to exploitation by the avaricious Europeans.
  
  The heart of this book is Rodney’s analysis and depictions of the Upper Guinea Coast’s earliest contacts with Europe. He notes that Portugal wasn’t initially looking to directly colonize the Upper Guinea Coast, but ultimately did so for purposes of better facilitating their monopoly on West African trade from the islands off the coast. Rodney makes clear that the Portuguese dealt with African kings and chiefs, not the common peoples. This allowed them to gain comfort, protection, and access to goods—including and especially, slaves. The Portuguese-Guinea Coast relationship started with hospitality and a “guest / stranger” dynamic. Europeans were expected to act as guests, which meant paying homage to chiefs, bearing gifts, and obeying African customs. The relationship deteriorated when Europeans started resisting aspects of African customs that they found objectionable (mostly having to do with property rights). Nevertheless, the relationship persisted over the centuries due to Portugal's unceasing need for slaves, and the African nobility’s naked dependency on various European goods.
  
  Walter Rodney excels in dispelling myths, particularly about how the Atlantic slave trade began and operated. First, Rodney demonstrates that it did not begin with Africans volunteering themselves up due to poor socioeconomic conditions brought on by famine. Nor was it a product of European domination, as the Portuguese lacked the will and capacity to overwhelm African forces. Further, the Atlantic trade was not a product of a pre-existing intra-African trade, nor was it propelled by Muslim or Mulattoe traders (both of which were extremely active traders during this time period). Rather, the slave trade was propelled by the opportunistic Portuguese crown and settlers (and later other European competitors), all of whom took advantage of ethnic wars and leveraged African dependency on European goods. The Atlantic trade was expanded by wars, which ultimately became pretexts for the trade. The trade also imposed European standards of crime and punishment, leading to the smallest infractions (and sometimes fraudulent accusations) culminating in enslavement. Further, indebtedness was a major justification for the ensnaring of African slaves. Importantly, as Rodney notes, European presence and imperatives were the main factors for the explosion of enslavement.
  
  One of the most difficult parts of the book to read was African complicity in the Atlantic slave trade. Rodney identifies the Bijago, Mandinka, Beafadas, Casangas, Susus, Mane, etc., as all being directly involved in supplying African slaves to Portugal. He notes that while the Djolas and Balantas resisted, and some tribes were more predatory than others (the tribes with the least developed state structures were the least likely to collaborate with Europe in the trade), almost all tribes / ethnic groups were implicated. However, Rodney makes clear that the trade was less about tribal divisions (because chiefs often sold out their own subjects) and more about class division. In short, the masses of Africans were victims by the collaboration of the West African elite with Europe. The African nobility literally sold-out the African masses. Rodney painstakingly details how Europeans essentially established a system of neo-colonialism (indirect control via economic dependency) BEFORE they ever directly colonized Africa. African rulers became utterly dependent on European goods, including and especially horses, guns, alcohol, cloths, iron and other metals, and were willing to engage in wars of conquest in order to acquire slaves just to secure these products from Europe.
  
  Rodney ultimately details the consequences of the Atlantic slave trade, Continuous intra-African wars, the inability of the African ruling class to maintain societal order and their complete abandonment and exploitation of the African masses, and the establishment of European-esque models of crime, punishment, and domestic servitude. African society had been transformed to revolve around the production and reproduction of slave labor for Europeans. Put simply, under the influence of the European-directed slave trade, Africans destroyed each other. This is a tough, but necessary history to grapple with. Especially for African people.
• 
  Luís Garcia

  
  (lido em Pequim, China)
• 
  stephen

  it was the time of tape ripping and collapsing at the end of a conference. i did not know and had not thought about the fact that i did not know that the monthly review press was still around. but there they were, sort of, as a small quadrant of books within the nyu press display.
  
  the time of ripping tape is the time of very cheap books. while handing over the small amount i paid, i confirmed that monthly review still exists.
  "still extant?" yes "smaller than ever?" 4 people. "snippy i expect" yes.