Republic of Ghana

Public Records and Archives Administration Department

PRAAD

Slave Trade Archives Project

Slavery and the slave trade have been age-old institutions and practices in almost every continent in the world.  They existed from ancient times to modern times. In the most ‘primitive’ of human societies and in the most ‘developed’.  Oral traditions in Ghana describe slavery as an “Immemorial institution”.  There were two dimensions to slavery and other African countries.  There was slavery and the slave trade in Ghana as in many other African countries.  There was an internal/indigenous and an external/Atlantic dimension.

 With respect to the internal/indigenous slave trade, Ghana became part of the Trans-Saharan trade and exchanged gold, kola nuts and ivory, for cotton, livestock, woolen materials carpets brassware and slaves.  There was also a major participant in the West African Southern Coastal Trade which begun from Senegal to the Cameroons.  Ghana exchanged gold for beads, cotton, cloth palm oil and slaves.

 With respect to the external/Atlantic trade, Ghana was initially introduced to this trade by the Portuguese who had been on the coast from 1471 trading in gold in exchange for European goods.  In the 16^th Century, the demand for labour in the New World resulted in Ghana also supplying slaves from the Atlantic market.  The internal/indigenous slave trade did not die out; it continued to exist side by side with the Atlantic trade and the two systems sustained each other.

 Consequently five main ways of acquiring slaves for both internal and external trade were developed.  These were warfare, market supply, pawning, raids, kidnapping and tribute.  Prisoners of war were enslaved and they constituted a large proportion of the total slave output.  The greatest suppliers were the strong monarchical states in the north and south of Ghana.

 Numerous markets and trade routes were established across the length and breath of Ghana.  When one looks at the current ten administrative regions of Ghana, apart from the Asante region, all regions had at least three slave markets.  The most famous of markets was Salaga.  Salaga was in a strategic position.  It was linked to the western and central branches of the Trans-Saharan trade routes. Traders from within and outside Ghana Flooded the market.  The Mossi traders from modern Burkina Faso brought slaves, livestock, cotton, shea butter and mats.  The Hausa traders from modern Nigeria brought slaves, livestock, cowries\ shell, woolens, carpets, silks leather ware, silverware, iron pots, copper and brassware.  Traders from Gyaman and Bonduku brought gold, cotton stuffs, gold dust, ivory, soap honey and coloured bark mats.  The traders from Timbuktu supplied shawls and tobacco.  Ghana provided kola nuts and gold dust.  Along the coast of Ghana all European castles forts, lodges and virtually every coastal town had a slave market.

 Raids and kidnapping contributed their quota to slave supply.  In Southern and Northern Ghana, Kings, Chiefs, slave raiders like Samory Toure and Babatu provided this means of supply.  Tribute paying and pawning were also additional means of supply.

Slaves were needed internally as a labour force in agriculture, trade and industry.  They provided domestic chores in the palaces, shrines and individual households.  Some were enrolled in the military.  A few enterprising, hardworking and loyal slaves were employed in the administrative sectors of the state.

 In the 17^th Century, when the Atlantic Slave Trade was at its peak, slaves replaced gold as the most important “export” commodity from Ghana.  This went on until the 19^th Century when the Atlantic trade was abolished.

 Ghana was not a mere spectator but an active participant in the indigenous and Atlantic Slave Trade.  The number of included coastal markets, linked together by an intricate network of trade routes bears witness to this fact.

By Dr. Mrs. Akosua Perbi, Dept. of History, University of Ghana, Legon

LAUNCHING OF THE SLAVE TRADE PROJECT IN GHANA

The Public Records And Archives Administration Department (PRAAD), was the first archival organisation in  Sub-Sahara Africa to benefit from the Slave Trade Archives Project.

The project was officially implemented on 11th June, 2001 and it involved the identification of archives in the custody of PRAAD, relating to the Atlantic Slave Trade. The chosen method was to scan the principal documents and turning it into digitised forms, and to provide means to put these materials onto the web within the context of UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme.

The project was to improve the conservation and accessibility of slave trade records through digitisation.

The facilitators from UNESCO and ICA took participants both from Ghana and other African countries through various technical sessions and practical workshop which culminated in the design and setting up of a website.

Few pages of documents relating to the Atlantic Slave Trade were digitised and made available on the internet during the launch.

A committee was set up after the launch of the website to see to the fulfilment of the objectives of the project.

(PRAAD sincerely shows appreciation to UNESCO, ICA and NORAD and to the consultants:

• Joan Van Albada

• Ahmed Bachr

• Abdelaziz Abid 

• Dr. Michael Cook, and others.

PRAAD also acknowledges all participants from neighbouring countries.)


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Photograph: Participants of the Slave Trade Archives Project Seminar in Ghana (11th-15th June 2001)