XVIIᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Gold Coast, West Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Asante was a powerful West African kingdom whose rulers became important suppliers in the large-scale export of enslaved Africans during the eighteenth century. Its position connected inland political authority with coastal commercial networks and European demand. The chapter places Asante among the African states whose rulers participated directly in the Atlantic slave trade and later resisted abolitionist efforts.
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Le récit
Asante appears in the chapter as one of the powerful African countries connected to the eighteenth-century expansion of the Atlantic slave trade. Its rulers occupied a position between inland sources of captives and coastal trading centres, where African suppliers exchanged enslaved people for European goods. This role illustrates that the trade extended beyond European forts and ports into the political economies of African states.
The scale of Asante’s involvement was linked to the transformation of Atlantic commerce. By the eighteenth century, European plantation economies in the Americas demanded increasing numbers of enslaved labourers, while European merchants supplied manufactured goods, weapons, textiles, and other commodities on the African coast. The chapter identifies Asante’s rulers, alongside those of Dahomey, as principal suppliers during this period of intensified export.
Asante’s relationship with the slave trade also shaped its response to abolition. The chapter states that the kings of Asante were firmly opposed to abolition when the movement emerged in the second half of the eighteenth century. This opposition reflects the continued importance of the trade to the political and commercial interests of rulers and intermediaries, even as some European voices began challenging the institution.
XVIIᵉ siècle – XXᵉ siècle
Gold Coast, West Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Asante was a powerful West African kingdom whose rulers became important suppliers in the large-scale export of enslaved Africans during the eighteenth century. Its position connected inland political authority with coastal commercial networks and European demand. The chapter places Asante among the African states whose rulers participated directly in the Atlantic slave trade and later resisted abolitionist efforts.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Asante appears in the chapter as one of the powerful African countries connected to the eighteenth-century expansion of the Atlantic slave trade. Its rulers occupied a position between inland sources of captives and coastal trading centres, where African suppliers exchanged enslaved people for European goods. This role illustrates that the trade extended beyond European forts and ports into the political economies of African states.
The scale of Asante’s involvement was linked to the transformation of Atlantic commerce. By the eighteenth century, European plantation economies in the Americas demanded increasing numbers of enslaved labourers, while European merchants supplied manufactured goods, weapons, textiles, and other commodities on the African coast. The chapter identifies Asante’s rulers, alongside those of Dahomey, as principal suppliers during this period of intensified export.
Asante’s relationship with the slave trade also shaped its response to abolition. The chapter states that the kings of Asante were firmly opposed to abolition when the movement emerged in the second half of the eighteenth century. This opposition reflects the continued importance of the trade to the political and commercial interests of rulers and intermediaries, even as some European voices began challenging the institution.