History

Appolonia: An Outlier in the West African Atlantic Slave Trade

Document Type

Article

Abstract

From the second half of the seventeenth century to the late eighteenth century, the transatlantic slave trade in West Africa increased exponentially, allowing for several enslaved Africans to be shipped from the West African coast to different regions of the Atlantic world. This condition has led several scholars to argue that, within this period, the port towns along the West African coastline transformed into sites of intensive slave trading. In this article, I argue that on the Gold Coast (i.e., present-day Ghana), one society-the Kingdom of Appolonia-proved itself as an exception to this thesis. Appolonia was the only kingdom in pre-colonial Ghana that did not trade many enslaved people because of measures that the kingdom put in place. These measures include robust political structures and policies as well as effective religious and socio-cultural practices. Appolonia’s minimal involvement in the slave trade complicates existing assumptions that the Atlantic slave trade was pervasive and highly concentrated in the port towns along the West African coastline.

Publication Title

International Journal of African Historical Studies

Publication Date

2024

Volume

57

Issue

2

First Page

147

Last Page

167

ISSN

0361-7882

Keywords

Appolonia, Atlantic slave trade, Ghana, slave resistance, West Africa

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS