BOOKS ON AFRICANS SELLING AFRICANS INTO SLAVERY

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When first hearing the term, “Africans sold Africans into slavery,” I thought it a desperate attempt to exonerate colonizers from all wrong doing.  It was laughable to think of the logic behind two wrongs making it right.  It is certain there is plenty of blame to go around, however, it is astonishingly cunning to select an argument that would foment mistrust and angst in the African community at home and abroad.  I am relieved that we have primary sources to call upon to clarify our understanding of this wicked trade.  With some reports of over 100 Billion lives stolen from Africa (John Henrik Clarke)  over a 400 year period, it is important to understand the breadth and depth of its benefactors far and wide. As the debate about Reparations marches on, an accounting with this detail is in order.  As internal reparations are claimed, taking stock is a requirement for healing,so most importantly, it is not repeated.  “NEVER AGAIN, NEVER FORGET” is the chant often heard from other communities for crimes suffered for far less casualties.  Consider reading these titles to begin your research.

Book List to Explore Whether Africans Sold Africans into Slavery

1. Adventures of an African Slaver: Being a True Account of the Life of Theodore Canot, Trader in Gold, Ivory and Slaves on the Coast of Guinea Canot, Theodore ; Mayer, Brantz
2. Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo Hurston, Zora Neale ; Walker, Alice ; Plant, Deborah G
3. The Diary of Antera Duke, an Eighteenth-Century African Slave Trader: An Eighteenth-Century African Slave Trader Behrendt, Stephen D
4. From Chains to Bonds: The Slave Trade Revisited Diène, Doudou
5. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself Equiano, Olaudah
6. Slavery Days in Old Kentucky: A True Story of a Father Who Sold His Wife and Four Children, by One of His Children Johnson, Isaac
7. The Theologian Slave Trader Knudsen, Christiana Oware
8. Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery Cugoano, Quobna Ottobah ; Carretta, Vincent

The misinformation and lies that were circulated to keep this ill-conceived commercial enterprise going were countless.  The most important ones had to create division and internal fighting. The accusation that Africans sold Africans into slavery has got to be the most potent of them all.  To properly analyze this question, we have to take a time machine back to the dreaded 1492 timeframe when ships “Friendship,”  “Africa,” and “King David” sailed the ocean blue.  Just using the Georgian Britain National Archives  during the year 1794, 16 ships sailed carrying 8590 enslaved men, women and children.  If I take into account that this was a “triangular” system, there were 2 other branches that could be added per year which would make it 25,770 captives per year.  Of course this is an estimate, but that’s where we have to start to see how this compares to other estimates.  With 25,770 per year for 400 years, gives approximately 10M.  Certainly there were some years better than others and some countries didn’t abruptly stop after the 400 year period.  It also doesn’t take into account the Trans Saharan slave trade which lasted approximately 500 years as detailed in “Arab Invasion of Egypt” by Alfred Butler with introduction by John Henrik Clarke.  

In finding out the number of captives stolen from the continent, it gives a better understanding of the magnitude and scale that had been built up to maintain it.  

There are two primary sources I’d like to focus on to begin.  Both are the writings of 2 enslaved men during the 18th century:  Olaudah Equiano and Ottobah Cugoano.  They offer two angles to consider when determining the greater context of the wicked circumstances the enslaved were under.  I will not attempt to argue whether Africans sold other Africans into slavery.  Over a period of 400 and 500 years, it is not a stretch to presume that some Africans were involved.  I will not even venture to argue the exact number that may have participated.  Instead, I will explore the greater questions: 

1.  What was enslavement like in Africa prior to the coming of Europeans?

​2.  What if Africans had not participated in the slave trade?

What was Slavery Like in Africa?

Olaudah Equiano compares and contrasts the difference between slavery practiced in his Kingdom of Benin (today’s southern Nigeria).  As I discussed in another blog post called, “Books about Black Indians” slavery was practiced differently by different groups of people. He says, “Those prisoners which were not sold or redeemed, we kept as slaves:  but how different was their condition from that of the slaves in the West Indies! With us they do no more work than other members of the community, even their masters; their food, clothing and lodging were nearly the same as theirs, (except that they were not permitted to eat with those who were freeborn); and there was scarce any other difference between them, than a superior degree of importance which the head of a family possesses in our state, and that authority which, as such, he exercises over every part of his household.  Some of these slaves even have slaves under them as their own property, and for their own use.” 

This is not to condone any form of enslavement.  It is to distinguish the degree of humanity maintained by some more than others.  Clearly the day-to-day torture and violence experienced was minimal to none.  He did describe the battle and conquest as bloody, however, once the deal was done, the offspring and survivors seemed to have a fair chance at living their lives with relative peace among their previous enemy.  

As a reminder of the atrocities practiced on the enslaved, when given the choice to return to it, they choose death.  The interview of an enslaved man that voiced this sentiment was mentioned in a previous blog post “Books on Juneteenth.”  In present day vernacular, he said, “Don’t get it twisted.” Though freedom experienced then wasn’t all it needed to be, he’d never go back to enslavement, and would rather die.  That’s the strongest statement someone could make.  

​Michael Crowder author of “The Story of Nigeria” published in 1962 said of the African form of slavery, “In the African system, slaves, though of inferior status, had certain rights, whilst their owners had definite and often onerous duties towards them.”

What if Africans didn't participate in selling Africans into Slavery?

Ottobah Cugoano lived around the same time as Olaudah Equiano.  While discussing the horrors of European slavery as enabled by some Africans, he made the point that if there were no market for it, Africans wouldn’t have been sold.  He said, “But I must own, to the shame of my own countrymen, that I was first kidnapped and betrayed by  my own complexion, who were the first cause of my exile and slavery; but if there were no buyers, there would be no sellers.  So far as I can remember, some of the Africans in my country kept slaves, which they take in war, or for debt; but those which they keep are well, and good care taken of them, and treated well… But I may safely say that all the poverty and misery that any of the inhabitants of Africa meet with among themselves is far inferior to those inhospitable regions of misery which they meet with in the West Indies, where there hard-hearted overseers have neither regard to the laws of God, nor the life of their fellow-men.”
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When there was resistance to the sale of slaves by Africans as was done by Queen Nzingha  in the 17th century, colonizers resorted to violence.  Is it fair to say this was a real choice.  It seems like the Africans were between a rock and a hard place.  If they sold slaves they were likely tricked into it or not given a "fair price" for the sale.  Or, if they refused, have to go to war with weapons that were not comparable to those of the Europeans.

In the book, “Sins of the Father,” author James Pope-Hennessey,  devotes a whole chapter to “Who sold Whom?”  Twenty of the books almost three hundred pages are devoted to some of the Africans who were involved in the system of ill-gotten gains.  He outlined a few Africans who had perfected the “craft,” but stopped short of saying it was an even flow of wealth between Africans and Europeans as a result.  Instead, he said that if Africans benefited fair and square, they would have had more to show for it financially.  He also said that whites represented the personification of the trade, and, because of the high death rate associated with the capture and inhumane treatment aboard the ship, behaved as the cannibals they accused the Africans to be. 

There is a section in Olaudah’s book where he describes how the enslaved were captured by kidnapping or by African chiefs who were tricked into it.  I thought of all the misinformation that would have to be passed to convince Africans to sell their own.  I wondered if comments I’ve heard from some Africans I do business with today was a sign of the remnants of those days. 

The movie “Sankofa” is a powerful film that depicts Africans getting whipped, branded and chained when captured.  It is a movie that originally came out in 1993 and was recently announced it would be restore in 4K and distributed on Netflix.  I highly recommend it as a sneak peak into what life may've been like for the enslaved.  One day I was playing the movie on our DVD player in my store Afriware Books Co. One of the African vendors I did business with saw it in passing and asked “did that really happen?”  I looked at him in disbelief and said absolutely.  He said he was never taught this in school.  I have relatives who were raised in  Africa who also said slavery was not taught in the school system.  It is not a wonder why some political groups in America to this day want to ban certain books from the school curriculum.  

Knowing our history gives us the intellectual armor needed to prevent us from falling into the same traps that led to our demise.  Lies and misinformation assist the oppressor in enslavement.  It is also the reason why during enslavement in America reading was a punishable crime at one time as detailed in the book, “Stroud's Slave Laws: A Sketch of the Laws Relating to Slavery in the Several States of the United States of America” by George McDowell Stroud.  On the flip side, when we know of historical triumphs, we can improve upon them.  The truth shines a light that leads to growth and understanding.

Final Thoughts

​As always, I appreciate that you have read through this blog post.  I hope that you’ve become curious to read more books about primary resources that discuss to what extent Africans sold Africans into slavery.  We ask that you consider purchasing your books from our Black owned bookstore, Afriware Books, Co.  If there is a title you’d like to purchase that is not mentioned here, or could not be found on the website, feel free to email us at:  afriwarebooks@afriwarebooks.com