The utility of Benin is interetsing because of how it is closely connected to the European demand for slaves. I was interested to learn the center of Benin state was located along the coast, so it was a lucrative location to trade and transport slaves. This made it more accessible for European slave traders to transport slaves to European countries efficiently. I never considered how geography would affect which African communities were affected more.
What was even more interesting was the specific methods used during this time to secure slaves. Internal and external slave raids with firearms and surprise attacks were common. I was surprised to learn how members of the Benin community would sell slaves to traders. Even though it was a socially unaccepted practice, I was interested to see that it still did happen relatively frequently. I never considered that African people would also try to benefit financially from the slave trade. And to see how brutal the methods people from both Benin and Europe used to enslave people was jawdropping.
Overall, learning about the rise of Benin and its connection to the European demand for slaves was eye-opening. It was sobering to realize that slavery was such a prevalent and profitable enterprise. This just reaffirms why it was so hard for people like Equiano to shift the social sentiment toward abolition. It shows how deeply entrenched the economic stability of European countries was based on slavery, and how deeply it affected African communities like Benin.
Hey Noah! I was also interested in the relationship between an African nation's geography and its involvement in the slave trade. It's chilling to realize the same Atlantic Ocean could be both an avenue of wealth and one of pain depending on who an African was at the time. Usually access to a waterway is a huge benefit for a sovereignty, and the slave trade flipped that whole narrative on its head.
ReplyDeleteHi Noah! This relationship was really interesting to me too. I also think it to be so sad how people continuously choose money, wealth, and the overall economy of people's well-being and the environment. Back then, slavery is a huge example of this as it continued for so long just because some people depended on it economically. However, it destroyed the lives of so many innocent people. Today we see this with most environmental issues as we continue to prioritize consumption and manufacturing over preserving our Earth.
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