Showing papers in "International Journal of African Historical Studies in 1977"

Trade and Economic Change on the Gold Coast 1807-1874.

Abstract: By the beginning of the nineteenth century the Atlantic slave trade had already made inroads into the traditional subsistence economy of the Gold Coast and elements of a modern economy had begun to emerge; but the interdiction of this trade in 1807 rendered the bulk of the existing commerce illegal. Consequently, other products had to be found by stimulating the export of old staples like gold and ivory and by encouraging the cultivation of agricultural produce in exchange for European goods. This meant a process of commercial and economic change, but wars often interrupted this evolution. The peace and security the country enjoyed between 1830 and 1850, social and cultural changes effected by Christianity and education, and increased opportunities for entering trade made these decades a key period of economic change. By 1850 this transformation has led to the rise of a class of African merchants who were sensitive to new commercial opportunities and who had the ability and initiative to exploit new avenues of trade. As these African merchants attained more wealth and influence, they began to assume a position and acquire a power that had once been occupied and held by the traditional rulers, whose social and economic position had been declining since abolition. Conflicts in the wake of the Asante invation of the coast in 1863 and wars in the Volta area affected the country and the trade and commercial operations of the African merchants. This, and the prevailing system of credit led to a number of bankruptcies and to the ruin of many indigenous traders. Although the economy grew, diversified, and made considerable progress towards a modern economy during this period, the formal declaration of the Gold Coast as a Protectorate in 1874 paved the way for a more complete integration of the country's trade into the modern world economy and marked the decline of African initiative in trading enterprises as well as the emergence of a foreign dominated oligopolistic regime. This crucial period of trade and economic change between 1807 and 1874 is an important transitional era that links the economy of the Gold Coast based on slaves with that of the modern based on natural produce.

The Economics of Slave Use on Two 'Plantations' in the Zaria Emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate

Abstract: Studies of the economics of slave use on America's plantations have proliferated in recent years. In great detail writers such as Michael Craton and James Walvin have examined the microeconomic aspects of individual plantation operation, setting the standard by which such information is obtained and processed,2 while the wealth of available materials has led to a rapid growth in quantitative studies of plantation management such as R.W. Fogel's and Stanley L. Engerman's celebrated Time on the Cross.3 The student of plantation4 operation in

The Zanj Rebellion Reconsidered

Abstract: La question des esclaves d'origine est-africaine vendus sur les marches du Moyen-Orient, les Zanj, et la rebellion Zanj de Basrah, Iraq, de869 a883 d'apres les historiens arabes. Les interets arabes en Afrique de l'Est a cette epoque et l'importance economique du commerce des esclaves.

The return of the gods : the sacred art of Susanne Wenger

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Nationalism, Economic Planning and Development Projects in Interwar Egypt

Abstract: In February 1922 the British high commissioner, Lord Allenby, proclaimed the independence of Egypt, and a measure of selfgovernment was conferred on the country. The elections of 1924 and the convening of the Egyptian Parliament in the same year reaffirmed the new political status. While the British carefully circumscribed its autonomy, Egypt did enjoy some control over its internal life, and its politicians set about trying to make a reality of Lord Allenby's formal declaration. Most of their energies were absorbed by continuing negotiations for the complete independence which had so far eluded them, but they also recognized their responsibility to strengthen the Egyptian economy and generate economic growth. They were well aware that theirs was an impoverished country, and that genuine political independence required strong economic buttressing. The elite who governed interwar Egypt drafted no concrete, detailed blueprint for economic development as have the leaders of contemporary Asian and African societies. However, they did evolve some general principles which offer suggestive parallels with development methods in use today. In an effort to understand the Egyptian approach, it is helpful to indicate at the outset what it did not entail. First, the experiences of World War I had persuaded Egyptians that the pre-1914 economic system was no longer satisfactory. British officials had dominated decision making during that time, and insofar as they had elaborated a coherent economic plan it was one based on the notion that the world was divided into economic regions, each trading the products in which it had a natural advantage. In this often self-serving view, Great Britain and Western Europe were seen as industrial centers, while