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Klappentext During the nineteenth century, the trans-Atlantic slave trade was made illegal and eventually suppressed, and superseded by alternative forms of 'legitimate' trade with western Africa, especially in vegetable products such as palm oil. This commercial transition marks the beginning of the modern economic history of the region. This book considers the implications of that process for the African societies involved, through ten case-studies written by leading specialists in the field. These studies address the central issue of continuity and change in economic structures, and critically assess the argument that the transition posed a 'crisis of adaptation' for African rulers by undermining their control over the income from overseas trade. Also highlighted are the effects of transition on slavery and gender relations within Africa and its links to the growth of European imperialism, culminating in the Partition of Africa at the end of the nineteenth century. Zusammenfassung Essays! from an African perspective! on the nineteenth-century commercial transition in West Africa. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of contributors; List of abbreviations; Introduction Robin Law; 1. The initial 'crisis of adaptation': the impact of British abolition on the Atlantic slave trade in West Africa, 1808-1820 Paul E. Lovejoy and David Richardson; 2. The West African palm oil trade in the nineteenth century and the 'crisis of adaptation' Martin Lynn; 3. The compatibility of the slave and palm oil trades in Dahomey, 1818-1858 Elisée Soumonni; 4. Between abolition and Jihad: the Asante response to the ending of the Atlantic slave trade, 1807-1896 Gareth Austin; 5. Plantations and labour in the south-east Gold Coast from the late eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century Ray A. Kea; 6. Owners, slaves and the struggle for labour in the commercial transition at Lagos Kristin Mann; 7. Slaves, Igbo women and palm oil in the nineteenth century Susan Martin; 8. 'Legitimate' trade and gender relations in Yorubaland and Dahomey Robin Law; 9. In search of a desert-edge perspective: the Sahara-Sahel and the Atlantic trade, c. 1815-1900 E. Ann McDougall; 10. The 'New International Economic Order' in the nineteenth century: Britain's first development plan for Africa A. G. Hopkins; Appendix: the 'crisis of adaptation': a bibliography; Index....
