Table of Contents

Part 1: Africa in the Era of the Slave Trade, 1441-1899
Chapter One: European Discovery and the Beginnings of the Slave Trade (1441-1654)
1. The beginnings of a regular European trade in slaves from Africa (1441)
Gomes Eannes De Azurara, The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea, c.1453
2. The Pope grants to the Portuguese a monopoly of trade with Africa (1455)
Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex (Nicholas V), January 8, 1455
3. The First Convert to Christianity (1488)
Ruy de Pina, Chronica del Rey Joao II, c.1500
4. The Wealth of Africa (1508)
Duarte Pacheco Pereira, Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, c.1505-08.
5. The King of Spain regulates the importation of African slaves into the Americas (1518)
Licence granted August 18, 1518, by King Charles of Spain to Lorenzo de Gomenot to ship slaves to the Americas
6. Trying to Regulate the Trade in Slaves (1526)
King Afonso of the Kongo, letters to the king of Portugal, July 6 and October 18, 1526
7. British attempts to break the Portuguese and Spanish monopolies of slave trading (1564-68)
Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & Discoveries of the English Nation, 1598-1600
8. A Jesuit justifies the trade in African slaves to a skeptical colleague (1610),
Brother Luis Brandaon, letter to Father Sandoval, March 12, 1610
9. The importation of slaves into the Cape of Good Hope (1654)
Instructions for the officers of the "Roode Vos" on the voyage to Mauritius and Madagascar, May 8, 1654

Chapter Two: The Business of the Slave Trade (1672- 1729)
10. An attempt to create an English monopoly of trade in West Africa (1672)
Charter of the Royal African Company, 1672
11. Sources of slaves for the Royal African Company (1678)
Thomas Thurloe, letter to the Royal African Company, Gamboa, March 15, 1678
12. The log of the Arthur, a ship carrying slaves for the Royal African Company from West Africa to Barbados (1677-78), journal of the Arthur, December 5, 1677 to May 25, 1678.
13. The Council of the Indies answers questions from the King of Spain concerning the introduction of slaves into Spanish America (1685), question of the king of Spain to the Council of the Indies, July 5, 1685, and the reply of the Council.
14. The voyage of the Hannibal, carrying slaves from West Africa to Barbados (1693-94), Thomas Phillips, "A Journal of a Voyage made in the Hannibal of London", 1693-94.
15. Willem Bosman describes the Dutch trade for slaves on the West African Coast (1704), Willem Bosman, A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea, 1704.
16. In support of slavery and against monopoly (1729), Joshua Gee, The Trade and Navigation of Great-Britain Considered, 1729.

Chapter Three: The Slave Experience (1785-98)
17. Venture Smith describes his capture into slavery (1798), Venture Smith, A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, 1798.
18. Olaudah Equiano becomes a slave (1789), Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, 1789.
19. Anders Sparrman describes the treatment of slaves in South Africa (1785), Anders Sparrman, A Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, 1785.
20. Alexander Falconbridge describes his experiences as a physician on slave ships (1788), Alexander Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa, 1788.
21. The plan of the slave ship Brookes (1788), Captain Perry, measurement of the Brookes, 1788.
22. In support of the continued importation of slaves into South Africa (1797), Replies of W. S. Ryneveld to Cape of Good Hope Governor Macartney's questionnaire, November 29, 1797.
23. Mungo Park describes taking slaves from the interior of Africa to the coast (1796-97), Mungo Park, Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, 1799.

Chapter Four: The Impact of Abolition (1807-1899)
24. Britain and the United States enact legislation to abolish the trade in slaves (1807), Great Britain, an Act for the abolition of the slave trade, June 1 and 24, 1806, May 1, 1807, United States of America, Act to prohibit the importation of slaves into the United States, March 2, 1807.
25. Ali Eisami recounts how he was taken into slavery and then freed (1818), Sigismund William Koelle, African Native Literature, 1854.
26. Samuel Crowther escapes slavery (1821-22)
Journals of the Rev. James Frederick Schön and Mr. Samuel Crowther, 1842.
27. The Asante king questions British motives in ending the slave trade (1820)
Joseph Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee, 1824.
28. A slave revolt in South Africa (1825), Testimony of Galant at his trial for treason, and speech of Fiscal D. Denyssen as public prosecutor at the trial of the Bokkeveld insurgents, March 1825.
29. A Muslim explains the morality and practices of slavery (1890s), testimony of Bwana Mtoro Mwinyi Bakari, recorded in the 1890s.
30. Tippu Tip, the "leopard" (1890s), autobiography of Sheikh Hamed bin Muhammed el Murjebi (Tippu Tip) written in the 1890s.
31. Chisi Ndjurisiye Sichyajunga, slave (1890s), testimony recorded at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Part 2: The Conquest of Africa, 1809-1905
Chapter Five: Assessing the Costs and Benefits of European Engagement on the African Continent (1809-1838)
32. The subordination of labor in South Africa (1809), Proclamation No. 14, By His Excellency Du Pre, Earl of Caledon, November 1, 1809.
33. The trade question in West Africa (1807-12), letters of Zachary Macaulay to Lord Castlereagh, May 8, 1807, and the African Committee of the Company of Merchants to the Lords of the Treasury, April 9, 1812.
34. The King of Asante disputes the text of a treaty (1817-24),
A. Letter of instruction from the African Committee of the Company of Merchants to Thomas Bowdich;
B. Letter of Sai Tootoo Quamina, King of Ashantee;
C. Treaty made and entered into by Thomas Edward Bowdich ... with Sai Tootoo Quamina, from T. Edward Bowdich, Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, 1819
D. Joseph Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee, 1824
E. William Hutton, A Voyage to Africa, 1821
35. The impact of the abolitionists on labor legislation (1828)
Ordinance No. 20, For Improving the Condition of Hottentots and other Free Persons of Colour at the Cape of Good Hope, and for Consolidating and Amending the Laws affecting those Persons, July 17, 1828
36. The settlers' revolt (1837)
"Manifesto of the Emigrant Farmers", Grahamstown Journal, February 2, 1837
37. A missionary talks with a king (1836)
Journal entry of George Champion for Sunday, January 17, 1836, Natal, South Africa
38. Dingane kills the first settlers (1838),
Journal entries of Francis Owen for February 6, 7, and 9, 1838, Natal, South Africa
39. Advance by treaty in West Africa (1831-36)
A. British peace treaty with Asante, April 27, 1831
B. British treaty with King Pepple's House, Grand Bonny, January 25, 1836

Chapter Six: Technology Increases the Ease of Conquest (1840-1864)
40. European mortality in West Africa before quinine (1840)
Troop mortality in Sierra Leone, 1819-36, United Service Journal and Naval and Military Magazine, 1840
41. The secretary of state for the colonies proposes a more interventionist policy to end the slave trade (1841)
Lord John Russell's instructions to Her Majesty's Niger Commissioners, January 30, 1841
42. Treaties with "barbarians" are different from those with "civilized" people (1841)
A. Draft agreement with African chiefs, July 1840,
B. Treaty with Kataba (upper Guinea coast), April 23, 1841
C. James Stephen's minute on the implications of the Kataba Treaty, September 6, 1841.
43. A long-sought-for highway into the very heart of the continent (1854)
William Balfour Baikie, Narrative of an Exploring Voyage Up the Rivers Kwóra and Bínue, 1854
44. The persistence of "illegal" slaving (1848-61)
A. Brodie Cruickshank, Eighteen Years on the Gold Coast of Africa, 1853
B. Paul B. du Chaillu, Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, 1861
C. Frederick Lamport Barnard, R. N., A Three Years' Cruize in the Mozambique Channel, 1848.
45. Christianity and cattle killing (1856)
Deposition made by Nonquase, a Kafir Prophetess, in an Examination before the Chief Commissioner of British Kaffraria, 1858.
46. Boer slaving (1858)
David Livingstone, Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, 1858.
47. Legislating race and religion (1858)
General regulations of the South African Republic, February 1858
48. Expanding trade by taking territory, Lagos (1861)
A. Lord John Russell to the Duke of Newcastle, recommending the annexation of Lagos, February 7, 1861
B. Lagos treaty of cession, August 6, 1861
49. French ambitions in West Africa (1858-64)
A. Louis Faidherbe's policy for the French in West Africa, May 1864
B. Plans for a new type of colonial army, 1850
C. The role of missionary education for Africans according to the Holy Ghost Fathers, 1858

Chapter Seven: Africa for Africans? (1854-1881)
50. Samuel Crowther on the role of African missionaries (1854)
Samuel Crowther, Journal of an Expedition up the Niger and Tshadda Rivers, 1854
51. Africanus B. Horton on an autonomous Africa (1868)
James Africanus B. Horton, West African Countries and Peoples, 1868
52. Cetshwayo describes Zulu society (1881)
Cetshwayo's testimony, July 7, 1881, Cape of Good Hope, Government Commission on Native Laws and Customs, 1883
53. A university for Africa (1881)
Edward Blyden's inaugural address as President of Liberia College, January 5, 1881

Chapter Eight: A New River of Gold Increases the Motivations for Conquest (1874-1905)
54. Diamonds (1874),
Gwayi Tyamzashe, "Life at the Diamond Fields", Kaffir Express/Isigidimi, 1874
55. Cecil Rhodes dreams of empire (1877)
A. Cecil Rhodes' confession of faith, June 2, 1877
B. Codicil to the last will and testament of Cecil Rhodes, October 11, 1901
56. The sack of Kumasi (1873-74)
A. Letter from King Kofi Karikari to Governor R. W. Harley
B. Instructions from the Earl of Kimberley to Sir Garnet Wolseley
C. The sack of Kumasi, Henry Brackenbury, The Ashanti War, 1874
57. The Congo is as rich as North America (1885)
Henry M. Stanley, The Congo and the Founding of Its Free State, 1855
58. The scramble for Africa begins (1884-92)
Templates for typical treaties signed by the National African Company Limited and the Royal Niger Company, with African leaders between 1884 and 1892
59. The Berlin conference (1885)
General Act of the Conference of Berlin, relative to the Development of Trade and Civilization in Africa", Berlin, February 26, 1885
60. Rhodes reaches north (1888)
Treaty between Lobengula, "king of Matabeleland, Mashonaland, and other adjoining territories", and representatives of Cecil Rhodes, October 30, 1888
61. The imperialism of chartered companies (1886-89)
Royal charter granted to the National African Company (re-named the Royal Niger Company in 1887), July 10, 1886, and royal charter granted to the British South Africa Company, October 29, 1889
62. Voices of imperialism (1893-99),
A. Frederick D. Lugard, The Rise of Our East African Empire, 1893;
B. R. S. S. Baden-Powell, The Downfall of Prempeh, 1896;
C. Sir George Goldie, report to the British governor on conquests in the Niger basin, February 18, 1897;
D. Joseph Chamberlain to Alfred Milner, September 2, 1899, and Milner to Chamberlain, September 27, 1899.
63. Imperial slaughter at Omdurman (1898),
A. G. W. Steevens, With Kitchener to Khartoum, 1898
B. Winston Churchill, The River War, 1902
64. Voices of resistance (1893-1905)
A. Ndansi Kumalo, description of the defeat of Lobengula and the Ndebele, July-December 1893
B. Hendrik Witbooi to Theodor Leutwein, August 17, 1894
C. Memorandum, case of the Brass chiefs, June 8, 1895
D. J. C. Smuts, A Century of Wrong, 1899
E. G. C. K. Gwassa and John Iliffe, eds., Records of the Maji Maji Rising, 1967

About the Author

Willim H. Worger is Professor of History at UCLA.

Nancy L. Clark is Professor of History at Louisiana State University.

Edward A. Alpers is Professor of History at UCLA.

Reviews

"This is a very successful history of the Indian Ocean. It is also, often silently, an important
contribution to world history...What is remarkable is that Alpers touches all the main bases and themes even in this short compass...Alpers has long been known as an East Africa, and especially Mozambique, specialist. This makes even more commendable the way he writes extensively and knowledgably on the other side of the ocean, the Bay of Bengal, the Malay world, and the South China Sea."--International Journal of Maritime History
"The selection and organization of the documents is so effective that the book provides a wonderful introduction into Africa's intersection with Europe through the words of the people who lived through it. From the era of the slave trade to the establishment of the new South Africa, Africa and the West portrays Africa as a real place full of complex and interesting people and institutions, and it emphasizes that the 'Western' intersection with Africa was more
than just an impact and response. People experienced, observed, critiqued, thought, planned, plotted, and dreamed. Together, the documents of this collection provide powerful evidence of the sheer level
of thought, debate, struggle, and planning that went into every stage of the Africa/West experience."--African Studies Quarterly
"This superb collection illuminates the West's impact on Africa from 1400 to 1994. The editors note that they have endeavored to publish documents that will interest audiences from middle school students to college graduates. They have succeeded. These highly readable selections will serve Africa well as they help students understand that African history is complex, engaging, and important."--International Journal of African Historical Studies
"An excellent example of a documentary textbook for use in undergraduate classrooms."--World History Bulletin