Slaves, Trade, and Religious Change in Eighteenth-Century Esulalu

As the people of Esulalu faced the difficult task of integrating Floup and Koonjaen communities and creating a common Diola tradition, they also confronted the disruptive influence of a growing European commercial presence in the region. As early as the midseventeenth century, European willingness to sell such strategic items as muskets, gunpowder, and iron created clear military and economic advantages for those societies willing to engage in trade. An expanding market for slaves and the increasing availability of iron and muskets escalated both the level and frequency of violence throughout the Casamance. Despite the Diolas’ initial reluctance to trade directly with Europeans, it became increasingly difficult to avoid participation in this Atlantic trade system. By the early eighteenth century, Diola communities utilized various African middlemen to become actively involved in the sale of rice, slaves, and beeswax in exchange for cattle or for European trade goods.

Archaeology · Business · Craft · Economics · Economy · Fur trade · Gunpowder · International trade · Political science · African history and culture studies · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History