Mapping Uncertainty

The Collapse of Oyo and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, 1816–1836

Bibliographic Data

ID9340407
AuthorsHenry B Lovejoy (0000-0003-3875-1670, University of Colorado Boulder, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume4
Issue2
Pages127-161
Publication date2019-06-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Global Slavery (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2405-8351 • E-ISSN: 2405-836X
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/2405836x-00402002
OpenAlexW2953045891
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited17

This historical GIS experiment attempts to map the collapse of the kingdom of Oyo alongside the departure of slave ships from the Bight of Benin. The achievements and drawbacks of mapping Africa’s pre-colonial past require an overview of the sources and methods used to illustrate the dissolution and formation of inland places during an intense period of intra-African conflict. By collating geopolitical data, it is possible to represent on annual maps the likely origins and migrations of diverse groups of enslaved people who were involved in the warfare in the Bight of Benin hinterland between 1816 and 1836. During this period, an unknown number of captives were enslaved and forced into an internal slave trade, most especially into the Sokoto Caliphate, while over 75,000 individuals involuntarily boarded European slave ships leaving for Brazil, Cuba and, due to British abolition efforts, Sierra Leone

Archaeology · Caliphate · Colonial period · Colonialism · Ethnology · Geography · Geopolitics · Period (music · Political science · Sierra leone · African history and culture studies · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law