Afro-Jamaican Origins - Part 2

Imagery of the maritime slave routes used to export slaves

Photo: Whitney Plantation

Today we are going to delve a little bit deeper into Jamaica's African origins.

Akan slaves were thought of highly by slavers due to widespread beliefs that they were better adapted to hard labour and strenuous work due to the ethnicity's militaristic nature. This is why the number of imported Akan slaves grew in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Following frequent rebellions by the Akan, referred to then by the British as ‘Coromantee’, the number of Akan being taken from Africa was reduced. Ethnic groups that were regarded as being more compliant or less demanding were selected to replace the Akan . Despite this, many British planters maintained their Akan slaves as they were the preferred ethnicity and believed to be “better workers.”

According to the Slave Voyages Archives, the Igbo had the highest importation numbers, but were only imported to Montego Bay and St. Ann’s. In contrast, slaves imported from the Gold Coast (primarily of Akan ethnicity), were dispersed more greatly across the island, and were imported to half of the island’s parishes.

Below is is some embarkment data that will give you a good idea of where the slaves brought to Jamaica from:

Region of embarkment (1701-1800) Percentage

Bight of Biafra (Igbo, Ibibio) 31.9%

Gold Coast (Asante, Fante Akan) 29.5%

West-central Africa (Kongo, Mbundu) 15.2%

Bight of Benin (Yoruba, Ewe, Fon) 10.1%

Windward Coast (Mande, Kru) 4.8%

Sierra Leone (Mende, Temne) 3.8%

Southeast Africa 0.1%

Unknown 4.6%

Bight of Biafra

The Bight of Biafra refers to a shallow bay in the easternmost part of the Gulf of Guinea. The Country of Biafra was located in present day Cameroon. Travel via this bight is thought to have accounted for 13% of the total number of enslaved people exported from the Western African Coast.

The Bight Of Biafra

Photo: Southern Spaces

Gold Coast

The Gold Coast was named for its main colonial export like many of its neighbours and refers to a region of the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa. Historically this term was only used when referring to the coast itself and only later entailed the areas north of it. The area which now comprises of modern day Ghana was rich in gold, crude oil and natural gas.

Photo depicting depicting the British annexation of land into the Gold Coast

Photo: Global Security

West Central Africa

Historical West Central Africa comprised many regions and different communities that shared common cultural elements such as matrilineal social organisation and cosmology beliefs. In the early 1600s, West Central Africa was known as the Loango Coast, which described a historically significant area stretching from Cape Lopez (The western most point) in Gabon, to Luanda in Angola. Contemporary description of West Central Africa encompasses 22 countries, including Guinea, the Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon and Cameroon.

Bight of Benin

“Beware, beware, the Bight of Benin: one comes out, where fifty went.”

The Bight of Benin was feared for the risk of malaria and the associated blackwater fever by slavers and sailor alike. A great amount of Europeans would perish to illnesses such as yellow fever, heat exhaustion and gastrointestinal sicknesses.

"the White man's grave"

Similar shanties and phrases may aswell have been sung by the many slaves, for every white man that came surely left with far greater numbers of black man for labour. Owing to the heavy reliance of the local kingdoms on the Slave trade, the region became known as the Slave Coast by the European powers. It is estimated that from the 1640s, The Bight of Benin took in 1200 slaves per year. With growth in trade restricted by lack of trade routes.

Map of The Slave Coast and Bight of Benin

Photo: Wikipedia

Windward Coast

The Windward Coast stretched between modern day Liberia and the Ivory Coast (interestingly this country has retained its historical name that was based on its main colonial export)to the west of The Gold Coast.

Discussion on the Windward coast unlike the other examples detailed here contains some academic conflict due to stated information uncertainties. Slave trade on the ‘Windward Coast’ is purported to have been less favourable than the other countries. One of these reasons being that slave trading took place over numerous small ports as opposed to a limited number of large ports.

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone’s was named by a Portuguese explorer in the mid 15th century, who after mapping the hills around modern day Freetown, named the odd formation Serra Lyoa (Lioness Mountain). From the late 15th century, the Atlantic slave trade would have a significant effect on the region. The practice of transnational slavery is said to have been less prevalent in this region prior to European contact, due to dense rainforest that isolated it from surrounding kingdoms and regions.

Southeast Africa

South East Africa has had trade links with Asia and the Middle East since the ninth century, owing to these commercial relationships, the peoples of South East Africa more frequently found themselves exported eastwards, rather than being a part of Trans-Atlantic slave trade. South East Africa comprises of the mainland countries Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and the island nations of Comorros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles.

Highlights of the major slave trading regions (15th-19th Centuries)

Photo: Wikipedia

Hopefully now you are all slightly more privy to where our ancestors came from and where your deepest roots might lay!