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\u2028
Portugal,\u2028the\u2028mother of all slavers\u2028
From:New\u2028African\u2028\u2028Date:March\u20281,\u20282000\u2028Author:\u2028Adibe,\u2028Patrick\u2028;\u2028Boateng,\u2028Osei\u2028\u2028
http://www.africasia.com/newafrican/\u2028
\u201cTwenty-two\u2028people\u2028were\u2028sleeping.\u2028I\u2028herded\u2028them\u2028as if they had been cattle
towards\u2028the\u2028boats\u201d\u2028
\u2014\u2028Diogo\u2028Gomes,\u2028on\u2028the\u2028River\u2028Gambia\u2028
\u2028\u201dOne\u2028day\u2028the\u2028white\u2028men\u2028arrived\u2028in\u2028ships\u2028with\u2028wings, which shone in the sun like
knives.\u2028They\u2028fought\u2028hard\u2028battles\u2028with\u2028the\u2028Ngola and spat fire at him. They
conquered\u2028his\u2028saltpans\u2028and\u2028the\u2028Ngola\u2028fled inland to the Lukala River\u201d\u2028
\u2014\u2028a\u2028Pende\u2028oral\u2028tradition\u2028(Congo)\u2028
\u2028The\u2028Transatlantic\u2028Slave\u2028Trade\u2028was\u2028pioneered\u2028by the Portuguese in the 15th and

16th\u2028centuries.\u2028European\u2028exploration\u2028along the African coast began after Portugal captured\u2028Serta\u2028(or\u2028Ceuta,\u2028in\u2028modern\u2028Morocco) from the Moors in 1415. To Europe, this\u2028"minor"\u2028victory\u2028at\u2028Ceuta\u2028was\u2028very\u2028significant\u2028indeed!\u2028

As\u2028Hugh\u2028Thomas,\u2028author\u2028of\u2028the\u20281997\u2028tome, The Slave Trade, attests: "The turning
point\u2028for\u2028European\u2028journeys\u2028to\u2028West\u2028Africa was when, in 1415, the Portuguese
mounted\u2028a\u2028military\u2028expedition\u2028and\u2028took\u2028Ceuta, then one of the greatest\u2028
commercial\u2028entrepots\u2028on\u2028the\u2028south\u2028coast\u2028of the Mediterranean, and the northern

terminus\u2028of\u2028several\u2028caravan\u2028routes\u2028in\u2028Africa."\u2028

Remember\u2028that\u2028Hugh\u2028Thomas\u2028is\u2028writing\u2028from a European point of view. He
continues:\u2028"The\u2028Genoese\u2028had\u2028recorded\u2028commerce with\u2028Ceuta\u2028for\u2028250\u2028years,\u2028and\u2028
the\u2028conquest\u2028may\u2028have\u2028been\u2028suggested\u2028by them, though there were many

motives\u2028behind\u2028the\u2028decision\u2028to\u2028attack\u2028-\u2028the\u2028political\u2028ambitions\u2028of\u2028the\u2028Portuguese\u2028 princes,\u2028and\u2028a\u2028highly\u2028developed\u2028sense\u2028of destiny inspired by chivalrous literature\u2028 among\u2028them.\u2028

\u2028"These\u2028half-English\u2028infantes,\u2028the\u2028future\u2028King\u2028Duarte\u2028and his brother Henry the
Navigator,\u2028who\u2028with\u2028their\u2028father,\u2028King\u2028Joao\u2028I,\u2028had\u2028earned\u2028their\u2028spurs\u2028as\u2028knights\u2028in\u2028

this\u2028capture\u2028[of\u2028Ceuta],\u2028are\u2028said\u2028to\u2028have\u2028heard from merchants and camels,
carrying\u2028beads\u2028made\u2028in\u2028Ceuta,\u2028among\u2028other things, for exchange with gold and
slaves,\u2028to\u2028Timbuktu\u2028on\u2028the\u2028Niger\u2028and\u2028to\u2028Cantor in The Gambia, news that inspired
Henry\u2028to\u2028seek\u2028the\u2028lands\u2028by\u2028the\u2028way\u2028of\u2028the sea".\u2028

\u2028For\u2028an\u2028African\u2028point\u2028of\u2028view,\u2028one\u2028has\u2028to\u2028go to Professor\u2028John\u2028Henrik\u2028Clarke,\u2028the\u2028

eminent\u2028African-American\u2028historian,\u2028author\u2028and\u2028journalist\u2028famed for his original
research\u2028into\u2028matters\u2028historical.\u2028In\u2028a\u2028lecture in London in 1988, Prof Clarke
explained\u2028why\u2028the\u2028"minor"\u2028victory\u2028at\u2028Ceuta (as he put it) was so special\u2028for\u2028the\u2028
Europeans.\u2028"In\u20281400,\u2028Europe\u2028was\u2028coming\u2028out\u2028of\u2028the\u2028lethargy of its Middle Ages, "
Prof\u2028Clarke\u2028said.\u2028"The\u2028Africans,\u2028the\u2028Arabs and the Berbers [Moors] had been
controlling\u2028Spain\u2028since\u2028711\u2028AD,\u2028and\u2028were still in control of Spain [by 1400].\u2028

\u2028"Their\u2028control\u2028of\u2028Spain\u2028blocked\u2028the\u2028Europeans control of the Mediterranean. That

is\u2028part\u2028of\u2028what\u2028the\u2028Punic\u2028Wars\u2028were\u2028all\u2028about: control of the shipping trade in the
Mediterranean,\u2028then\u2028called\u2028the\u2028Sea\u2028of\u2028Destiny and it would remain for 1,000 years
the\u2028sea\u2028of\u2028destiny\u2028because\u2028it\u2028touches\u2028on\u2028three\u2028continents and the control and

scramble\u2028was\u2028really\u2028for\u2028North\u2028Africa\u2028-\u2028that\u2028opening\u2028door\u2028to\u2028Africa."\u2028
\u2028Prof\u2028Clarke\u2028continued:\u2028"In\u20281415\u2028the\u2028Portuguese, among other European nations,
were\u2028living\u2028in\u2028fear\u2028of\u2028the\u2028socalled\u2028infidel\u2028Arabs.\u2028The\u2028Portuguese,\u2028who\u2028had\u2028been\u2028

originally\u2028living\u2028under\u2028the\u2028domination\u2028of\u2028the Africans and the Arabs, freed
themselves\u2028from\u2028their\u2028domination.\u2028They\u2028managed to free themselves because of
an\u2028argument\u2028between\u2028two\u2028African\u2028and\u2028Arab groups, the Almorevides and\u2028the\u2028
Amharst.\u2028In\u2028that\u2028year,\u2028[1415]\u2028a\u2028little\u2028known event in history occurred, the battle of

Serta\u2028[or\u2028Ceuta\u2028to\u2028the\u2028Europeans].\u2028
\u2028"The\u2028Portuguese\u2028were\u2028lucky\u2028enough\u2028to\u2028successfully attack [this] little enclave off

the\u2028coast\u2028of\u2028Morocco.\u2028This\u2028victory\u2028stimulated\u2028Europe\u2028into\u2028thinking\u2028that\u2028the\u2028infidel\u2028 Arabs\u2028were\u2028not\u2028beyond\u2028defeat.\u2028This\u2028minor victory was seen as a major victory and helped\u2028Europe\u2028into\u2028getting\u2028its\u2028nerves\u2028back. Europe had had frayed nerves, it had

literally\u2028lived,\u2028for\u2028hundreds\u2028of\u2028years,\u2028in\u2028fear of the Africans\u2028and\u2028the\u2028Arabs\u2028who\u2028were\u2028
blocking\u2028their\u2028movements\u2028in\u2028the\u2028Mediterranean.\u2028
\u2028"After\u2028the\u2028battle\u2028of\u2028Serra,"\u2028Prof\u2028Clarke\u2028continued, the Portuguese began to assert

themselves\u2028and\u2028this\u2028assertion\u2028would\u2028lead to the weakening of the African and
Arab\u2028hold\u2028on\u2028the\u2028Mediterranean.\u2028With\u2028this\u2028weakening,\u2028this argument between
Africans\u2028and\u2028Arabs\u2028-\u2028dissension\u2028within\u2028the\u2028ranks\u2028of\u2028the\u2028controllers of Spain -\u2028led\u2028to\u2028

about\u2028one-half\u2028of\u2028Spain\u2028becoming\u2028free\u2028of\u2028their\u2028domination."\u2028
And\u2028that\u2028had\u2028a\u2028snowball\u2028effect\u2028on\u2028Africa\u2028-\u2028forever!\u2028
\u2028According\u2028to\u2028the\u2028historian,\u2028Walter\u2028Rodney: "After being ejected from Spain, the

Maghreb\u2028Moslems\u2028or\u2028Moors\u2028as\u2028they\u2028were called, continued to maintain a dynamic
society\u2028on\u2028African\u2028sod.\u2028As\u2028one\u2028index\u2028to\u2028the standard of social life, it has been
pointed\u2028out\u2028that\u2028public\u2028baths\u2028were\u2028common\u2028in\u2028the\u2028cities\u2028of the Maghreb at a time
when\u2028in\u2028Oxford\u2028[in\u2028England],\u2028the\u2028doctrine was still being propounded that washing

of\u2028the\u2028body\u2028was\u2028a\u2028dangerous\u2028act."\u2028
\u2028Went\u2028for\u2028gold,\u2028but\u2028captured\u2028slaves\u2028
Though\u2028the\u2028Portuguese\u2028managed\u2028to\u2028capture\u2028Ceuta,\u2028they\u2028failed\u2028to\u2028take\u2028over\u2028the\u2028
control\u2028of\u2028the\u2028African\u2028gold\u2028trade\u2028from\u2028the\u2028Moors, which was one of the main

reasons\u2028why\u2028they\u2028attacked\u2028Ceuta.\u2028The\u2028failure to supplant the Moors compelled the Portuguese\u2028to\u2028pursue\u2028a\u2028sea-borne\u2028strategy,\u2028with\u2028the\u2028aim\u2028of\u2028gaining\u2028direct\u2028access\u2028 to\u2028the\u2028African\u2028gold.\u2028

\u2028They\u2028proceeded\u2028along\u2028the\u2028northwestern\u2028and western African coasts, reaching
Cape\u2028Bojador\u2028in\u20281434,\u2028Cape\u2028Verde\u2028in\u20281444, Sierra Leone in 1460, the Gold Coast
(now\u2028Ghana)\u2028in\u20281471,\u2028Sao\u2028Tome\u2028and\u2028Principe in 1471-72,\u2028the\u2028Congo\u2028River\u2028in\u2028
1483\u2028and\u2028the\u2028Cape\u2028of\u2028Good\u2028Hope\u2028in\u20281488.\u2028
\u2028But\u2028on\u20288\u2028August\u20281444,\u2028a\u2028watershed\u2028event had happened: The Portuguese landed
235\u2028African\u2028slaves\u2028near\u2028Lagos\u2028on\u2028the\u2028southwest point of the\u2028Algarve.\u2028Gomes\u2028
Eannes\u2028de\u2028Zurara,\u2028a\u2028courtier\u2028of\u2028the\u2028brother of the\u2028Portuguese\u2028king,\u2028Henry\u2028the\u2028
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