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The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage. Europeans established a coastal slave trade in the 15th century and trade to the Americas began in the 16th century, lasting through the 19th century. The vast majority of those who were transported in the transatlantic slave trade were from Central Africa and West Africa and had been sold by West African slave traders to European slave traders, while others had been captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids. European slave traders gathered and imprisoned the enslaved at forts on the African coast and then brought them to the Americas. Some Portuguese and Europeans participated in slave raids. As the National Museums Liverpool explains: "European traders captured some Africans in raids along the coast, but bought most of them from local African or African-European dealers." Many European slave traders generally did not participate in slave raids because life expectancy for Europeans in sub-Saharan Africa was less than one year during the period of the slave trade because of malaria that was endemic in the African continent. An article from PBS explains: "Malaria, dysentery, yellow fever, and other diseases reduced the few Europeans living and trading along the West African coast to a chronic state of ill health and earned Africa the name 'white man's grave.' In this environment, European merchants were rarely in a position to call the shots." The earliest known use of the phrase began in the 1830s, and the earliest written evidence was found in an 1836 published book by F. H. Rankin. Portuguese coastal raiders found that slave raiding was too costly and often ineffective and opted for established commercial relations.
The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about 2.5 mi (4 km) southwest of present-day Williamsburg. It was established by the London Company as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607 O.S., and considered permanent, after brief abandonment in 1610. It followed failed attempts, including the Roanoke Colony, established in 1585. Despite the dispatch of more supplies, only 60 of the original 214 settlers survived the 1609–1610 Starving Time. In mid-1610, the survivors abandoned Jamestown, though they returned after meeting a resupply convoy in the James River.
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina, also known as Castelo da Mina or simply Mina, in present-day Elmina, Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast. It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, and the oldest European building in existence south of the Sahara.
Sylviane Anna Diouf is a historian and curator of the African diaspora. She is a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University and a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience. Her contribution as a social historian, she stressed, "May be the uncovering of essential stories and topics that were overlooked or negated, but which actually offer new insights into the experience of the African Diaspora. A scholar said my work re-shapes and re-directs our understanding of this history; it shifts our attention, corrects the historical record, and reveals hidden and forgotten voices."
The House of Slaves and its Door of No Return is a museum and memorial to the victims of the Atlantic slave trade on Gorée Island, 3 km off the coast of the city of Dakar, Senegal. Its museum, which was opened in 1962 and curated until Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye's death in 2009, is said to memorialise the final exit point of the slaves from Africa. While historians differ on how many African slaves were actually held in this building, as well as the relative importance of Gorée Island as a point on the Atlantic slave trade, visitors from Africa, Europe, and the Americas continue to make it an important place to remember the human toll of African slavery.
The International Slavery Museum is a museum located in Liverpool, UK, that focuses on the history and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. The museum, which forms part of the Merseyside Maritime Museum, consists of three main galleries which focus on the lives of people in West Africa, their eventual enslavement, and their continued fight for freedom. Additionally the museum discusses slavery in the modern day as well as topics on racism and discrimination.
Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is a Ghanaian academic and politician who served as Minister for Education from February 2013 to January 2017. She is a full professor of literature. She served as the first female Vice-Chancellor of a state university in Ghana when she took over as Vice-Chancellor of University of Cape Coast. She currently serves as the Chancellor of the Women's University in Africa.
The Pan African Historical Theatre Project now known as PANAFEST is a cultural event held in Ghana every two years for Africans and people of African descent. It was first held in 1992. The idea of this festival is to promote and enhance unity, Pan-Africanism, and the development of the continent of Africa itself. Activities that occur at this festival are performances and work in the areas of theatre, drama, music, and poetry, among other things. Also, there are viewing of the durbar of chiefs, and tours to various places of interest, such as slave castle dungeons.
The history of African-American settlement in Africa extends to the beginnings of ex-slave repatriation to Africa from European colonies in the Americas.
Ada Foah is a town on the southeast coast of Ghana, where the Volta River meets the Atlantic Ocean. The town is located along the Volta River, off of the Accra-Aflao motorway. Known for palm-lined beaches and estuary islands, Ada Foah is also the capital of the Ada East District and the seat of the District Assembly.
Immigration to Ghana is managed by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS). Ghana a country located at the western part of the African continent with a population of 28.83 million and gained independence on 6 March 1957.
Reparations for slavery refers to providing benefits to victims of slavery and/or their descendants. There are concepts for reparations in legal philosophy and reparations in transitional justice. Reparations can take many forms, including practical and financial assistance to the descendants of enslaved people, acknowledgements or apologies to peoples or nations negatively affected by slavery, or honouring the memories of people who were enslaved by naming things after them. Victims of slavery can refer past slavery or ongoing slavery in the 21st century.
Tourism in Ghana is regulated by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture. This ministry is responsible for the development and promotion of tourism related activities in Ghana.
The history of African Americans in Ghana goes back to individuals such as American civil rights activist and writer W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), who settled in Ghana in the last years of his life and is buried in the capital, Accra. Since then, other African Americans who are descended from slaves imported from areas within the present-day jurisdiction of Ghana and neighboring states have applied for permanent resident status in Ghana. As of 2015, the number of African American residents has been estimated at 3,000 people, a large portion of whom live in Accra.
The International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015–2024, was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in a Resolution (68/237) adopted on 23 December 2013. The theme of the International Decade is "People of African descent: recognition, justice and development".
The Door of Return is an emblem of African Renaissance and is a pan-African initiative that seeks to launch a new era of cooperation between Africa and its diaspora in the 21st century. The initiative is Chaired by the Hon. Timothy E. McPherson Jr., Minister of Finance for the Accompong Maroons in Jamaica, and is being spearheaded across Africa in cooperation with Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe as part of the United Nations's International Decade for People of African Descent. The name is a reference to the "Door of No Return", a monument commemorating the transatlantic slave trade.
Kwame Akoto-Bamfo is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator and activist, known for his sculptures and massive body of works dedicated to the memory, healing and Restorative Justice for people of African descent. His outdoor sculptures are dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Transatlantic slave trade, notably the installation Nkyinkim, on display at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice that opened in 2018 in Montgomery, Alabama. His other sculptures include an installation of 1,200 concrete heads representing Ghana's enslaved ancestors in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Called Faux-Reedom, it was unveiled in 2017.
The Year of Return, Ghana 2019 is an initiative of the government of Ghana – along with the U.S.-based Adinkra Group – that is intended to encourage African diasporans to come to Africa to settle and invest in the continent, part of the Blaxit movement. It was formally launched by President Nana Akufo-Addo in September 2018 in Washington, D.C. as a program for Africans in the diaspora to unite with Africans. The year 2019 is symbolic as it commemorates 400 years since the first enslaved Africans touched down in Hampton, in the English colony of Virginia in America. The program also recognizes the diaspora's achievements and sacrifices in the time since that event. Starting from when President Barack Obama made a visit to the Cape Coast in 2009, many famous, respected and admired African-Americans from the diaspora have visited Ghana to discover its culture. The Ghana Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture lined up a slate of activities in "celebration of the resilience of the African spirit." Many African Americans shared their stories regarding their experiences in Ghana during the Year of Return.
The first Africans in Virginia were a group of "twenty and odd" captive persons originally from modern-day Angola who landed at Old Point Comfort in Hampton, Virginia in late August 1619. Their arrival is seen as a beginning of the history of slavery in Virginia and British colonies in North America, although they were not in chattel slavery as it would develop in the United States, but were sold as indentured servants and had mostly worked off their indentures and were free by 1630. These colonies would go on to secede and become the United States in 1776. The landing of these captive Africans is also seen as a starting point for African American history, given that they were the first such group in mainland British America.
December In Ghana, colloquially referred to as Detty December (#dettydecember), is a cultural and festive phenomenon that gained prominence alongside the "Year of Return” initiative launched by the government of Ghana in 2019. It refers to the year-end festivities, typically observed from mid-December through the New Year.
References
- ↑ Pike, Steven (14 December 2015). Destination Marketing: Essentials. Routledge. p. 30. ISBN 9781317430926.
- ↑ Oxford Business Group (2012). The Report: Ghana 2012. p. 203. ISBN 9781907065644.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ↑ Reed, Ann (27 August 2014). Pilgrimage Tourism of Diaspora Africans to Ghana. Routledge. p. 63. ISBN 9781317674993.
- ↑ "The Tourism Industry of Ghana". GhanaWeb. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
- 1 2 "Slave Heritage Tourism on Rise in Ghana". VOA. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
- 1 2 "Chocolate Day". Visit Ghana. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- ↑ Editor (13 March 2019). "Year of Return - Ghana 2019". touringghana.com. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ↑ Fulop, Shirley Williams,Lily. "Why I Traveled To Ghana 400 Years After Slavery". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Slavery's 400-year anniversary brings tourist boom to Ghana". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729 . Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- ↑ "Visit Ghana - Bia National Park". Visit Ghana. Retrieved 13 September 2023.