Yoruba people in the Atlantic slave trade

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The Yoruba people contributed significant cultural and economic influence upon the Atlantic slave trade during its run from approximately 1400 until 1900 CE. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Oyo Empire

From 1400 onward, the Oyo Empire's imperial success made the Yoruba language a lingua franca almost to the shores of the Volta. [4] [5] Toward the end of the 18th century, the Oyo army was neglected as there was less need to conquer. [6] [7] Instead, Oyo directed more effort towards trading and acted as middlemen for both the trans-Saharan and trans-Atlantic slave trades. [6] Europeans bringing salt arrived in Oyo during the reign of King Obalokun. [8] Due to its domination of the coast, Oyo merchants were able to trade with Europeans at Porto Novo and Whydah. [9] Here, the Oyo Empire's war captives and criminals were sold as slaves to the Dutch and Portuguese. [10] [11] In the early 19th century, the Oyo Empire collapsed as a result of internal conflicts and foreign invasions. Consequently, Yoruba people, largely of Oyo origin, became a principal ethnic group exported as slaves, by the Kingdom of Dahomey, at the bight of benin. [12] This led to the high importation of Yoruba people to Brazil and Cuba, in the last few decades of the Atlantic Slave Trade. [13]

Cultural influence

In addition to the influence on slavery, and later Afro-American cuisine and language, the importation of Yoruba culture was most heavily evidenced in such manifestations of Yoruba religion as Santería, and Candomblé Ketu. Other traditional spiritualities, such as Trinidad Orishas and Haitian Vodou, are also largely derived from Yoruba religion.

References

  1. ↑ Pedro Funari; Charles E. Orser Jr. (2014). Current Perspectives on the Archaeology of African Slavery in Latin America (SpringerBriefs in Archaeology). Springer. p. 138. ISBN   978-1-493-9126-43.
  2. ↑ Toyin Falola; Ann Genova (2005). Yoruba Creativity: Fiction, Language, Life and Songs. Africa World Press. p. 134. ISBN   978-1-592-2133-68.
  3. ↑ Olatunji Ojo (2008). "The Organization of the Atlantic Slave Trade in Yorubaland, ca.1777 to ca.1856". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 41 (1). The International Journal of African Historical Studies (Boston University African Studies Center): 77–100. JSTOR   40282457.
  4. ↑ Stride & Ifeka 1971, p. 302.
  5. ↑ Stride, George; Ifeka, Caroline (1971). Peoples and Empires of West Africa West Africa in History, 1000–1800. New York: Africana Pub. Corp. ISBN   9780841900691. OCLC   600422166.
  6. 1 2 Oliver & Atmore 2001, p. 95.
  7. ↑ Oliver, Roland; Atmore, Anthony (2001-08-16). Medieval Africa, 1250–1800. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-79372-8.
  8. ↑ Stride & Ifeka p. 292
  9. ↑ Stride & Ifeka 1971, p. 293.
  10. ↑ Smith 1989, p. 31.
  11. ↑ Clarence-Smith, Gervase, ed. (1989). The Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century. London: Psychology Press. ISBN   978-0-7146-3359-6.
  12. ↑ Falola, Toyin (2016). Encyclopedia of the Yoruba. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 95-96. ISBN   9780253021441.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  13. ↑ Herbert S, Klein (2010). Slavery in Brazil. Cambridge University Press. p. 15.
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