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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Slavery and Slave Trade on the Atlantic Coast: The Duala of the Littoral
Author:Austen, Ralph A.ISNI
Year:1995
Periodical:Paideuma
Volume:41
Pages:127-152
Language:English
Geographic term:Cameroon
Subjects:Duala
slavery
slave trade
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
History and Exploration
Labor and Employment
Ethnic and Race Relations
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/40341698
Abstract:Various forms of slavery played a critical role in the historical development of the Duala, who were often stereotyped as 'slave-trading middlemen'. The Duala conceived of their ties with other Cameroon peoples in an idiom derived from institutions of slavery. They considered themselves 'wonja' (nonslaves) and other Cameroonians 'bakom' (slaves). Following a section on the status of slaves, the functions of slaves in Duala society are discussed. For the Duala slaves constituted a unique form of chattel for critical economic, political, social and ritual transactions. The subjugation of slaves to agricultural functions was the condition allowing others the freedom to engage in more prestigious activities. Slaves also participated in warfare, where they were the only kind of casualty acceptable to the main combatants. Next, the beginning of Duala participation in the Atlantic slave trade in the 1760s is discussed, as well as its decline in the 1830s. Despite abolition, internal slave trading continued in the 19th century. In this context, the relationship between internal slavery and political disorder is discussed. In the early colonial period, the Germans for a time unwittingly encouraged the expansion of Duala slavery, but after 1902 German administrators increased antislave measures and Duala slavery declined. App., bibliogr., notes, ref.
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