Captive Redemption in the Slave Trade

• Ibrahima abd al-Rahman Barry, a formerly enslaved man, returned to Liberia after 40 years of bondage to free his children and grandchildren from slavery in Mississippi.
• His family sent a gold-laden caravan to Monrovia, but Ibrahima died before the ransom was complete, leaving his descendants enslaved.
• Redeeming captives was a common yet paradoxical practice, saving some but often leading to the enslavement of others.
• Documentation of captive redemption comes from African autobiographies, Western accounts, and slave ship logbooks.
• Slave traders allowed redemption because it was profitable, often demanding a higher price or additional slaves.
• Families ransomed captives with money, goods, or human substitutes, but captors sometimes exploited this by demanding more captives.
• Locating captives was difficult, and some captors reneged on deals.
• Families sometimes strategically ransomed older individuals first, hoping they could later help free younger relatives.
• European traders shaped captive redemption to suit their commercial interests, focusing on money and human exchanges.

Challenges in Finding and Redeeming Captives

• Captives were transported in multiple directions, making it difficult for families to locate them.
• Families faced uncertainty about where their relatives had been sent.
• Many captives were taken during violent raids, reducing ransom chances.
• Families had difficulties in prioritizing the search while dealing with survival challenges.
• Financial constraints often forced families to choose whom to redeem.
• Kidnappings often occurred secretly, cutting off any chance of communication for the captives.
• Captives were swiftly taken to factories or slave ships.
• Those taken while traveling could be missing for weeks before their families realized they were gone.
• Even wealthy families could fail to redeem captives if they acted too late.
• A merchant in Sierra Leone prioritized keeping a captive due to the scarcity of slaves.

Status and Social Position Affected Redemption Possibilities

• Slaves captured in war or accused of witchcraft were generally not redeemed.
• Political and commercial rivalries led European traders to refuse ransom requests.
• Some European and American traders rejected ransom offers for personal or financial reasons.
• High-status individuals could be enslaved by personal or political enemies.
• Some women were deliberately kept by traders as lovers, leading to the rise of mixed-race signares.
• Redemption was influenced by political, personal, and economic factors.
• High social standing or connections with Westerners did not guarantee freedom.
• Failure to redeem captives was often due to external circumstances.
• Families sought to redeem enslaved relatives by offering substitutes.
• Multiple substitutes were sometimes needed to free one person.
• An old man sold 22 of his domestics to secure his own freedom.
• Using enslaved individuals as substitutes reflected deep social hierarchies.
• Some free individuals were captured and used for redemption.
• Debt and kidnapping were common means of obtaining substitutes.
• Individuals resorted to abducting others to ransom their own relatives.
• Some individuals willingly took the place of their family members in slavery.
• Some Islamic states and communities attempted to redeem enslaved members, though with limited success.
• Some African leaders and families sought to recover relatives sold overseas.
• The pain of separation and the hope of redemption influenced oral traditions and cultural practices.
• Redemption required cooperation from Western traders, captains, or slaveholders, and was often unsuccessful.

Terms and Names

• Karnak
• Urbanization
• Ausar
• Loango
• Amen
• Goree
• Garamantes
• Elmina
• Jenne
• Badagry
• Sunni Ali Ber

The State of African Society

• Africa had well-developed, complex societies before European and Arab arrivals.
• African communities had governance, trade, commerce, and professional sectors.
• Various African societies had structured governance, evolving from families to clans to states and empires.
• Africans built nations in diverse environments, using indigenous materials for construction.
• Elders played a crucial role in preserving wisdom, philosophies, and traditions.

Philosophy of Maat

• Maat encompasses truth, justice, righteousness, order, harmony, balance, and reciprocity.
• The per-aa (pharaoh) was responsible for upholding Maat.
• Maat guided social and moral conduct.

Eternal Life & Ausar (Osiris) Narrative

• Africans believed in eternal life, documented in ancient Egyptian tombs.
• Ausar was murdered by Set and resurrected by Auset (Isis), symbolizing life after death.
• Auset and Heru (Horus) formed the first holy family.
• Auset played a key role in preserving balance and protecting society.

Reincarnation & Ancestral Reverence

• Reincarnation in African traditions ensures ancestral continuity within families.
• Having children is vital for preserving memory and rituals.
• Ancestral reverence is universal, reinforcing respect for elders and ethical behavior.

Character as the Core of African Ethics

• Character (Iwa) is the foundation of African philosophy and moral values.
• Yoruba concept Iwa Pele means "good character."
• Character is prioritized over love, mercy, wealth, and belief.
• Ethical teachings emphasize character as essential to social harmony.
• Character is essential for personal growth and transformation as Karenga emphasizes.
• Yoruba philosophy states that "Character is all that is required."
• Africa had established systems of human organization before European colonialism.
• The slave trade disrupted these systems through force and ideological dominance.

Introduction of Slavery in Africa

• Africa experienced the Arab Slave Trade (9th century CE) and the European Slave Trade (15th century CE).
• Both caused immense suffering and had long-lasting impacts on African societies.
• The Sahara was a gateway for trade and cultural exchange.
• African civilizations actively engaged in trade, philosophy, urbanism, and metallurgy before external influence.
• Africa was not merely a recipient of external cultures but contributed significantly to global history however this was downplayed by European and Arab scholars.
• Contact between Africans and outsiders occurred long before colonization.
• Trade included commodities like gold, salt, ivory, and cultural exchanges.
• Islamic influence in Africa began in the 7th century CE and expanded through trade and conquest.
• Muslim rulers and traders influenced African societies economically, politically, and religiously.
• The Almoravids controlled regions in Spain, North Africa, and parts of West Africa, expanding for religious motives and gold.
• Songhay was defeated by Morocco in 1594 using superior weapons.
• This defeat marked a significant shift in African political power.
• Less than 30 years after Songhay’s fall, Africans were forcibly taken to Jamestown, Virginia, marking the beginning of African enslavement in English colonies

Challenges of Travel and Warfare in West Africa

• Movement between West Africa and the north was difficult due to sickness and warfare.
• Horses were vulnerable to trypanosomiasis.
• Sultan Muhammad al-Mahdi’s attempt to control Songhay’s mines resulted in war.
• The Songhay Empire expelled the Moroccans from the Sahara.

Spread of Islam in West Africa

• Islam spread in West Africa through peaceful means, royal decrees, and sometimes force.
• Africans accepted Islam for various reasons, including cultural similarities exposure to the wider world, social prestige, and material rewards.
• Conversion was not uniform; many rulers adopted Islam politically but maintained traditional beliefs.

Sunni Ali Ber’s Role in West African History

• Sunni Ali Ber expanded the Songhay Empire (ruled 1464–1492).
• He captured Timbuktu and Jenne, resisted Arab invasions, and opposed slavery.
• His rule ended with his death in 1492, marking the decline of African empires.

The Arab Slave Trade

• Millions of Africans (9.3–20 million) were enslaved and taken to North Africa and Southwest Asia.
• High mortality rates during the "Hot Passage" across the Sahara resembled those of the Atlantic slave trade.
• Arab and European slavery both categorized Africans as inferior, contrasting with African views on human equality.

European Involvement in the Slave Trade

• The Portuguese initiated European slave trade in Africa in 1441.
• West Africa shifted from trans-Saharan trade to Atlantic trade, leading to increased European influence.
• The Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch facilitated large-scale enslavement.

First Africans in the Americas

• Africans were enslaved in the Americas within 60 years of European contact.
• The first recorded Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 as indentured servants.
• Racial slavery was institutionalized over time, creating systemic oppression.

Impact of Slavery on African and Global History

• The African worldview differed from that of Arabs and Europeans, who justified slavery through religion.
• European and Arab colonizers used religion to divide people into superior and inferior groups.
• The long-term impact of slavery shaped African history.

Legalization of Slavery and its impact

• Slavery was formally codified in Virginia by 1671, and by 1705, comprehensive slave codes were established.
• The European slave trade devastated West African societies, destroying cultures, languages, and traditions.

Phillis Wheatley’s Story

• Kidnapped from Senegal at age seven, Wheatley was enslaved in Boston and became the first enslaved African to publish a book but faced racism, poverty, and hardship.

Hypocrisy of American Freedom Ideals

• The Declaration of Independence’s ideals of freedom and equality contradicted the reality of slavery.
• Thomas Jefferson owned enslaved Africans, demonstrating a moral contradiction.

African Resistance and Protest

• Africans in America actively resisted slavery, fought for freedom, and embodied the ideals of equality.

Long-term Effects

• The American belief in African inferiority was legally and morally entrenched by the time of the Declaration of Independence.

Captive redemption in the slave trade involved ransoming enslaved individuals, documented in various sources. Families used money, goods, or substitutes. However, this practice was paradoxical, as it could lead to further enslavement.