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Why were people bought with shells, metal, beads, alcohol and guns?

No amount of money should ever be able to buy a person. 
When we explore the curious items (other than money) used to purchase people, it can make the West African slave traders look as if they were easily fooled.

You may have heard that Europeans paid for enslaved people using quite strange things. Sometimes money was exchanged but, at other times, there were exchanges of seemingly worthless items.

Why not pay in money?

In this time period, English money would have been worthless to most Africans. They would not have been able to use it. So, they took payment in forms that meant something in their societies; they took payment in the form of things that they could use.

 

In the early days of the Transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, gold was not used to buy captives. This is because West Africa was rich in gold. In fact, gold was what drew Europeans to trade in West Africa in the first place. Therefore, with English money and gold of no use, other objects were used. Objects that were considered valuable to those who received them. 

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Lynn Greyling CC0 1.0 DEED

Cowrie Shells

Cowrie shells were used from the 14th century to the end of the 19th century. The cowrie came from the east coast of Africa and across the Pacific and Indian Ocean.

 

The brightly coloured domed shell is the shell of a marine mollusc, a creature not native to West Africa. Therefore, they were considered a rare and precious commodity. Cowries were one of the first things to be used as money in West Africa.

Manilla

Manilla were made up of different metals and were made in varied sizes. Originally, they were worn as bracelets, but over time became a type of currency or they were melted down by African smiths and made into different items. 

The Portable Antiquities Scheme, sim johnson. Modern Manilla. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
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Guns

Firearms were used in exchange. They were used to strengthen armies, which increased warfare and in turn led to more people being captured and enslaved.

 

Guns were also used on farms to scare away predators.

 

Although guns at this time were not highly effective, they were seen as a sign of status.

Glass Beads

Mostly made in Europe, glass beads were a sign of status in terms of the number a person had and the quality of the beads.

Alcohol

This was thought to have been exchanged as a sort of trick and showed that African slave traders just wanted to get drunk. However, alcohol was used in Africa as it was and is in Europe. It was used during celebrations and ceremonies. 

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None of these items could ever be worth what they were exchanged for (humans). However, whilst not particularly valuable to Europeans, they were highly valuable to the Africans they traded with. The African traders used them as a form of currency , signs of status or in their daily lives.

You have seen 5 items that were used to purchase kidnapped, enslaved people.

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Can you find out more about where these items were sourced or produced?

What can this tell us about Europe's local industries involvement with the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans? 

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