Benin, West Africa
Birth place of Slavery
Door of no return?
As observed
By
Netiva Caftori
Ouidah, Benin
History


The Portuguese began trading African slaves in
Europe in the 1440s, and by the early 1500s ships
filled with slaves captured in Africa began sailing
across the Atlantic to the New World.
During the four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave
trade, an estimated 12 million Africans were taken
from their continent and brought to the New World
and Europe.
Benin, home to ancient kingdoms








Allada,
Abomey,
Porto-Novo,
Kétou,
Tchabê,
Nikki,
Kouandé, and
Djougou




They thrived on the
commerce of slavery till
its abolition in 1807,
then on palm oil.
England, Denmark,
Portugal and France
1704-Ouidah-French
1752-Porto-NovoPortuguese
Door of no Return
Slavery Legacy


The old slave route to the spot on the beach
where it is believed the terrified captives
boarded ships for the "Middle Passage" -- the
route across the ocean to the New World.
Many would not survive the trip, cut down by
disease, malnutrition, abuse or neglect.
Some myths
according to Kenneth Addison







African-Americans came from an uncivilized
continent (arrived in North America in 1619)
Africans came to the Americas only as slaves
Only 10 Million African slaves
Africans enslaved their own ethnic groups
Slavery was coercive but not brutal
Slavery does not affect African-Americans
today (abolished in 1865 in US)
African-Americans have contributed little to
America
Memorial to those who perished
Ghana
Acknowledge the truth-seek
forgiveness: Kerekou



"The kings of Dahomey -- located in Abomey,
in present-day Benin -- aggressively captured
and sold neighboring tribespeople to the
slavers.
The practice was quite developed, and went on
for some three centuries.“
The story of the slave trade is kept alive in the
songs of village griots, or tribal storytellers,
who sing the history of the slave-conquering
kings of Dahomey.
Ouidah, Temple of the pythons
The slave trade was officially banned
in the early 1880s


"The slave trade could not have endured for
four centuries and carried nearly 12 million
people out of Africa without the cooperation of
a huge network of African rulers and
merchants,"
Prof. Harms of Yale is the author of The
Diligent: A Voyage Through the Worlds of the
Slave Trade, an award-winning book detailing
the day-to-day routine on a French slave vessel
in the 1700s.
Modern slavery in Benin

Benin is a source, transit, and destination
country for children (seven to 18) trafficked
for the purposes of forced domestic and
commercial labor, including child prostitution.
Estimates on the numbers of trafficking
victims range between a few hundred and
several thousand each year. Beninese children
are trafficked to oil-rich Nigeria, Ghana,
Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, and Cameroon into
forced labor situations, including agricultural
labor, quarries, domestic service, and
prostitution .
Door of return
Socio-cultural groups
Fon (35%),
 Adja,
 Yoruba,
 Goun,
 Bariba,
 Dendi,
 Somba,
 Peuhl, etc..
Languages:
 Fongbé, Gengné or
Mina, Yoruba,

Baatonu, Dendi, Bariba,
Adja-gbe, Ayizo-gbe,
Ditammari, Tem, Peul
6.2 M Beninese:
 Cotonou: 850,000
 Porto-Novo: 200,000
 Parakou: 110,000
 Abomey: 70,000
 Natitengou: 60,000
Economy




80% of the people in
agriculture 40% gnp
Corn, manioc, beans,
pineapples, rice
Export cotton (80%),
palm oil & peanuts
Industry is poor: textile,
cement, mines,
alimentation.

Commerce: Cotonou is
between Lome and
Lagos & closest to Mali
& Burkina Faso.