THE ELMINA CASTLE OF GHANA - DAY 20
ude precious@preciousude984709
10 hours ago
#neighbors
Lovelies, slavery as we all know is a scourge.Today let's see how slavery spread it's meaty claws across Africa, we will be visiting Elmina castle of Ghana and we will discover what role it played in aiding slave trade across West Africa. But first, what do we know of Elmina.
Elmina was one of the very large settlements of the former Gold coast. 100 years before the Portuguese arrived, the locals traded with the Akan people of the inland area via salt trade. In 1471 the Portuguese explored Elmina on behalf of merchant fernaó Gomez, and afterwards they returned with a fleet of 10 caravans and 2 cargo ships under Diogo de Azambuza who was commissioned to build a fortress. The locals were happy to trade as long as it was on the Portuguese ships, plans to build the fortress met with rejection.They negotiated with Chief kwamina Ansa whom the Portuguese called Carmansa. kwamina Ansa refused on the note that " friends who see each other occasionally remain better friends than if they become neighbors" but gave in at the threat of violence.
On the 21st of January 1482, fort saó de mina popularly called Elmina was commissioned. Diogo de Azambuza was the first of it's 48 Governors. for the next 150 years it was the capital of Portuguese bases on the Gold coast. Although initially built as a trade center for timber and gold, it became a strategic trading point in triangle trade. This route brought goods to the west African coast, slaves to America and raw materials to Europe.
Elmina changed ownership and was conquested by the Dutch in 1637 ( For the next 250 years, it became the capital of Dutch empire in West Africa) who found slave trade profitable, and so slave trade kicked off.
The slave dungeons below the Elmina castle was cramped and filthy, each cell housed 200 people at a time without enough space to even lie down. The floor of the dungeon has become several inches higher than when it was built as a result of centuries of impacted filth and human excreta. Maleria and yellow fever outbreaks were very common. staircases led from the governors chambers direct to the women dungeon below, making it easy for him to select personal concubines from amongst them.
At the sea board side of the castle was the "Door Of No Return". An infamous portal through which slaves boarded the ship that would take them on the treacherous journey across the Atlantic known as middle passage. By 18th century about 30,000 slaves on their way to North and South America passed through Elmina's door of no return each year.
Elmina was taken over by the British in 1873 and by the end of 19th century Gold coast came under British Colonial rule until they gained independence in 1957.
Did you know?
- Elmina means mine.
- Elmina castle was the first European fortress in sub Saharan Africa.
- Ghana was formerly known as the Gold coast.
- Today the Elmina castle is preserved as the Ghanian National museum and monument and is designated as a world heritage movement under UNESCO historical tour.
lovelies until you decide to visit Elmina in person, I hope you enjoyed the tour, I sure did.
#neighbors
#visitafrica
#exploreafrica
#discoverafrica
photo credit: google.
