ECONOMIC HISTORY
BRITISH COLONISATION OF NIGERIAN TERRITORIES
By 1880, the British had been well established along the coast of West Africa and began to advance into the interior. With the abolition of slave trade in Britain in 1807, the trade in palm oil was encouraged to replace that in slaves. It was also hoped that it would supply Britain with raw materials for her growing industries. The discovery of the Niger by the Lander Brothers in 1830 opened the route to the interior for British trade. Since the mouth of Nigeria had been discovered, it was necessary to put the knowledge to commercial use. The British Naval supremacy on the coast opened up trade for the British.…
EARLY EUROPEANS IN NIGERIA
The Europeans who came to Nigeria were the explorers, Christian missionaries, traders and merchants. These people included the following: The explorers were Mungo Park, Hugh Clapperton, Richard and John Lander. The traders and merchants included George Tauberman Goldie, John Holt etc. The Christian missionaries included Mary Slessor, Thomas Birch Freeman, Henry Townsend, Ajayi Crowther, Jefferson Bowen, etc. Mungo Park Mungo Park was a Scottish explorer of West Africa. He was the first European who travelled to places like the Central Africa and Niger River. Mungo Park was educated at home before attending Selkirk Grammar School in 1788. Mungo Park enrolled at the University of Edinburgh, studying medicine and botany.…
BACKGROUND TO THE EUROPEAN EXPLORATION
During the Middle Ages, the Europeans could not travel far. This was probably the reason why their knowledge of the outside world was very limited. The Europeans could not travel far due to the following reasons. Firstly, the Europeans could not organise themselves politically or intellectually and were not economically viable to engage in voyages into the sea and have trading interaction with the people by sea. This was due to the system of government- feudalism, which did not make them have Kings who could encourage voyages of exploration and trade. Secondly, the 14th and 15th centuries were a period of political turmoil in the Eastern European countries as a…
ORIGIN OF SLAVE TRADE
Slavery was common and normal in West Africa as it was in all the early empires of history. Slavery was the end product of those that were captured in pre-colonial wars of conquest and expansion. Slavery was also the punishment for committing crime and misdemeanour and non-payment of debts. People in these situation had their status reduced to slavery. They were classified as domestic slaves, thereby seen as members ofhis master’s family. In this case, slaves could own property and be protected against injustice. In fact, where a slave behaved well by offering good service to his master, he could be declared a freeman at the will of his master.…
THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF TRANS-SAHARAN TRADE (REVISED EDITION)
For many centuries, the people of West Africa had engaged in trans-Saharan trade. This was a trade between North Africa and West Africa which had existed from the ancient times. There are evidences that the trade goes back to ancient Egypt. Early transport system at this period was probably oxen. Later, camels were used around the 4th century which made desert travel much more easier. During the Middle Ages, the Arabs pushed in from the east, the North African tribes moved to the west and later to the south. As time went by, the Arabs followed the same route and more contact was made with the tribes in the Sudan.…
