Summary

Cities have played an important role in West African history. In the vast majority of African urban complexes, slavery and the slave trade have played an important role. As in most parts of the world, slavery has roots in the distant past, but its importance was increased by the demand for African slaves, first by the dynamic civilizations of the Mediterranean and the Middle East and then by European global imperialism. The efforts of Africa enslavers to supply these foreign markets meant the slaves were available for use within Africa. The number of those kept and used within Africa was generally greater than those exported. They were used as agricultural labor, concubines, soldiers, administrators, porters, servants, and artisans. There were contrasting patterns of slave use: peasants with small slave holdings, states incorporating slaves as soldiers and administrators, and a largely Muslim merchant class, which lived in cities but maintained large rural plantations. The process began in the 1st millennium bce but reached a peak in the long 18th century, when militarized states evolved to meet the demand for slave labor in the West Indies.