WALTER HAWTHORNE -- Ph.D. Stanford University – Professor at Michigan State University

Dear Jonathan,
 
I'd refer you first and foremost to Curtin's book, "Economic change in precolonial Africa; Senegambia in the era of the slave trade" in which he argued that there were two types of slave producing wars. One was political--taking place for reasons other than slave trading. That is, a dispute between two kingdoms over resources. The byproduct of the conflict--captives--was sold but once the political dispute was settled, the fighting stopped. The other type was (for (Curtin) economic. That is, elites waged wars for the purpose of producing slaves to enrich themselves. You might, too, see Rodney's "History of Upper Guinea Coast." Or, better, Walter Rodney, “Slavery and Other Forms of Social Oppression on the Upper Guinea Coast in the Context of the Atlantic Slave Trade,” Journal of African History 7, 3 (1966), 431-447. There he argues that the wars in the Futa Jallon in the 1700s were waged by self-serving elite.
 
I attach one article by Nathan Nunn. He is interested in the link between slave-trade era conflicts and present turmoil in Africa.
 
On the anthropological side, see Rosalind Shaw, "Memories of the Slave Trade: Ritual and the Historical Imagination in Sierra Leone" (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2002). An interesting book, in which she argues that self-serving elites used witchcraft accusations to prey on others in the era of the Atlantic slave trade.
 
You might also see examples of your thesis in B. Barry's book "Senegambia". For example, he writes, "The slave trade and its corollary, warfare…, were a permanent part of a situation of chronic violence imposed… by the existence of a military aristocracy reigning above peasant populations, potential victims of slave raids. Slave trading became a royal monopoly based on violence. As such, it prevented the peasant population working productively under secure conditions. The result was economic regression. (107)."....

My own thinking is that it is impossible to divide most wars into two categories--political and economic. For most states, the two overlapped. That is, producing and trading slaves became a way to support the state and to perpetuate hierarchies....
 
Cheers,

Walter

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SANDRA T. BARNES --  Ph.D. University of Wisconsin – Professor at University of Pennsylvania

Dear Jonathan Kolkey,

I wish I could provide you with the kinds of detailed information that could help you make your case with respect to West African coastal polities (some call them city-states, some call them small kingdoms, some call them mini-states -- the nomenclature differs a lot). Much of what historians do for this area is inferential. Motives and real evidence for the pursuit of personal or factional gains are exceedingly difficult to ferret out. You could probably find the evidence for a particular time period and a particular place or places with a close reading of all of the primary and secondary literature. It will take a good bit of research. The work of Robin Law is highly reliable and respected. It would be a good place to start.

Regards,

Sandra Barnes 

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