Dahomey and the Ending of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

The Vice-Consulate in the coastal port of Ouidah, in the kingdom of Dahomey, West African (now in the modern Republic of Benin) was established in1851-2 as part of the British government's efforts to suppress the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In particular it was hoped to persuade King Gezo to accept a treaty banning exports of slaves from his dominions. Louis Fraser proved a poor choice as Vice-Consul: he was no linguist, abrasive with naval colleagues and arrogant towards the king and people of Ouidah. However, his shortcomings as a diplomat do not detract from the value of his account as a historical resource. The documents collected here comprise principally the journals of the Vice-Consul, Louis Fraser, together with letters and other reports by him, a selection of the documents referred to in his journals, and letters and reports by other British officials (especially officers of the navy's West African squadron) which refer to his activities. These documents are valuable sources, not only for the history of British policy on the slave trade, but also for the history of Dahomey, which was one of the most important indigenous states in coastal West Africa in the nineteenth century. Fraser was one of a number of British visitors to Dahomey in the mid-nineteenth century, many of whom left published accounts. Fraser's account, in contrast, was never published, and so has remained less known. Its publication now brings it more effectively within the public domain.

ISBN 0197265219   DEWEY edition DC23 ISBN13 9780197265215 (What's this?)   Pages 280 Publisher Oxford University Press   Published in Oxford Imprint Oxford University Press   Series title Fontes Historiae Africanae, New Series: Sources of African History Format Hardback   Height (mm) 234 Publication date 31 May 2012   Width (mm) 156 DEWEY 966.83018092   Academic level Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly

Introduction; JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF VICE-CONSUL FRASER; 1. Journals of Vice-Consul Fraser; 2. The Case of Richard Graves; 3. Additional Dispatches and Reports of Vice-Consul Fraser; APPENDICES; 1. Instructions given to Vice-Consul Fraser; 2. Documents referred to in Vice-Consul Fraser's Journals and Dispatches; 3. Letters from Naval Officers etc. referring to Fraser's Vice-Consulate; ENDNOTES; 1. The Dahomian 'Annual Customs'; 2. Monetary Values

 Be the first to write a customer review