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British Abolition and its Impact on Slave Prices Along the Atlantic Coast of Africa, 1783–1850

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Paul E. Lovejoy  and
David Richardson
Paul E. Lovejoy
Affiliation:
Professor of History, Department of History, York University, North York, Ontario, Canada, M3J 1P3.
David Richardson
Affiliation:
Reader in Economic History, Department of Economic and Social History, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, U.K.
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Abstract

This article challenges the widely held view that slave prices in Africa fell substantially and permanently after Britain abolished its slave trade in 1807. Examination of slave-price data shows that, when allowance is made for movements in prices of trade goods bartered for slaves, real slave prices fell sharply between 1807 and 1820 but that the fall was confined to West Africa. In West Central Africa prices remained steady before 1820. Thereafter, prices rose strongly in both areas, and between 1830 and 1850 prices were generally close to the levels reached between 1783 and 1807, the height of the Atlantic slave trade.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , March 1995 , pp. 98 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1995

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