Thoughts At The Gold Coast. (Unveiling Africa’s heritage).

Across Africa, from the north of the Sahara to the West African coast sit many relics of the continent’s early interactions with Europe.

In Ghana, two of the country’s most famous spectacles, Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle are truly imposing.

But their ancient walls were once home to one of the most tragic and brutal periods in the history of humanity – the transatlantic slave trade.

The bigger of the two, Elmina Castle, is a white-washed fortress on the coast of the small town of Elmina in what is now modern-day Ghana.

First built in 1482 as a Portuguese trading settlement, the 91,000 sq foot behemoth was one of the principal slave depots in the transatlantic slave trade for more than three centuries.

Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site that attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. Some of them are looking to reconnect with their lost family’s heritage and unwittingly, a lot more.

When the Portuguese first arrived, their main commodity was gold. However, when European powers began to invade Africa for slaves, Elmina became an essential stop on the slave route and a prison of sorts for captives.

 Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina in present-day Elmina, Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast. It was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea, and the oldest European building in existence south of the Sahara.

The sheer magnitude of trade volumes resulted in labor challenges, as navies were unable to convey large quantities of European goods to all markets. The importation of slaves from Benin in exchange for gold and ivory in the early 16th century was the identified solution. However, not long after, the influx of superior gold from Mexico into Europe caused gold prices to plummet rapidly.

The economically distraught Portuguese were easily ousted from Elmina in 1637 by the Dutch.The main Dutch trades were gold and slaves; they reconstructed the castle between 1770 and 1775. Until 1872, the castle served as the focal coordinating point for Dutch Gold Coast activities.

In 1682, the author Jean Barbot described St. George’s Castle as having ‘no equal on all the coast of Guinea’ , with respect to beauty and strength. On 6th April, 1872, the castle was ceded to the British.

The visit to the site gave me a feel of what it was like to be a slave back then and helped me understand the roots and African heritage of countries like Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Learning about Africa before Transatlantic Slavery is important: understanding something of the people affected by the history and their lives before slavery helps put events in context and foster connections with the past. Knowing that Africa is a diverse continent, made up of over 50 countries with people speaking over 1500 different languages, and a rich history – which didn’t start with Transatlantic Slavery – helps humanize a history that can sometimes feel a bit long ago and far away.

Written by

Lukwago Emmanuel King.

Twitter @king_lukwago

Linked In @emmanuel -lukwago