Forts & factories · c. 1700–1849
The Gallinas
The lagoon barracoon complex north of Cape Mount, one of the last great slaving stations of West Africa.
Biography
The Gallinas lagoons offered shallow water no naval cruiser could enter and an intricate network of creeks — ideal conditions for the illegal traffic that continued long after abolition.
The barracoons here were not European forts but factories on African-granted ground, run by resident traders in alliance with local rulers, and supplied from the interior through the Vai and Gola networks.
Historical significance
The concrete mechanism by which the interior was drawn into the Atlantic traffic — and the reason abolition was resisted on this coast.
Timeline
- c. 1700Slaving station established
- 1808+Continues illegally after abolition
- 1849Finally destroyed by the Royal Navy
Related entries
References
- Slave Voyages database.
- Rodney (1970).
Suggested reading
- Jones, Adam (1983). From Slaves to Palm Kernels.