The “Ransom” of Slaves
- Trade
At the time of settlement and for two centuries, trade in Cape Verde was based on the "ransom" of slaves in the region focusing on the “rivers of Guinea” (Senegal, Bezeguiche, Recife, Portudale, Joala, Barbacins, Gambia, Casamansa, S. Domingos, Grande, Bijagós and Nuno), and in fact included the geographic area that now includes Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, the República of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
In the period following discovery in 1460, as was the custom in lands such as these islands, where no means of subsistence were installed, cattle (goats, sheep and cows) were brought before the donataries (António da Noli e Diogo Afonso) started settlement from 1462.
In a royal charter of 1466, Don Afonso V concedes to the residents of Cape Verde (at this time confined to Ribeira Grande) the exclusive right to the business of fitting ships, specifically for the route to the “rivers of Guinea”, where trade would then consist of “ransoming” slaves, who were described at the time as “items” in a mercantile transaction. However this right extended to other complementary businesses, particularly the import of rice and maize, which were basic foods for the slaves, as well as ivory (in 1514, 29 hundredweight were imported, including pieces and artifacts such as necklaces, salt cellars, spoons), ambar, beans, couscous, baskets, tagara, platters, skins, cloth, civet cat… however gold, from the River Cantor, was reserved for royal contracts. In 1472 Don Afonso V issued a second royal charter, in which he protected the business of his tenant, Fernão Gomes, by limiting the moradores-armadores (resident ship-fitters) of Santiago to Guinea, excluding Sierra Leone, the south, apart from Arguim (an island of Mauritania), the north, and restricting the purchase of slaves to those required for the island of Santiago itself, excluding export. Don Manuel would also try to secure the right to trade in Guinea, but the records confirm that these attempts to curtail the trading capacity of the residents of Santiago had little practical effect, and in fact they show that these continued to grow throughout the 16th Century. These documents were probably later repealed by other documents that remain unknown.
The privilege of fitting ships, conceded to the residents (free men), legally excluded functionaries of the public administration, and was intended to make it more attractive for settlers called by Noli and Afonso to Santiago. This was indeed the case, and due to the profits generated by the slave trade, the armadores (ship fitters) were able to recoup their shipbuilding investment quickly, even where this was considerable. The nobles who occupied public positions ignored the royal proclamations, and used the authority of their functions arbitrarily. They built their own slave ships and set up support businesses in Ribeira Grande, competing openly with the commercial class, which was limited by law to the residents.
At the time of settlement and for two centuries, trade in Cape Verde was based on the "ransom" of slaves in the region focusing on the “rivers of Guinea” (Senegal, Bezeguiche, Recife, Portudale, Joala, Barbacins, Gambia, Casamansa, S. Domingos, Grande, Bijagós and Nuno), and in fact included the geographic area that now includes Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, the República of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
In the period following discovery in 1460, as was the custom in lands such as these islands, where no means of subsistence were installed, cattle (goats, sheep and cows) were brought before the donataries (António da Noli e Diogo Afonso) started settlement from 1462.
In a royal charter of 1466, Don Afonso V concedes to the residents of Cape Verde (at this time confined to Ribeira Grande) the exclusive right to the business of fitting ships, specifically for the route to the “rivers of Guinea”, where trade would then consist of “ransoming” slaves, who were described at the time as “items” in a mercantile transaction. However this right extended to other complementary businesses, particularly the import of rice and maize, which were basic foods for the slaves, as well as ivory (in 1514, 29 hundredweight were imported, including pieces and artifacts such as necklaces, salt cellars, spoons), ambar, beans, couscous, baskets, tagara, platters, skins, cloth, civet cat… however gold, from the River Cantor, was reserved for royal contracts. In 1472 Don Afonso V issued a second royal charter, in which he protected the business of his tenant, Fernão Gomes, by limiting the moradores-armadores (resident ship-fitters) of Santiago to Guinea, excluding Sierra Leone, the south, apart from Arguim (an island of Mauritania), the north, and restricting the purchase of slaves to those required for the island of Santiago itself, excluding export. Don Manuel would also try to secure the right to trade in Guinea, but the records confirm that these attempts to curtail the trading capacity of the residents of Santiago had little practical effect, and in fact they show that these continued to grow throughout the 16th Century. These documents were probably later repealed by other documents that remain unknown.
The privilege of fitting ships, conceded to the residents (free men), legally excluded functionaries of the public administration, and was intended to make it more attractive for settlers called by Noli and Afonso to Santiago. This was indeed the case, and due to the profits generated by the slave trade, the armadores (ship fitters) were able to recoup their shipbuilding investment quickly, even where this was considerable. The nobles who occupied public positions ignored the royal proclamations, and used the authority of their functions arbitrarily. They built their own slave ships and set up support businesses in Ribeira Grande, competing openly with the commercial class, which was limited by law to the residents.
