Patrick Manning's estimates for slave exports from the Bight of Benin by ethnic origins (Slavery, Colonialism and Economic Growth in Dahomey, 1640-1960).
In order to compare our own crude estimates for Hausa and "Central Sudan" populations imported into Saint Domingue during the 18th century, we found it useful to check the work of scholars for estimates and context on the total volume of slave exports for the 18th century. In addition, some scholars have written plausible historical analyses of the scale of the slave trade, the ethnicities exported from the Slave Coast during the century, and the conditions that led to captives from areas to the north being fed into the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
The most useful scholar here is Patrick Manning, whose Slavery, Colonialism, and Economic Growth in. Dahomey, 1640-1960 includes a number of useful tables. While the estimates for the 18th century may not be accurate for the total Central Sudan share of captives exported, the numbers are actually plausible and would fit our own estimates. According to Manning, about 10,500 "Hausa" were exported from the Bight of Benin during the 18th century. The vast majority appear to have been exported in the second half of the 1700s, too. This would include multiple decades when the share of captives purchased by French slavers were significant, particularly in the period from 1760-1790. While Manning's data indicates the French, over the entire 18th century, purchased 259,300 captives from the Bight of Benin, David Geggus's work shows that a total of about 157,748 captives were brought to Saint Domingue on French ships. Specifically, for the period covering the years 1750-1800, a total of around 123,540 Africans from the Bight of Benin were brought to the Caribbean on French ships. According to Geggus, Saint Domingue absorbed over half of the total number of imported slaves from the Bight of Benin, 265,800 (note that Geggus's calculation differs from that of Manning). It stands to reason that the majority of the Central Sudan captives exported from the Bight of Benin by French ships in the 18th century ended up in Saint Domingue.
To be more precise would require calculating with more precision the share of the Bight of Benin captives brought to Saint Domingue versus other French colonies in the Antilles from 1750-1790. Furthermore, one must determine, somehow, the proportion of Hausa captives who were purchased by the French instead of English, Brazilian or other traders during this period. However, overall, Saint-Domingue seems to have absorbed about 59%. of the total French slave imports of the 18th century. This would suggest that perhaps up to 59% of the estimated 10,500 Hausa captives purchased by the French from the Bight of Benin, such as ports like Porto-Novo, ended up in Saint-Domingue. Checking the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database for slave ships from the Bight of Benin who brought captives to Saint Domingue between 1750 and 1800, however, gives a figure of 105,900. If true, which may be an understatement due to the French including parts of the Slave Coast in the "Gold Coast," this would represent the vast majority of the 123,540 Africans from the Bight of Benin imported in the Antilles during the period 1750-1800 by French ships. Thus, it is very likely that, however many Central Sudan captives were sold from the Bight of Benin in the 18th century, the dominant share of those carried by French slave ships were brought to Haiti (for the French Caribbean.
Using the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database at slavevoyages.org made it quick and easy to get estimates for the total numbers of slaves imported from the Bight of Benin in the period 1750-1794.
However, using the Trans-Atlantic Database to see the total number of slave exports from the Bight of Benin from 1750-1800, one can arrive at different numbers. According to the database, 444,855 captives were disembarked from the Bight of Benin during this period, carried by ships of all nations. If the Saint-Domingue share during this period was only 105,900, then it is somewhat plausible that the French share of the estimated Hausa captives was possibly at least 2,500, though likely somewhat higher. Of course, one would have to fact check this with some better estimates for the decades with the most Hausa captives. According to Manning's estimates, the most Hausa captives were imported in the years 1781-1800, of which Haiti's imports would have ceased in the early 1790s. Nonetheless, the French share during those two decades was substantial, purchasing a little under half of the slaves sold from the Bight of Benin in the 1780s. The French share in the 1790s, naturally, was smaller, but still purchasing a little under 10,000 captives. If broadly accurate, then the French slave traders likely acquired more than 2500 Hausa, perhaps significantly more.
This aforementioned number is plausible and not too far from our estimate. Ultimately, if Manning's figures for the Hausa captives sold during the 18th century is correct, then perhaps a minimum of around 2500 Hausa were landed in Haiti. Using these rough figures, we can calculate how many Hausa captives were imported at the principal ports of the colony during the years 1750-1794. If Le Cap received about 36,810 African captives from the Bight of Benin during this period, one might estimate that about 881 Hausa were imported, presuming the share of Hausa within the imported population was comparable to the share of the total slave imports from the Bight of Benin to Le Cap versus the entire colony. The other major ports received the following:
1. Les Cayes: 88
2. Leogane: 315
3. Petit Goave: 7
4. Port-au-Prince: 753
5. St. Marc: 412
6. Port de Paix: 15
7. Unspecified Saint Domingue ports: 49
Naturally, the above estimates are making a huge assumption and are probably very inaccurate for Port de Paix and Petit Goave. Nonetheless, it gives one an idea of the possible distribution of Hausa and Central Sudan captives in Saint Domingue's provinces. Obviously, the major areas to receive this influx of Central Sudan slaves were the north (Le Cap), the Artibonite region (St. Marc), and the West (Port-au-Prince, Leogane). Smaller numbers may have arrived in Les Cayes and some undoubtedly arrived via other ports. In addition, English smugglers and the contraband trade may have introduced more at ports which lack data for slave imports from the Bight of Benin. Nonetheless, it was clearly concentrated in the North, Artibonite and West provinces of the colony that one was most likely to encounter the Central Sudan population.
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