These are strings of pink and white beads. Glass beads were a regular cargo from England to Africa. In the 1770s they made up between 25% and 50% of the value of cargoes shipped by the Liverpool merchant William Davenport to the Cameroons. Davenport also supplied other slave traders and in 1766-70 sold beads worth about £39,000. Many came from Venice, which produced the finest glass beads, but demand in Africa was so great that they were increasingly made in many other parts of Western Europe.
© National Museums Liverpool
Themes
-
Trade and Commerce
Understand how the demand for luxury goods and the Industrial Revolution fuelled the transatlantic slave trade, and how the British…
-
Africa before Transatlantic Enslavement
The history of Africa and African people does not begin nor end with transatlantic slavery. Understand what Africa was like and what the continent lost as a result of the trade.
Background Reading
-
The Lost Libraries Of Timbuktu
Until recently, many commentators on Africa claimed that African societies had no tradition of writing. With the rediscovery of ancient manuscript collections, some dating back to the 8th century AD, this perception is changing.
-
Introduction To Various African Kingdoms