The legal portugueses lave trade from Benguela, Angola, 1730-1828: a quantitative re-appraisal

Abstract

This paper re-examines the volume of the Angolan slave from Benguela during 1730-1828 by drawing upon a large series of export figures, many of which were hitherto unknown. Utilizing a hypercritical method, a comparison of the new annual data against the numbers found in previously published time series shows that the overall volume of the traffic was only slightly greater than that already documented. Nevertheless, the new yearly totals are appreciable enough to alter our knowledge of the Benguela slave trade: they relate almost exclusively to the 1700s and early 1800s, a period which saw the commerce reach a far higher peak and then a more protracted decline than was previously believe.