Rights:
Slaves in pre-colonial Africa enjoyed certain rights and privileges.
They had the right to be fed, clothed, housed and granted the
privileges of children while staying with their owners. They had the
right to marry. They could marry among themselves or marry free people.
Customary rites were performed to give such marriages legal backing.
Among the Sena of Mozambique when a female slave married into another
lineage, the Patron received the bride wealth. Among the Wolof and the
Serer of Senegambia, the head of the lineage was obliged not only to
feed and clothe his slaves but also to find spouses for his slaves.
Intermarriage affected the status of Tuareg slaves. The offspring of
a marriage between a free man and a slave woman inherited the status of
his/her mother, but in practice children of free men and slave women
were free.
Slaves enjoyed the privilege of an independent income. The Akan of
Ghana say "Akoa nim som a, ofa ne ti ade di" (a loyal and faithful
slave or servant has debts tohis/her owner remitted). Slaves who
farmed for the their owners were also given plots of land on which to
farm and enjoy its proceeds. Slaves could inherit property as well
as hold property of their own. The Akan say Akoa a onim som di ne
wura ade ( slaveor servant who knows how to serve succeeds to
his/her owner's property). Slave owners did not have absolute power
over their slaves, only the king or chief had power of life and death
over the slave. Indeed the king or chief had power over every citizen
of the state, including the slave owners. Hence the Akan saying Ohene
nkoa na owo sikan ( It isonly the king/chief who wields the
knife/sword). In Ghana for example anyone who maltreated the slave to
the point of death had to face the full rigors of the law. In Akyemand
Asante for example, such people were asked to pay heavy fines. The
Damagaram ofNiger and Nigeria state that the slave owner had absolute
rights over his/her slaves and yet the Sultan was the only one who
could authorize the infliction of death.
The slave was entitled to legal protection. There were also avenues
for social, political and economic mobility. Many African societies
asserted that slavery was for life and yet they granted slaves the
privilege of manumission or redemption. The Sena of Mozambique, the
Kerebe of Tanzania, the Mende of Sierra Leone and the Kongo of central
Africa for example made provision for the manumission or redemption of
slaves (Miers & Kopytoff, Slavery, p. 111, 129, 271, 424-425; Derrick,
Africa, p. 95). All theethnic groups in Ghana made provision for the
manumission of slaves. The slave in Ghana gained freedom through formal
and informal means. The informal means was over a period of time. It
was buttressed by the famous saying attributed to Asantehene Osei Tutu
Obi nkyere obi ase (No one should disclose the origins of another
person). The formal means was through monetary payment.
Treatment:
The treatment of slaves in pre-colonial African society depended on
the owner, the family and the household in which the slave resided. On
the whole oral and written records portray a picture of humane
treatment.
Observers from outside Africa expressed surprise at the humane
treatment of slaves. Freeman, Klose, Dr. Madden, Beecham, Crowther and
some British Commissioners were a few of such observers. Freeman
remarked that slavery in Africa was very different from that of Europe,
North America and the West Indies. Klose stated that the slave
in Africa was much better off than his/her counterpart in Europe or
America. In the 1840's, Dr. Madden described the treatment of slaves as
mild. District Commissioner Crowther who worked in Ghana at the
turn of the 20th century in his evidence before the Committee of West
African Lands in London on 7th February, 1913, described slaves in
Ghana as more like adopted children.
The treatment of slaves in Ghana was regulated by customary rules and
norms. In the event of his/her being cruelly treated by his/her owner,
a slave in Ghana could have recourse to the following remedies. First,
he/she could wait for an opportune time to runaway. Second, he/she
could seek protection by throwing himself/herself on the mercy of a god
at the traditional grove or on an ancestral spirit in the Royal
Mausoleum. Third, he/she could swear an oath on another person to
adopt him/her, in which case that person paid compensation to the
owner.
Dr. Akosua Perbi - Manchester College - USA
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Sub-Saharan Africa:
Slavery
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