The African Company of Merchants or Company of Merchants Trading to Africa was a British chartered company operating from 1752 to 1821 in the Gold Coast area of modern Ghana, engaged in the Atlantic slave trade.
Background
The company was established by the African Company Act 1750 (24 Geo. 2. c. 49), and in 1752 replaced the Royal African Company which had been established in 1660.[1] Unlike its predecessor, the African Company of Merchants was a regulated company, not a joint stock company: Clause IV of the African Company Act 1750 stated:
The assets of the Royal African Company were transferred to the new company and consisted primarily of nine trading posts or factories: Fort William, Fort James, Fort Sekondi, Fort Winneba, Fort Apollonia, Fort Tantumquery, Fort Metal Cross, Fort Komenda and Cape Coast Castle, the last of which was the administrative centre.[1] This coastal area was dominated by the indigenous Fante people.
African Committee
The company was managed by the African Committee, which was composed of nine committee members, three each from London, Liverpool and Bristol. The constitution stipulated that the committee should be elected annually from the general body of traders from these cities, who paid 40 shillings to be admitted to the company. According to the constitution, these committee members could only hold the post for three years. However, in 1772 a series of pamphlets were published claiming that the Committee members were not acting properly.[3]
The company was funded by an annual grant approved by Parliament, which covered the costs of the London office and the forts. The committee had to report to the Exchequer, the Admiralty and, from 1782, the Secretary at War.[1] John Shoolbred (1740–1802), uncle of another John Shoolbred noted for his advocacy of vaccination, was secretary to the committee for several years.[3]
The imperial government prohibited the African slave trade after 1807, although the company continued to operate for some years afterwards. In keeping with the ethos of liberal reform, administrative authority over the African Company's territory was transferred to Governor
See also
- List of committee members of the African Company of Merchants
- Ashanti–Akim–Akwapim War
- Thomas Edward Bowdich
- List of members of the African Company of Merchants
References
- Robert Adams, Charles Adams. The Narrative of Robert Adams, A Barbary Captive: A Critical Edition Cambridge University Press, 2005^
- An act for extending and improving the trade to Africa retrieved 9 January 2021^
- Benedict Der. Edmund Burke and Africa, 1772-1792 Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, 1970^