The Golden Apple, Volume 2: Changing the Structure of Civilization, The Evidence of Symtomatic Behavior

This volume looks at the historical context of slavery in the interior of the Bight of Biafra and the resulting diaspora of people that was formed in the Americas. The Bight of Biafra has a sordid yet fascinating history because of the intense connection with slavery, first as one of the main sources of enslaved labor for the Americas and then because of the continuation of forms of slavery into the nineteenth and twentieth century. Enslaved victims figured prominently in trade in the interior of the Bight of Biafra from at least the early eighteenth century and probably earlier still. The scale of enslavement was massive, accounting for the 1.6 million people who were forced to embark on slave ships for the Americas. If the numbers of people who were enslaved but never left the region are also included, than the total demographic displacement through slavery was considerably more than this figure.

The contributors to the volume include scholars from universities in Nigeria, Europe and North America and are based on a conference held in Nigeria in 2000.