When the Portuguese arrived in Benin, Nigeria, in the fifteenth century, they quickly started trading brass and copper for pepper, cloth, ivory and slaves. … Millions were made in Europe, along with brass and copper pots and pans, and imported into Africa for trade.
Did Portugal colonize West Africa?
Portuguese expansion into Africa began with the desire of King John I to gain access to the gold-producing areas of West Africa. The trans-Saharan trade routes between Songhay and the North African traders provided Europe with gold coins used to trade spices, silks and other luxuries from India.
Who were the first Europeans in Nigeria?
The First Wave of Europeans in Nigeria
The Portuguese were the first to do so, establishing trade with the Benin Kingdom, Lagos, and other regions along the coast. Portuguese dominance of these trade routes was overpowered in the 16th century by the British, French and Dutch, as the slave trade became very important.
When did the Portuguese come to Africa?
The most momentous discovery in western Africa, however, came in 1471, when Portuguese captains first reached the coast of modern Ghana between the mouths of the Ankobra and Volta rivers.
What effects did the Portuguese have in West Africa?
What effects did Portuguese trade routes have on West Africa? Portuguese trade routes strengthened West African relations with Europe. In what ways did Renaissance ideas and attitudes inspire and motivate European explorers?
Who sold African slaves to the Portuguese?
Benin’s conflict over slavery is particularly intense. For over 200 years, powerful kings in what is now the country of Benin captured and sold slaves to Portuguese, French and British merchants.
Did Spain ever own Portugal?
Portugal was officially an autonomous state, but in actuality, the country was in a personal union with the Spanish crown from 1580 to 1640.
Is Nigeria truly the creation of her European colonialists?
Like so many modern African states, Nigeria is the creation of European imperialism. Its very name – after the great Niger River, the country’s dominating physical feature – was suggested in the 1890s by British journalist Flora Shaw, who later became the wife of colonial governor Frederick Lugard.
Why was Lagos annexed?
Lagos Colony was a British colonial possession centred on the port of Lagos in what is now southern Nigeria. … Lagos was annexed on 6 August 1861 under the threat of force by Commander Beddingfield of HMS Prometheus who was accompanied by the Acting British Consul, William McCoskry.
When was Lagos annexed?
Lagos was bombarded by the British in 1851, annexed on 6 August 1861 and declared a colony on 5 March 1862.
Why did Portuguese empire fall?
By the end of the 20th century these colonial empires were history. The rise of Soviet influence in the working class, and the cost of the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974), led to the collapse of the Portuguese Second Republic (Estado Novo) in 1974.
Who colonized Africa first?
North Africa experienced colonisation from Europe and Western Asia in the early historical period, particularly Greeks and Phoenicians. Under Egypt’s Pharaoh Amasis (570–526 BC) a Greek mercantile colony was established at Naucratis, some 50 miles from the later Alexandria.
Who Found Africa?
Portuguese explorer Prince Henry, known as the Navigator, was the first European to methodically explore Africa and the oceanic route to the Indies.
How did the Portuguese change African slavery?
Henrique began selling African slaves in Lagos in 1444. In 1455, Pope Nicholas V gave Portugal the rights to continue the slave trade in West Africa, under the provision that they convert all people who are enslaved. The Portuguese soon expanded their trade along the whole west coast of Africa.
What did the Portuguese most want to control?
The aim of Portugal in the Indian Ocean was to ensure the monopoly of the spice trade. Taking advantage of the rivalries that pitted Hindus against Muslims, the Portuguese established several forts and trading posts between 1500 and 1510.
What did the Portuguese use slaves for?
Both groups of islands served as entrepôts for Portuguese commerce across vast regions of western Africa. Though São Tomé became an important sugar producer, the island also collected slaves for trans-shipment to Elmina, many of whom would be sold to local merchants and used to transport gold from the interior.