OLD Calabar 1600-1891:
Date
1973
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
London(Ely House): Oxford university press,
Abstract
Introduction: The cross river basin and the Efik before the arrival of the Europeans; The slave trade at old Calabar; the slave trade and Efik social history; The slave trade and Efik political history; The palm-oil trade at old Calabar; The oil trade and Efik social history; The oil trade and Efik political history.
Description
This is an analysis of a traditional West African society as it evolved under the influence of the economic demands of the West, from the arrival of the first Europeans to the establishment of British rule. It presents Old Calabar and its relationship with the West not as a static model, but as a dynamic one. As such it attempts to overcome the limitations of the short-period analyses of anthropology, which do not consider how change takes place within the system. It also tries to overcome the weaknesses of historical studies over long periods, which so often fail to understand the workings of the society they describe and the economic forces that tend to determine the changes they chart. In so far as Old Calabar is considered, this is intended to be a contribution to African history. But in demonstrating how a traditional society was drawn into the international economy, it is intended to be a contribution to international economic history.