Esuk Mba Slave Market

{{Short description|Market located in Akpabuyo, Cross River State, Nigeria}}

Esuk Mba Slave Market was a slave trade center between the 15th and 19th centuries, located in Akpabuyo, Cross River State, Nigeria. It was one of several markets in the region that facilitated the transatlantic slave trade. The market served as a hub where enslaved individuals from the hinterlands were gathered, sold, and transported to coastal ports for export to Europe.

Historical background

The Esuk Mba Slave Market operated during the height of the transatlantic slave trade, from the 15th to the 19th centuries.{{Cite news |title=Routes of Enslaved Peoples: First 22 places join the new UNESCO's Network of Places of History and Memory |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/routes-enslaved-peoples-first-22-places-join-new-unescos-network-places-history-and-memory |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241214181248/https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/routes-enslaved-peoples-first-22-places-join-new-unescos-network-places-history-and-memory |archive-date=2024-12-14 |access-date=2025-03-01 |language=en}} Local traders and intermediaries captured and sold individuals to European merchants in exchange for goods such as firearms, textiles, and brass.{{Cite web |last=Michael |first=Bamidele |date=2020-06-14 |title=3 Historical Slavery Museums Every Nigerian Should Visit |url=https://guardian.ng/life/3-historical-slavery-museums-every-nigerian-should-visit/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News |language=en-US}} The market was strategically located along the Cross River, allowing for easy transportation of captives by canoe or land routes to major slave depots like Calabar, which was one of West Africa's key slave-exporting ports.{{Cite journal |last=Northrup |first=David |date=1979 |title=Nineteenth-Century Patterns of Slavery and Economic Growth in Southeastern Nigeria |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/218000 |journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.2307/218000 |issn=0361-7882}}

Abolition and legacy

Following the British abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in 1807 and the enforcement of anti-slavery laws, the Esuk Mba Slave Market declined. British naval patrols along the West African coast disrupted slave trading networks, leading to the closure of many inland markets.http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/6900/1/25.pdf.pdf{{Citation |last=Röschenthaler |first=Ute |title=The Blood Men of Old Calabar – a Slave Revolt of the Nineteenth Century? |date=2013 |work=African Voices on Slavery and the Slave Trade: Volume 1: The Sources |volume=1 |pages=445–465 |editor-last=Bellagamba |editor-first=Alice |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/african-voices-on-slavery-and-the-slave-trade/blood-men-of-old-calabar-a-slave-revolt-of-the-nineteenth-century/D849865E7A3C2E219835CBCFC6FACE52 |access-date=2025-03-01 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-02255-2 |editor2-last=Klein |editor2-first=Martin A. |editor3-last=Greene |editor3-first=Sandra E.}}{{Cite web |title=Slave History Museum, Calabar {{!}} Slavery and Remembrance |url=https://slaveryandremembrance.org/partners/partner/?id=P0027 |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=slaveryandremembrance.org}}

Today, Esuk Mba has gained attention for continuing a trade by barter system, where goods are exchanged without the use of money. This practice reflects traditional economic systems that predate colonial influence. Local traders engage in barter transactions involving foodstuffs, livestock, and household items. This system has been maintained as part of the cultural heritage of the people of Esuk Mba.{{Cite web |last= |date=2019-05-05 |title=Trade by barter thrives after 63 years |url=https://thesun.ng/trade-by-barter-thrives-after-63-years/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=The Sun Nigeria |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=McPhilips |first=Nwachukwu |date=2012-06-04 |title=Road to Esuk Mba Slave Market… |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/06/road-to-esuk-mba-slave-market/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Vanguard News |language=en-GB}}

References

Category:15th-century establishments in Nigeria

Category:Atlantic slave trade

Category:Slavery in Nigeria