'No elders were present': Commoners and private ownership in Asante, 1807-96

Journal of African History

Volumn 37, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 1-30

  Austin, Gareth ^a  

^a LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0039459319     PISSN: 00218537     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0021853700034770     Document Type: Article

References (283)

1. Though anticipated, in brief, in Ivor Wilks, 'Ashanti government', in Daryll Forde and P. M. Kaberry (eds.), West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century (London, 1967), 216-17, 230, 232.
2. Ivor Wilks, 'Asante policy towards the Hausa trade in the nineteenth century', in C. Meillassoux (ed.), The Development of Indigenous Trade and Markets in West Africa (London, 1971), 130; Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century: The Structure and Evolution of a Political Order (London, 1975), 178.
3. Ivor Wilks, 'Asante policy towards the Hausa trade in the nineteenth century', in C. Meillassoux (ed.), The Development of Indigenous Trade and Markets in West Africa (London, 1971), 130; Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century: The Structure and Evolution of a Political Order (London, 1975), 178.
4. Wilks, 'Ashanti government', 216-17.
5. Wilks, Asante, 435-6.
6. Ivor Wilks, 'The Golden Stool and the Elephant Tail: an essay on wealth in Asante', Research in Economic Anthropology, 11 (1979), 28 (reprinted with 'minor revisions' in Wilks, Forests of Gold [Athens, Ohio, 1993]).
7. Ivor Wilks, 'The Golden Stool and the Elephant Tail: an essay on wealth in Asante', Research in Economic Anthropology, 11 (1979), 28 (reprinted with 'minor revisions' in Wilks, Forests of Gold [Athens, Ohio, 1993]).
8. Wilks, Asante, 435-6, and 'Golden Stool', 28.
9. Wilks, Asante, 435-6, and 'Golden Stool', 28.
10. Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 28.
11. Ibid. 29; Wilks, Asante, 697.
12. Ibid. 29; Wilks, Asante, 697.
13. Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 29.
14. Ibid. 28-9; Wilks, Asante, 444.
15. Ibid. 28-9; Wilks, Asante, 444.
16. Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 29.
17. Ibid. 28-9.
18. Wilks, Asante, 692-3, 696; 'Golden Stool', 23-9.
19. Wilks, Asante, 692-3, 696; 'Golden Stool', 23-9.
20. Wilks, Asante, 685, 689.
21. Ibid. 444, 721 n. (cf. Wilks, 'Ashanti government', 230), citing T. Edward Bowdich, A Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee (London, 1819; reprinted 1966), 257.
22. Ibid. 444, 721 n. (cf. Wilks, 'Ashanti government', 230), citing T. Edward Bowdich, A Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee (London, 1819; reprinted 1966), 257.
23. Ibid. 444, 721 n. (cf. Wilks, 'Ashanti government', 230), citing T. Edward Bowdich, A Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee (London, 1819; reprinted 1966), 257.
24. Wilks, Asante, 697-9; 'Golden Stool', 19-21.
25. Wilks, Asante, 697-9; 'Golden Stool', 19-21.
26. Kwame Arhin, 'Trade, accumulation and the state in Asante in the nineteenth century', Africa, LX (1990), 529.
27. Marx, Capital, vol. I (London, 1965), 235, quoted by Emmanuel Terray, 'Long-distance exchange and the formation of the state: the case of the Abron kingdom of Gyaman', Economy and Society, III (1974), 334.
28. Marx, Capital, vol. I (London, 1965), 235, quoted by Emmanuel Terray, 'Long-distance exchange and the formation of the state: the case of the Abron kingdom of Gyaman', Economy and Society, III (1974), 334.
29. Arhin, 'Trade, accumulation and the state', 529.
30. Kwame Arhin, 'Some Asante views of colonial role: as seen in the controversy relating to death duties', Trans. Hist. Soc. Ghana, XV (1974), 63-84.
31. Terray, 'Long-distance exchange', 315-45; Terray, 'Gold production, slave labor, and state intervention in precolonial Akan societies: a reply to Raymond Dumett', Research in Economic Anthropology, V (1983), 95-129.
32. Terray, 'Long-distance exchange', 315-45; Terray, 'Gold production, slave labor, and state intervention in precolonial Akan societies: a reply to Raymond Dumett', Research in Economic Anthropology, V (1983), 95-129.
33. Terray, 'Long-distance exchange', 329-31.
34. D. J. E. Maier, 'Military acquisition of slaves in Asante', in D. Henige and T. C. McCaskie (eds.), West African Economic and Social History: Studies in Memory of Marion Johnson (Madison, 1990), 119-32.
35. Ibid. 122, 128.
36. Agnes A. Aidoo, 'Political crisis and social change in the Asante kingdom, 1867-1901' (Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Los Angeles, 1975), Part 1, 107; T. C. McCaskie, 'Office, land and subjects in the history of the Manwere fekuo of Kumase: an essay in the political economy of the Asante state', J. Afr. Hist., XXI (1980), 192. McCaskie was referring primarily to the use of the state's judicial and patronage powers as a means of manipulating the distribution of authority and wealth, notably between the central government and the provincial chiefs, a different issue from that discussed in the present essay. See, further, T. C. McCaskie, 'Ahyiamu: "a place of meeting": an essay on process and event in the history of the Asante state', J. Afr. Hist., XXV (1984), 169-88.
37. Agnes A. Aidoo, 'Political crisis and social change in the Asante kingdom, 1867-1901' (Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Los Angeles, 1975), Part 1, 107; T. C. McCaskie, 'Office, land and subjects in the history of the Manwere fekuo of Kumase: an essay in the political economy of the Asante state', J. Afr. Hist., XXI (1980), 192. McCaskie was referring primarily to the use of the state's judicial and patronage powers as a means of manipulating the distribution of authority and wealth, notably between the central government and the provincial chiefs, a different issue from that discussed in the present essay. See, further, T. C. McCaskie, 'Ahyiamu: "a place of meeting": an essay on process and event in the history of the Asante state', J. Afr. Hist., XXV (1984), 169-88.
38. Agnes A. Aidoo, 'Political crisis and social change in the Asante kingdom, 1867-1901' (Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Los Angeles, 1975), Part 1, 107; T. C. McCaskie, 'Office, land and subjects in the history of the Manwere fekuo of Kumase: an essay in the political economy of the Asante state', J. Afr. Hist., XXI (1980), 192. McCaskie was referring primarily to the use of the state's judicial and patronage powers as a means of manipulating the distribution of authority and wealth, notably between the central government and the provincial chiefs, a different issue from that discussed in the present essay. See, further, T. C. McCaskie, 'Ahyiamu: "a place of meeting": an essay on process and event in the history of the Asante state', J. Afr. Hist., XXV (1984), 169-88.
39. Wilks, Asante, 191, 680-1.
40. Ibid. 700; Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 8-9, 15-16. See also T. C. McCaskie, 'Accumulation, wealth and belief in Asante, Part I: The nineteenth century', Africa, LIII (1983), 33.
41. Ibid. 700; Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 8-9, 15-16. See also T. C. McCaskie, 'Accumulation, wealth and belief in Asante, Part I: The nineteenth century', Africa, LIII (1983), 33.
42. Ibid. 700; Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 8-9, 15-16. See also T. C. McCaskie, 'Accumulation, wealth and belief in Asante, Part I: The nineteenth century', Africa, LIII (1983), 33.
43. Wilks, Asante, 700, cf. 720.
44. Ivor Wilks, 'Dissidence in Asante politics: two tracts from the late nineteenth century', in I. Abu-Lughod (ed.), African Themes (Evanston, Illinois, 1975), 52 (reprinted in Wilks, Forests, with some changes); Asante, 701; 'Golden Stool', 22-3.
45. Ivor Wilks, 'Dissidence in Asante politics: two tracts from the late nineteenth century', in I. Abu-Lughod (ed.), African Themes (Evanston, Illinois, 1975), 52 (reprinted in Wilks, Forests, with some changes); Asante, 701; 'Golden Stool', 22-3.
46. Ivor Wilks, 'Dissidence in Asante politics: two tracts from the late nineteenth century', in I. Abu-Lughod (ed.), African Themes (Evanston, Illinois, 1975), 52 (reprinted in Wilks, Forests, with some changes); Asante, 701; 'Golden Stool', 22-3.
47. Ivor Wilks, 'Dissidence in Asante politics: two tracts from the late nineteenth century', in I. Abu-Lughod (ed.), African Themes (Evanston, Illinois, 1975), 52 (reprinted in Wilks, Forests, with some changes); Asante, 701; 'Golden Stool', 22-3.
48. Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 30; Asante, 701-5.
49. Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 30; Asante, 701-5.
50. Thomas J. Lewin, Asante Before the British: The Prempean Years, 1875-1900 (Lawrence, Kansas, 1978), 53-4, 57-8, 77-8, 98, 116, 160, 186-7, 214-5; Agnes A. Aidoo, 'Order and conflict in the Asante empire: a study in interest group relations', African Studies Review, XX (1977), 24-7.
51. Thomas J. Lewin, Asante Before the British: The Prempean Years, 1875-1900 (Lawrence, Kansas, 1978), 53-4, 57-8, 77-8, 98, 116, 160, 186-7, 214-5; Agnes A. Aidoo, 'Order and conflict in the Asante empire: a study in interest group relations', African Studies Review, XX (1977), 24-7.
52. Wilks, 'Dissidence'; see, further, Arhin, 'Some Asante views'.
53. Wilks, 'Dissidence'; see, further, Arhin, 'Some Asante views'.
54. Quoted in Wilks, 'Dissidence', 59.
55. Joseph Raymond LaTorre, 'Wealth surpasses everything: an economic history of Asante, 1750-1874' (Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 1978), 262-5.
56. Ibid. 117. His definition of 'upper stratum' is presented on pp. 93-5.
57. Kwame Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining at Manso-Nkwanta', Research Review (Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana), VI, 3 (1970), 104-6; Arhin, 'Gold-mining and trading among the Ashanti of Ghana', Journal des Africanistes, XLVIII (1978), 91.
58. Kwame Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining at Manso-Nkwanta', Research Review (Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana), VI, 3 (1970), 104-6; Arhin, 'Gold-mining and trading among the Ashanti of Ghana', Journal des Africanistes, XLVIII (1978), 91.
59. The points stated in the last three sentences are discussed at length in a book I am writing under the title of 'Labor, land and capital in rural Asante, 1807-1956'. For an earlier statement see Gareth Austin, 'Rural capitalism and the growth of cocoa-farming in south Ashanti, to 1914' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham, 1984), chs. 3 and 5.
60. Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 7.
61. Raymond E. Dumett, 'Precolonial gold mining and the state in the Akan region: with a critique of the Terray hypothesis', Research in Economic Anthropology, II (1983), 37-68. See also Dumett, 'Traditional slavery in the Akan region in the nineteenth century: sources, issues, and interpretations', in Henige and McCaskie (eds.), West African Economic and Social History, 17-18. The quotation is from the latter, p. 17.
62. Raymond E. Dumett, 'Precolonial gold mining and the state in the Akan region: with a critique of the Terray hypothesis', Research in Economic Anthropology, II (1983), 37-68. See also Dumett, 'Traditional slavery in the Akan region in the nineteenth century: sources, issues, and interpretations', in Henige and McCaskie (eds.), West African Economic and Social History, 17-18. The quotation is from the latter, p. 17.
63. Terray, 'Gold production', 118-19; A. Norman Klein, 'Inequality in Asante: a study of the forms and meanings of slavery and social servitude in pre- and early colonial Akan-Asante society and culture ' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Michigan, 1990), vol. 1, 99, 127.
64. Terray, 'Gold production', 118-19; A. Norman Klein, 'Inequality in Asante: a study of the forms and meanings of slavery and social servitude in pre- and early colonial Akan-Asante society and culture ' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Michigan, 1990), vol. 1, 99, 127.
65. Karl Polanyi with Abraham Rotstein, Dahomey and the Slave Trade: An Analysis of an Archaic Economy (Seattle, 1966). This analysis has been rigorously rebutted by later research: see especially Robin Law, 'Royal monopoly and private enterprise in the Atlantic trade: the case of Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XVIII (1977), 555-77; Law, 'Posthumous questions for Karl Polanyi: price inflation in pre-colonial Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XXXIII (1992), 387-420; Marion Johnson, 'Review article: Polanyi, Peukert and the political economy of Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XXI (1980), 395-8.
66. Karl Polanyi with Abraham Rotstein, Dahomey and the Slave Trade: An Analysis of an Archaic Economy (Seattle, 1966). This analysis has been rigorously rebutted by later research: see especially Robin Law, 'Royal monopoly and private enterprise in the Atlantic trade: the case of Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XVIII (1977), 555-77; Law, 'Posthumous questions for Karl Polanyi: price inflation in pre-colonial Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XXXIII (1992), 387-420; Marion Johnson, 'Review article: Polanyi, Peukert and the political economy of Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XXI (1980), 395-8.
67. Karl Polanyi with Abraham Rotstein, Dahomey and the Slave Trade: An Analysis of an Archaic Economy (Seattle, 1966). This analysis has been rigorously rebutted by later research: see especially Robin Law, 'Royal monopoly and private enterprise in the Atlantic trade: the case of Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XVIII (1977), 555-77; Law, 'Posthumous questions for Karl Polanyi: price inflation in pre-colonial Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XXXIII (1992), 387-420; Marion Johnson, 'Review article: Polanyi, Peukert and the political economy of Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XXI (1980), 395-8.
68. Karl Polanyi with Abraham Rotstein, Dahomey and the Slave Trade: An Analysis of an Archaic Economy (Seattle, 1966). This analysis has been rigorously rebutted by later research: see especially Robin Law, 'Royal monopoly and private enterprise in the Atlantic trade: the case of Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XVIII (1977), 555-77; Law, 'Posthumous questions for Karl Polanyi: price inflation in pre-colonial Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XXXIII (1992), 387-420; Marion Johnson, 'Review article: Polanyi, Peukert and the political economy of Dahomey', J. Afr. Hist., XXI (1980), 395-8.
69. The quotation is from Wilks, 'Ashanti government', 232; the parallel is hinted at in ibid. 234, and made explicit in Wilks, Asante, 720-3.
70. The quotation is from Wilks, 'Ashanti government', 232; the parallel is hinted at in ibid. 234, and made explicit in Wilks, Asante, 720-3.
71. The quotation is from Wilks, 'Ashanti government', 232; the parallel is hinted at in ibid. 234, and made explicit in Wilks, Asante, 720-3.
72. A. G. Hopkins, An Economic History of West Africa (London, 1973), 125-7, 142-7. For a survey of the general debate see Robin Law, 'The historiography of the commercial transition in nineteenth-century West Africa', in T. Falola (ed.), African Historiography: Essays in Honour of Jacob Ade Ajayi (London, 1993), 91-115; and, further, Law (ed.), From Slave Trade to 'Legitimate' Commerce.
73. A. G. Hopkins, An Economic History of West Africa (London, 1973), 125-7, 142-7. For a survey of the general debate see Robin Law, 'The historiography of the commercial transition in nineteenth-century West Africa', in T. Falola (ed.), African Historiography: Essays in Honour of Jacob Ade Ajayi (London, 1993), 91-115; and, further, Law (ed.), From Slave Trade to 'Legitimate' Commerce.
74. A. G. Hopkins, An Economic History of West Africa (London, 1973), 125-7, 142-7. For a survey of the general debate see Robin Law, 'The historiography of the commercial transition in nineteenth-century West Africa', in T. Falola (ed.), African Historiography: Essays in Honour of Jacob Ade Ajayi (London, 1993), 91-115; and, further, Law (ed.), From Slave Trade to 'Legitimate' Commerce.
75. Hopkins, Economic History, 144.
76. Wilks, Asante: the quotations are from pp. 437 and 689 respectively, cf. p. 444.
77. John Lonsdale, 'States and social processes in Africa', African Studies Review, XXIV (1981), 180.
78. Allen F. Isaacman, 'Peasants and rural social protest in Africa', in F. Cooper et al., Confronting Historical Paradigms: Peasants, Labor, and the Capitalist World System in Africa and Latin America (Madison, Wisconsin, 1993), 205-317 (reprinted from African Studies Review, XXX (1990), 1-120).
79. Allen F. Isaacman, 'Peasants and rural social protest in Africa', in F. Cooper et al., Confronting Historical Paradigms: Peasants, Labor, and the Capitalist World System in Africa and Latin America (Madison, Wisconsin, 1993), 205-317 (reprinted from African Studies Review, XXX (1990), 1-120).
80. Cf. Wilks, Asante, 47-8.
81. For a survey of the debate (started by Wilks) about the significance of these creations of 'service stools' for the nature of political authority in the Asante kingdom see Larry W. Yarak, Asante and the Dutch 1744-1873 (Oxford, 1990), 17-27.
82. The meaning is thus broader than that of 'tradeables': which economists define as goods that can be traded in foreign as well as domestic markets.
83. British Parliamentary Papers, C.4477, Further Correspondence Regarding the Affairs of the Gold Coast (London, 1885), p. 91: Captain Brandon Kirby's report on his mission to Kumase, Accra, 15 Apr. 1884.
84. British Parliamentary Papers, C.4477, Further Correspondence Regarding the Affairs of the Gold Coast (London, 1885), p. 91: Captain Brandon Kirby's report on his mission to Kumase, Accra, 15 Apr. 1884.
85. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 181; Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 2-7; McCaskie, 'Accumulation, Part 1', 28-9.
86. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 181; Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 2-7; McCaskie, 'Accumulation, Part 1', 28-9.
87. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 181; Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 2-7; McCaskie, 'Accumulation, Part 1', 28-9.
88. Bowdich, Mission, 324; K. Y. Daaku (compiler and ed.), Oral Traditions of Adanse (Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, 1969), 111.
89. Bowdich, Mission, 324; K. Y. Daaku (compiler and ed.), Oral Traditions of Adanse (Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, 1969), 111.
90. Joseph Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London, 1824; reprinted 1966), 53; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 60.
91. Joseph Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London, 1824; reprinted 1966), 53; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 60.
92. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 209.
93. For example, see T. C. McCaskie and J. E. Wiafe, 'A contemporary account in Twi of the Akompi Sa of 1863: a document with commentary', Asantesem, XI (1979), 74.
94. G. Austin Fieldnotes: interview with Nana Owusu Sekyere, chief spokesman (okyeame) of Kokofu, and Opanyin Kwesi Kaabi in Kokofu, 12 May 1980.
95. Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 108.
96. Bowdich, Mission, 28, 30; Dupuis, Journal, 59, 60; W. Hutton, A Voyage to Africa (London, 1821), 196; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 302, 306-7.
97. Bowdich, Mission, 28, 30; Dupuis, Journal, 59, 60; W. Hutton, A Voyage to Africa (London, 1821), 196; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 302, 306-7.
98. Bowdich, Mission, 28, 30; Dupuis, Journal, 59, 60; W. Hutton, A Voyage to Africa (London, 1821), 196; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 302, 306-7.
99. Bowdich, Mission, 28, 30; Dupuis, Journal, 59, 60; W. Hutton, A Voyage to Africa (London, 1821), 196; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 302, 306-7.
100. Bowdich, Mission, 28; Dupuis, Journal, 59; Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti (Oxford, 1927), 301; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 46, 295.
101. Bowdich, Mission, 28; Dupuis, Journal, 59; Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti (Oxford, 1927), 301; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 46, 295.
102. Bowdich, Mission, 28; Dupuis, Journal, 59; Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti (Oxford, 1927), 301; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 46, 295.
103. Bowdich, Mission, 28; Dupuis, Journal, 59; Rattray, Religion and Art in Ashanti (Oxford, 1927), 301; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 46, 295.
104. Bowdich, Mission, 28; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 23.
105. Bowdich, Mission, 28; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 23.
106. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 172, 209.
107. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 103; Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 12.
108. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 103; Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 12.
109. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 170; for a general reference to Asante production of gold 'trinkets, chains, breast-plates, and ornaments' see Dupuis, Journal, lviii.
110. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 170; for a general reference to Asante production of gold 'trinkets, chains, breast-plates, and ornaments' see Dupuis, Journal, lviii.
111. Timothy Garrard, Akan Weights and the Gold Trade (London, 1980), 118.
112. Rattray, Religion and Art, 271, 273.
113. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 139, 151, 170.
114. Bowdich, Mission, 28.
115. Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 106.
116. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 373, quoting Opanyin Abubekr of Fomena.
117. For example, see R. S. Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution (Oxford, 1929), 154-7.
118. For the ambiguity see Bowdich, Mission, 324.
119. As noted above, Wilks and Terray argued this, and Dumett accepted the 'likelihood' that part - a 'relatively small' part - of gold output was produced by the state ('Gold mining and the state', 58).
120. Garrard, Akan Weights, 117.
121. Kwame Arhin, 'Aspects of the Ashanti northern trade in the nineteenth century', Africa, LX (1970), 365-71.
122. Raymond Dumett, 'The rubber trade of the Gold Coast and Asante in the nineteenth century: African innovation and market responsiveness', J. Afr. Hist., XII (1971), 94-5; Kwame Arhin, 'The economic and social significance of rubber production and exchange on the Gold and Ivory Coasts, 1880-1900', Cah. Ét. Afr., LXXVII-LXXVIII (1980), 56-7, 71.
123. Raymond Dumett, 'The rubber trade of the Gold Coast and Asante in the nineteenth century: African innovation and market responsiveness', J. Afr. Hist., XII (1971), 94-5; Kwame Arhin, 'The economic and social significance of rubber production and exchange on the Gold and Ivory Coasts, 1880-1900', Cah. Ét. Afr., LXXVII-LXXVIII (1980), 56-7, 71.
124. Terray, 'Gold production', 119.
125. Garrard, Akan Weights.
126. Bowdich, Mission, 29, 30; Hutton, Voyage, 196; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 23.
127. Bowdich, Mission, 29, 30; Hutton, Voyage, 196; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 23.
128. Bowdich, Mission, 29, 30; Hutton, Voyage, 196; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 23.
129. McCaskie and Wiafe, 'A contemporary account', 74.
130. The first point is clear, the second is the impression conveyed by the specialist studies, though neither makes the point explicitly: see Arhin, 'Market settlements', 143-4, and Paul E. Lovejoy, Caravans of Kola: The Hausa Kola Trade 1700-1900 (Zaria, 1980), 21-2.
131. The first point is clear, the second is the impression conveyed by the specialist studies, though neither makes the point explicitly: see Arhin, 'Market settlements', 143-4, and Paul E. Lovejoy, Caravans of Kola: The Hausa Kola Trade 1700-1900 (Zaria, 1980), 21-2.
132. Dumett, 'Precolonial gold mining', 44-7; compare Terray, 'Long-distance exchange', 327-8, and 'Gold production', 101-6.
133. Dumett, 'Precolonial gold mining', 44-7; compare Terray, 'Long-distance exchange', 327-8, and 'Gold production', 101-6.
134. Dumett, 'Precolonial gold mining', 44-7; compare Terray, 'Long-distance exchange', 327-8, and 'Gold production', 101-6.
135. Arhin, 'Market settlements', 136-7, 143-5; Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 107-9; Arhin, 'Gold-mining and trading', 92-3; Dumett, 'Traditional slavery', 17-18; Dumett, 'Rubber trade', 94-5; Arhin, 'Economic and social significance', 52-4, 61.
136. Arhin, 'Market settlements', 136-7, 143-5; Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 107-9; Arhin, 'Gold-mining and trading', 92-3; Dumett, 'Traditional slavery', 17-18; Dumett, 'Rubber trade', 94-5; Arhin, 'Economic and social significance', 52-4, 61.
137. Arhin, 'Market settlements', 136-7, 143-5; Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 107-9; Arhin, 'Gold-mining and trading', 92-3; Dumett, 'Traditional slavery', 17-18; Dumett, 'Rubber trade', 94-5; Arhin, 'Economic and social significance', 52-4, 61.
138. Arhin, 'Market settlements', 136-7, 143-5; Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 107-9; Arhin, 'Gold-mining and trading', 92-3; Dumett, 'Traditional slavery', 17-18; Dumett, 'Rubber trade', 94-5; Arhin, 'Economic and social significance', 52-4, 61.
139. Arhin, 'Market settlements', 136-7, 143-5; Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 107-9; Arhin, 'Gold-mining and trading', 92-3; Dumett, 'Traditional slavery', 17-18; Dumett, 'Rubber trade', 94-5; Arhin, 'Economic and social significance', 52-4, 61.
140. Arhin, 'Market settlements', 136-7, 143-5; Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 107-9; Arhin, 'Gold-mining and trading', 92-3; Dumett, 'Traditional slavery', 17-18; Dumett, 'Rubber trade', 94-5; Arhin, 'Economic and social significance', 52-4, 61.
141. For a discussion of the trends in levels of various trades which are summarized in this paragraph, including such figures as are available, see Austin, 'Between abolition and jihad'.
142. Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 28, 29; cf. Wilks, Asante, 441-2.
143. Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 28, 29; cf. Wilks, Asante, 441-2.
144. The Western Echo, 1, 10 (24 Feb. 1868), 8, reporting the views of T. B. Freeman. Quotation exactly as it appears in Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 29.
145. The Western Echo, 1, 10 (24 Feb. 1868), 8, reporting the views of T. B. Freeman. Quotation exactly as it appears in Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 29.
146. Wilks, Asante, 101.
147. Bowdich, Mission, 322-5. For later in the century see James Wilson Brown, 'Kumasi, 1896-1923: urban Africa during the early colonial period' (Ph.D thesis, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1972), 32-3.
148. Bowdich, Mission, 322-5. For later in the century see James Wilson Brown, 'Kumasi, 1896-1923: urban Africa during the early colonial period' (Ph.D thesis, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1972), 32-3.
149. Wilks, Asante, 690.
150. G. Austin Fieldnotes: interview with Nana Owusu Sekyere, chief spokesman (Okyeame) of Kokofu, and Opanyin Kwesi Kaabi in Kokofu, 12 May 1980; interview, with elders of Aheuren, July 1987; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 23, 45-6.
151. La Torre, 'Wealth', 262-3.
152. Dupuis, Journal, 167.
153. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 262.
154. Dupuis, Journal, ix-x.
155. Ibid. 124.
156. Bowdich, Mission, 257.
157. Wilks, Asante, 437, 444, 685.
158. Asantehene Osaey Tutu Tutu Bonso (Osei Bonsu) to Danish governor, 17 May 1819, quoted and translated in R. A. Kea, On preferential trade terms: a letter from Asantehene Osei Bonsu to the Danish governor (1819)', Asantesεm, X (1979), 55.
159. Letter from Governor Svanekiaer, 15 Oct. 1819, in State Archives, Copenhagen, quoted and translated in Kea, 'On preferential trade terms', 56.
160. Wilks, Asante, 689.
161. Kea, 'On preferential trade terms', 56-7.
162. Wilks, Asante, 689.
163. Rattray, Ashanti Law, 109-11. That Sapon of Mampon was Rattray's informant is explicit in Rattray's notes on the interview. See Royal Anthropological Institute, manuscript collection: R. S. Rattray papers, MS.107: 2, pp. 1770, 1774-8. This collection is housed in the Museum of Mankind in London; cited with permission of the Director of the RAI.
164. Sapon, quoted in Rattray, Ashanti Law, in. So far no-one appears to have found evidence of this in the European archives, as Larry Yarak has confirmed after extensive work of his own on Dutch and British sources. As Yarak comments, if pre-emption was exercised in the southern trade it seems surprising that it was not reported in this voluminous documentation (personal communication). In principle it seems likely that the Asante government would have claimed a right of pre-emption in the southern trade, as did the king of Dahomey. See Law, 'Royal monopoly and private enterprise in the Atlantic trade', 561, 568, citing Forbes's account of his 1850 visit.
165. Kwame Y. Daaku, 'Akan trade in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries', in Meillassoux (ed.), Development of Indigenous Trade, especially 172-5.
166. See LaTorre, 'Wealth', 409-13, and Yarak, Asante and the Dutch, especially 106-11.
167. See LaTorre, 'Wealth', 409-13, and Yarak, Asante and the Dutch, especially 106-11.
168. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 414.
169. Cf. Ibid. 408. At the time of writing Larry Yarak is engaged in further work on the Dutch 'recruitment' in Asante, which, among other things, may test this conclusion.
170. J. H. Casely Hayford, Gold Coast Native Institutions (London, 1903), 28.
171. Bowdich, Mission, 257.
172. Gareth Austin, 'Indigenous credit institutions in West Africa, c. 1750-c. 1960', in G. Austin and K. Sugihara (eds.), Local Suppliers of Credit in the Third World, 1750-7960 (Basingstoke, 1993), 108.
173. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 194.
174. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 107.
175. G. A. Robertson, Notes on Africa (London, 1819), 178-81.
176. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 358.
177. Arhin, 'Trade, accumulation and the state', 528.
178. Ibid. 528-9; and see above.
179. Wilks, Asante, 442.
180. Ibid. 7-12.
181. Bowdich, Mission, 317.
182. Gareth Austin, 'Human pawning in Asante c. 1820-c. 1950: markets and coercion, gender and cocoa', in T. Falola and P. Lovejoy (eds.), Pawnship in Africa (Boulder, 1994), 126, 133-4.
183. Kwasi Boaten, 'Trade among the Asante of Ghana up to the end of the 18th Century', Research Review, VII (1970), 36. Cf. K. Poku, 'Traditional roles and people of slave origin in modern Ashanti - a few impressions', Ghana Journal of Sociology, V (1969), 37. T. B. Freeman implicitly accepted that commoners owned slaves when he questioned whether they, like chiefs, were allowed to sacrifice them at funerals (School of Oriental and African Studies Library, University of London: Methodist Missionary Society Archive, Papers of Thomas Birch Freeman, manuscript of unpublished book, n.d. but c. 1860, 38, 38b). Also, Bowdich referred to 'the middling orders' as slave-owners (Bowdich, Mission, 323). See, further, Arhin, 'Aspects of the Ashanti northern Trade', 365.
184. Kwasi Boaten, 'Trade among the Asante of Ghana up to the end of the 18th Century', Research Review, VII (1970), 36. Cf. K. Poku, 'Traditional roles and people of slave origin in modern Ashanti - a few impressions', Ghana Journal of Sociology, V (1969), 37. T. B. Freeman implicitly accepted that commoners owned slaves when he questioned whether they, like chiefs, were allowed to sacrifice them at funerals (School of Oriental and African Studies Library, University of London: Methodist Missionary Society Archive, Papers of Thomas Birch Freeman, manuscript of unpublished book, n.d. but c. 1860, 38, 38b). Also, Bowdich referred to 'the middling orders' as slave-owners (Bowdich, Mission, 323). See, further, Arhin, 'Aspects of the Ashanti northern Trade', 365.
185. Kwasi Boaten, 'Trade among the Asante of Ghana up to the end of the 18th Century', Research Review, VII (1970), 36. Cf. K. Poku, 'Traditional roles and people of slave origin in modern Ashanti - a few impressions', Ghana Journal of Sociology, V (1969), 37. T. B. Freeman implicitly accepted that commoners owned slaves when he questioned whether they, like chiefs, were allowed to sacrifice them at funerals (School of Oriental and African Studies Library, University of London: Methodist Missionary Society Archive, Papers of Thomas Birch Freeman, manuscript of unpublished book, n.d. but c. 1860, 38, 38b). Also, Bowdich referred to 'the middling orders' as slave-owners (Bowdich, Mission, 323). See, further, Arhin, 'Aspects of the Ashanti northern Trade', 365.
186. Austin, 'Between abolition and jihad'.
187. Klein, 'Inequality in Asante', especially vol. 1, chs. 4 and 5.
188. For an admittedly late example, in 1896, see G. C. Musgrave, To Kumassi with Scott (London, 1896), 117.
189. See especially Marion Johnson, 'The slaves of Salaga', J. Afr. Hist., XXVII (1986), 349.
190. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 38, 173, 303; Arhin, 'Market settlements', 144-5; Kwame Arhin, West African Traders in Ghana in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1979), 59; Aidoo, 'Political crisis', Part 2, 608.
191. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 38, 173, 303; Arhin, 'Market settlements', 144-5; Kwame Arhin, West African Traders in Ghana in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1979), 59; Aidoo, 'Political crisis', Part 2, 608.
192. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 38, 173, 303; Arhin, 'Market settlements', 144-5; Kwame Arhin, West African Traders in Ghana in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1979), 59; Aidoo, 'Political crisis', Part 2, 608.
193. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 38, 173, 303; Arhin, 'Market settlements', 144-5; Kwame Arhin, West African Traders in Ghana in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1979), 59; Aidoo, 'Political crisis', Part 2, 608.
194. Bowdich, Mission, 332-3.
195. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 407, quoting H. Pel, Aanteekeningen gehouden op eene Reis van S. George d'Elmina naar Coomassie (Leiden, ?1842), 24.
196. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 407, quoting H. Pel, Aanteekeningen gehouden op eene Reis van S. George d'Elmina naar Coomassie (Leiden, ?1842), 24.
197. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 414.
198. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 45.
199. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 408, citing an interview with the then Amoafohene in 1975.
200. Arhin, West African Traders, 43-4, 46-7.
201. African Studies Centre Library, University of Cambridge: Meyer Fortes papers, 8.39, Notebook entitled 'Asokore Bima II', recording testimony of Kwasi Frompong (sic), n.d. but c. 1946.
202. Arhin, 'Market settlements', 144-5.
203. Richard Austin Freeman, Travels andLife in Ashanti and Jaman (London, 1967: 1st ed. 1898), 489.
204. Dumett, 'Precolonial gold mining', 45-6;
205. 'Traditional slavery', 17-18.
206. Garrard, Akan Weights, 145-8; cf. Philip D. Curtin's analysis, for a Malian case, in 'The lure of Bambuk gold', J. Afr. Hist., XIV (1973), 623-31.
207. Garrard, Akan Weights, 145-8; cf. Philip D. Curtin's analysis, for a Malian case, in 'The lure of Bambuk gold', J. Afr. Hist., XIV (1973), 623-31.
208. Rattray papers, MS 106, p. 2033, quoted by Terray, 'Gold production', 117. Cf. A. W. Cardinall, The Gold Coast, 1931 (Accra, n.d.), 78.
209. Rattray papers, MS 106, p. 2033, quoted by Terray, 'Gold production', 117. Cf. A. W. Cardinall, The Gold Coast, 1931 (Accra, n.d.), 78.
210. Cf. Law, 'Posthumous questions for Karl Polanyi', 419.
211. Fortes papers, 8.2, Supplementary Notes on Marriage and Divorce Questionnaire.
212. Elizabeth Eldredge, A South African Kingdom: The Pursuit of Security in Nineteenth-century Lesotho (Cambridge, 1993), 124.
213. Arhin, 'Trade and accumulation', 529; West African Traders, 9-10. 144 Austin, 'Rural capitalism', 143-7, 175-6. I will elaborate in the manuscript I am currently writing.
214. Arhin, 'Trade and accumulation', 529; West African Traders, 9-10. 144 Austin, 'Rural capitalism', 143-7, 175-6. I will elaborate in the manuscript I am currently writing.
215. Arhin, 'Trade and accumulation', 529; West African Traders, 9-10. 144 Austin, 'Rural capitalism', 143-7, 175-6. I will elaborate in the manuscript I am currently writing.
216. Wilks, Asante, 692-3.
217. Ibid. 697.
218. See, for example, Rattray, Ashanti Law, 111; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 45-6, 210, 304-5.
219. See, for example, Rattray, Ashanti Law, 111; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 45-6, 210, 304-5.
220. Wilks, Asante, 420-1.
221. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 249; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse.
222. LaTorre, 'Wealth', 249; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse.
223. Arhin, 'Some Asante views', 63-4; LaTorre, 'Wealth', 243.
224. Arhin, 'Some Asante views', 63-4; LaTorre, 'Wealth', 243.
225. Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 20. Earlier, Wilks had previously seen ayibuadie as a payment by certain important chiefs on succession to their stools, in addition to or instead of, awunyadie (Asante, 698).
226. Peredwan: an Asante gold weight conventionally valued at £8 sterling during the nineteenth century. For a refinement of this valuation see LaTorre, 'Wealth', 207.
227. Bowdich, Mission, 254: the passage quoted by Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 20.
228. Bowdich, Mission, 254: the passage quoted by Wilks, 'Golden Stool', 20.
229. Bowdich, Mission, 254.
230. Arhin, 'Some Asante views', 63-4; Rattray, Ashanti, 226; Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution, 140.
231. Arhin, 'Some Asante views', 63-4; Rattray, Ashanti, 226; Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution, 140.
232. Arhin, 'Some Asante views', 63-4; Rattray, Ashanti, 226; Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution, 140.
233. Wilks, Asante, 697.
234. Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 107; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 69, 217, 261.
235. Arhin, 'Succession and gold mining', 107; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse, 69, 217, 261.
236. Rattray, Ashanti Law, 107-8, 140, 161-2, 186, 211-12, 229-30, 248-9.
237. Arhin, 'Some Asante views', 63.
238. G. A. Henty, The March to Coomassie (2nd ed., London, 1874), 360-1.
239. Dupuis, Journal, 54.
240. A point of dispute between Bowdich, Mission, 27, and Dupuis, Journal, 54.
241. A point of dispute between Bowdich, Mission, 27, and Dupuis, Journal, 54.
242. Wilks, Asante, 713-15; compare with the criticism by LaTorre of that part of this evidence relating to former state traders in 'Wealth', 264-5.
243. Wilks, Asante, 713-15; compare with the criticism by LaTorre of that part of this evidence relating to former state traders in 'Wealth', 264-5.
244. As LaTorre pointed out: 'Wealth', 264.
245. Wilks, 'Dissidence', 51. A similar analysis of the economic origins and social composition of the opposition was put forward by Aidoo, 'Order', 19-33, though by comparison with Wilks she emphasized what she saw as the ultimate limits of their ambitions and political strength: reformist rather than revolutionary, and weak compared to 'the entrenched hereditary chiefs' (26-7, 31).
246. Wilks, 'Dissidence', 51. A similar analysis of the economic origins and social composition of the opposition was put forward by Aidoo, 'Order', 19-33, though by comparison with Wilks she emphasized what she saw as the ultimate limits of their ambitions and political strength: reformist rather than revolutionary, and weak compared to 'the entrenched hereditary chiefs' (26-7, 31).
247. Wilks, 'Dissidence', 51.
248. Latorre, 'Wealth', 264.
249. Wilks, 'Dissidence', 52. Perhaps in recognition of the absence of evidence, in the 1993 edition of the essay the sentence has been revised and 'the bourgeoisie' deleted (Forests of Gold, 73).
250. Wilks, Asante, 561-2: compare 470.
251. Ibid. 717.
252. Arhin, 'Some Asante views'. More generally on rubber trading, exile and pride in wealth see Brown, 'Kumasi, 1896-1923', 197-9.
253. Arhin, 'Some Asante views'. More generally on rubber trading, exile and pride in wealth see Brown, 'Kumasi, 1896-1923', 197-9.
254. Wilks, Asante, 535-8.
255. Ibid. 535, 710.
256. As has been emphasized by Aidoo, 'Order', 26; and Kwame Arhin, 'Rank and class among the Asante and Fante in the nineteenth century', Africa, LIII (1983), 3-4.
257. As has been emphasized by Aidoo, 'Order', 26; and Kwame Arhin, 'Rank and class among the Asante and Fante in the nineteenth century', Africa, LIII (1983), 3-4.
258. I.e. chained him to a heavy piece of wood.
259. National Archives of Ghana, Ghana: ADM 11/1/773 'Bekwai Native Affairs': item 115, 'Ancient History of Bekwai Division', written down by R.[?] W. Judd, District Commissioner, 4 June 1928.
260. McCaskie, 'Ahyiamu'.
261. 3, 'Death Duties', Cobina Nketia and twelve others to Chief Commissioner of Ashanti, Kumasi, 14 Feb. 1908, reprinted in Arhin, 'Some Asante views', 70. See also K. Sraha and others to Chief Commissioner, Kumasi, 11 Oct. 1930, in the same file, reprinted ibid., 77. McCaskie rightly notes that we cannot be certain of the veracity of the statement ('Ahyiamu', 187). But for some confirmation see Rattray, Ashanti Law, 135.
262. For opposition to such chiefs see Kirby's report, 91-2.
263. Nketia and others, 14 Feb. 1908.
264. 'The Ashantis' to governor, Cape Coast, 15 Dec. 1894, quoted in Wilks, 'Dissidence', 59.
265. Ibid. 59 (restated in Forests, 180).
266. Ibid. 59 (restated in Forests, 180).
267. See the letters in Arhin, 'Some Asante views'.
268. Ibid. 82; Arhin, 'Note on the Asante akonkofo', 28.
269. Ibid. 82; Arhin, 'Note on the Asante akonkofo', 28.
270. Austin, 'Between abolition and jihad'.
271. Hopkins, Economic History, 124.
272. Dumett, 'Rubber trade', 94-6 (the quotation is from p. 96); Arhin, 'Aspects of the Ashanti northern trade', 369, 371-2; Arhin, 'Economic and social significance'.
273. Dumett, 'Rubber trade', 94-6 (the quotation is from p. 96); Arhin, 'Aspects of the Ashanti northern trade', 369, 371-2; Arhin, 'Economic and social significance'.
274. Dumett, 'Rubber trade', 94-6 (the quotation is from p. 96); Arhin, 'Aspects of the Ashanti northern trade', 369, 371-2; Arhin, 'Economic and social significance'.
275. Gareth Austin, 'Capitalists and chiefs in the cocoa hold-ups in south Asante, 1927-1938', Int. J. Afr. Hist. Studies, XXI (1988), 63-95.
276. Hopkins, Economic History, 143-4.
277. Austin, 'Between abolition and jihad'.
278. To use Hopkins' phrase: Economic History, 139.
279. On the NLM see Jean Marie Allman, The Quills of the Porcupine: Asante Nationalism in an Emergent Ghana (Madison, Wisconsin, 1993). See also Richard Rathbone, '"The youngmen and the porcupine"', and Allman's reply, in J. Afr. Hist., XXXII (1991), 333-8.
280. On the NLM see Jean Marie Allman, The Quills of the Porcupine: Asante Nationalism in an Emergent Ghana (Madison, Wisconsin, 1993). See also Richard Rathbone, '"The youngmen and the porcupine"', and Allman's reply, in J. Afr. Hist., XXXII (1991), 333-8.
281. Austin, 'Capitalists and chiefs'.
282. Austin, 'Rural capitalism'; 'Class struggle and rural capitalism in Asante history', paper presented to the annual meeting of the African Studies Association, Chicago, 1988. It has been argued here that the impression, given by most of the existing literature, of near-total state dominance over the economic sources of wealth in the Asante economy during 1807-83 is mistaken. Admittedly, there was a large and often thriving state sector in the export-import trade; the state had a share in the production of marketable goods; chiefs had the largest concentrations of slaves and slave-descendants; and inheritance taxes gave the state a powerful instrument for the appropriation of privately generated wealth. But the accumulation of evidence now suggests that the private sector, too, was a major force in the extra-subsistence economy: an economy which included a lively domestic trade, which has been given too little scholarly attention. It appears that it was possible for ordinary commoners to acquire wealth through both external and internal trade, and through production for both export and domestic markets. The widespread acquisition of slaves by commoners, for incorporation in their households, was both a measure of financial achievement and a critical means for enhancing it in future. Death duties amounted normally to a form of progressive taxation rather than to wholesale expropriation. It is suggested that the private sector is most plausibly seen as comprising a relatively small number of producers and traders prosperous enough to be considered as members of the asikafoinverted C sign, the wealthy, plus a mass of people supplying export markets on a small unit scale. It seems reasonable to assume that the strong position of commoners within the post-Atlantic slave trade economy of Asante, and their accumulation of slaves and other forms of wealth, involved a relative decline, at least compared to the second half of the eighteenth century, in the chiefs' share of foreign trade and general wealth. Such a shift, and in particular the emergence of small producers and traders as a major element in the export economy, provides support for Hopkins' interpretation of the nineteenth-century commercial transition in West Africa generally. One qualification to Hopkins' analysis is that, while it allowed for the large-scale application of slave labour within the 'economy of legitimate commerce' by former exporters of slaves, it did not explicitly envisage the widespread use of small numbers of slaves and pawns by small producers and traders. The shift in the distribution of income had political consequences. The essay argues that it is necessary to revise the argument, put forward by Wilks, about the emergence of a 'middle-class' element in the political conflicts of the last years of Asante independence. In particular, the proposition that such a movement developed primarily amongst the members of a monopolistic state trading company is rejected. In any case, it was a mass of commoners, rather than an 'organized middle class', that took the decisive role in the uprising that overthrew Mensa Bonsu in 1883. It is suggested that this was the political climax of the 'adaptive challenge' presented by the ending of slave exports: a movement of export-producing commoners, poor and rich alike, against the centralizing monarchy's new and punitive measures to raise revenue. The commoners sought not to overthrow chieftaincy but to use its authority to amplify their protests. Finally, it is suggested that the 1883 rising was the start of a pattern of rebellion by export-suppliers, in alliance with chiefs, against what they saw as organized extortion: a pattern that was to recur in the cocoa hold-ups of the 19308 and the National Liberation Movement of the mid-19508.
283. Austin, 'Rural capitalism'; 'Class struggle and rural capitalism in Asante history', paper presented to the annual meeting of the African Studies Association, Chicago, 1988. It has been argued here that the impression, given by most of the existing literature, of near-total state dominance over the economic sources of wealth in the Asante economy during 1807-83 is mistaken. Admittedly, there was a large and often thriving state sector in the export-import trade; the state had a share in the production of marketable goods; chiefs had the largest concentrations of slaves and slave-descendants; and inheritance taxes gave the state a powerful instrument for the appropriation of privately generated wealth. But the accumulation of evidence now suggests that the private sector, too, was a major force in the extra-subsistence economy: an economy which included a lively domestic trade, which has been given too little scholarly attention. It appears that it was possible for ordinary commoners to acquire wealth through both external and internal trade, and through production for both export and domestic markets. The widespread acquisition of slaves by commoners, for incorporation in their households, was both a measure of financial achievement and a critical means for enhancing it in future. Death duties amounted normally to a form of progressive taxation rather than to wholesale expropriation. It is suggested that the private sector is most plausibly seen as comprising a relatively small number of producers and traders prosperous enough to be considered as members of the asikafoinverted C sign, the wealthy, plus a mass of people supplying export markets on a small unit scale. It seems reasonable to assume that the strong position of commoners within the post-Atlantic slave trade economy of Asante, and their accumulation of slaves and other forms of wealth, involved a relative decline, at least compared to the second half of the eighteenth century, in the chiefs' share of foreign trade and general wealth. Such a shift, and in particular the emergence of small producers and traders as a major element in the export economy, provides support for Hopkins' interpretation of the nineteenth-century commercial transition in West Africa generally. One qualification to Hopkins' analysis is that, while it allowed for the large-scale application of slave labour within the 'economy of