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Tanzania
Short History of Slavery
The slave trade flourished on the East Coast of Africa during the 19th century. The main players were Arabs and Europeans. Slaves were taken from the hinterland and travelled in caravans, covering thousands of kilometres in the woodlands to the receiving port of Bagamoyo. From Bagamoyo the slaves were shipped in dhows to the final destination, the slave market in Zanzibar.
Christ Church, the Anglican Cathedral in Zanzibar Mkunazini, was built on the exact site of the slave market. Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury officiated at a Eucharist at Mkunazini during the Anglican Archbishops’ Conference in Tanzania. This was a moving and memorable occasion.
From Zanzibar the slaves were shipped overseas to different countries of the world. However, as the years passed by, some missionaries from Europe began to question the concept of slavery. Among them was Dr David Livingstone who travelled along the slave trade route from Bagamoyo to Tabora, finally to Kigoma his workstation.
When Dr Livingstone died, his porters Tuss,and Chuma carried his body, dried in smoke, through the same route from Kigoma, Tabora, to Bagamoyo Port.
There was a vision among the missionaries that the trade was wrong and unfair. They realised that trading fellow human beings as general merchandise was immoral and unacceptable. Therefore they began to convince their governments to seriously consider the trade and declare slavery as illegal. Fortunately governments in Europe responded positively to the request and made a declaration to abolish the trade. The declaration was met with resistance, for it was opposed by slave masters who viewed the trade as a source of cheap labour for their empires and plantations.
Nevertheless, European governments took the declaration seriously and started taking steps to abolish the trade. It was not an easy task, as opposition grew from the masters and lords who saw the end of their fortunes. However, congratulations must go to the British, French and German governments who deployed warships across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to patrol and stop the culprits in the high seas. Whenever they spotted a dhow carrying slaves, they forced the masters to set them free. In spite of all the odds, finally, in 1890, legal forms of slavery were abolished.
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