5fish
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Yes, Nordic nation were involved in the Atlantic Slave trade like other Western European nations of the 17th, 18th and 19th century. There was a Swedish and Danish Gold Coast like the Prussians and others. The Norwegians were involved as well usually with the Danes. It seems greed and bigotry can trump humanity...
Here a list of the Gold Coast in Africa...
Danish Gold Coast...
The Danish Gold Coast (Danish: Danske Guldkyst or Dansk Guinea) comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was colonized by the Dano-Norwegian fleet, first under indirect rule by the Danish West India Company (a chartered company), later as a crown colony of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway. The five Danish Gold Coast Territorial Settlements and forts of the Kingdom of Denmark were sold to the United Kingdom and were incorporated into the British Gold Coast in 1850.
Swedish Gold Coast...
The Swedish Gold Coast (Swedish: Svenska Guldkusten) was a Swedish colony founded in 1650 by Hendrik Carloff on the Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana in Africa. It lasted until April 1663 when the whole Swedish Gold Coast was seized by Denmark, and integrated in the Danish Gold Coast.
Notes...
Between the late seventeenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth century, Scandinavians participated in the Atlantic slave trade like other Europeans. This trade led to the founding of Danish and Swedish establishments in Africa and the West Indies. However, the implication of Scandinavians in the slave trade was not limited to the tens of thousands of African deportees. It had other effects, especially by offering outlets for national products, or by stimulating trade between their colonies on a West Indian scale.
snip,,,
Denmark developed regular Atlantic navigation. The Danes engaged in the triangular trade, with a total of approximately 260 voyages, and deported 100,000-110,000 Africans between 1660 and 1806, or approximately 1% of the total Atlantic slave trade. The average number of Africans taken on by Danish ships increased tenfold between 1660-1733 (236/year) and 1793-1806 (2,577/year). Throughout the eighteenth century, periods of Danish neutrality during French-British conflicts were prosperous times for the slave trade. In fact, the percentage of the slave population continued to grow in Danish colonies. In Sainte Croix, the development of sugar production stimulated demand for slaves, who numbered approximately 25,000 during the 1780s, or over 90% of the island’s population, a level similar to that of other sugar-producing islands in the West Indies.
Note...
The lack of research into colonialism in Sweden makes it difficult to quantify the country’s involvement, but Thomasson says a recent PhD thesis says there were around 12-13,000 African captives transported on Swedish ships. “It’s a minor number compared to the millions when you look at the US and so on, but it indicates Swedish ambitions.”
Note...
Norwegians made up around 10 percent of the total crew serving on slave ships at any one time, wrote Svensli in newspaper Aftenposten recently. Hyrum Svensli’s PhD project explores the slave trade rivalry between Denmark-Norway, England and the Netherlands in Ghana in the 1600s and 1700s. That’s when Norwegians took part in what’s been called the “triangle of trade” on Norwegian and Danish ships like the Fredensborg, found wrecked off Arendal in 1974. Norwegians staffed slave forts on the African coast, sailed on the slave ships and carried goods produced by slaves back to Norway and the rest of Europe. The “triangle” went mostly from Norway and Denmark to Ghana, then to Caribbean ports such as St Croix and St Thomas and back to Scandinavia.
snip...
Those Norwegians who served at the slave posts on the Gold Coast came from various backgrounds such as soldiers, gunsmiths, artisans and even clergymen. They shared one thing in common in that they were for the most part “incompetent and reckless adventurers,” Hyrum Svensli told Aftenposten.
Here a list of the Gold Coast in Africa...
- Bonos (Bono state)
- Fantes (Mankessim Kingdom)
- Ashantis (Ashanti Empire)
- Dagombas (Kingdom of Dagbon)
- Danes (Danish Gold Coast)
- Dutch (Dutch Gold Coast)
- English-British (British Gold Coast)
- Ewes (British Togoland)
- Germans (Brandenburger Gold Coast, Prussian Gold Coast)
- Portuguese (Portuguese Gold Coast)
- Swedes (Swedish Gold Coast)
- Gold Coastians—Ghanaians (Ghana)
Danish Gold Coast...
Danish Gold Coast - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The Danish Gold Coast (Danish: Danske Guldkyst or Dansk Guinea) comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was colonized by the Dano-Norwegian fleet, first under indirect rule by the Danish West India Company (a chartered company), later as a crown colony of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway. The five Danish Gold Coast Territorial Settlements and forts of the Kingdom of Denmark were sold to the United Kingdom and were incorporated into the British Gold Coast in 1850.
Swedish Gold Coast...
Swedish Gold Coast - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The Swedish Gold Coast (Swedish: Svenska Guldkusten) was a Swedish colony founded in 1650 by Hendrik Carloff on the Gulf of Guinea in present-day Ghana in Africa. It lasted until April 1663 when the whole Swedish Gold Coast was seized by Denmark, and integrated in the Danish Gold Coast.
Notes...
Between the late seventeenth century and the first decades of the nineteenth century, Scandinavians participated in the Atlantic slave trade like other Europeans. This trade led to the founding of Danish and Swedish establishments in Africa and the West Indies. However, the implication of Scandinavians in the slave trade was not limited to the tens of thousands of African deportees. It had other effects, especially by offering outlets for national products, or by stimulating trade between their colonies on a West Indian scale.
snip,,,
Denmark developed regular Atlantic navigation. The Danes engaged in the triangular trade, with a total of approximately 260 voyages, and deported 100,000-110,000 Africans between 1660 and 1806, or approximately 1% of the total Atlantic slave trade. The average number of Africans taken on by Danish ships increased tenfold between 1660-1733 (236/year) and 1793-1806 (2,577/year). Throughout the eighteenth century, periods of Danish neutrality during French-British conflicts were prosperous times for the slave trade. In fact, the percentage of the slave population continued to grow in Danish colonies. In Sainte Croix, the development of sugar production stimulated demand for slaves, who numbered approximately 25,000 during the 1780s, or over 90% of the island’s population, a level similar to that of other sugar-producing islands in the West Indies.
Note...
The little-known role Sweden played in the colonial slave trade
Catherine Edwards (The Local, 15 June 2020) reports on Sweden’s role in the colonial slave trade. [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] All around Stockholm are st…
repeatingislands.com
The lack of research into colonialism in Sweden makes it difficult to quantify the country’s involvement, but Thomasson says a recent PhD thesis says there were around 12-13,000 African captives transported on Swedish ships. “It’s a minor number compared to the millions when you look at the US and so on, but it indicates Swedish ambitions.”
Note...
Slave trading past still haunts Norway
www.newsinenglish.no
Norwegians made up around 10 percent of the total crew serving on slave ships at any one time, wrote Svensli in newspaper Aftenposten recently. Hyrum Svensli’s PhD project explores the slave trade rivalry between Denmark-Norway, England and the Netherlands in Ghana in the 1600s and 1700s. That’s when Norwegians took part in what’s been called the “triangle of trade” on Norwegian and Danish ships like the Fredensborg, found wrecked off Arendal in 1974. Norwegians staffed slave forts on the African coast, sailed on the slave ships and carried goods produced by slaves back to Norway and the rest of Europe. The “triangle” went mostly from Norway and Denmark to Ghana, then to Caribbean ports such as St Croix and St Thomas and back to Scandinavia.
snip...
Those Norwegians who served at the slave posts on the Gold Coast came from various backgrounds such as soldiers, gunsmiths, artisans and even clergymen. They shared one thing in common in that they were for the most part “incompetent and reckless adventurers,” Hyrum Svensli told Aftenposten.