Description

During the mid-19^th century, France was at a crossroads.  Once one of the world’s great colonial powers, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars it had lost many of its large colonial holdings to war or diplomatic cessions, retaining only an assortment of small islands and territories (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, French Guiana, etc.).

 

Meanwhile, the slave trade, which was once the sustenance of France’s presence in the West Indies and its commerce in Africa, was on its way out.  While Revolutionary France had been the first major European power to abolish slavery in its domains, in 1794, Napoleon reinstated the ignoble institution, in 1802.  The royalist regime that regained power in France in 1815 was inherently conservative and stonewalled abolitionism, yet, in 1818 it formally outlawed its involvement in the international slave trade (although this was not effectively enforced until the 1830s).  The Revolution of February 1848 toppled the monarchy and brought in the regime of Louis Napoleon (later Emperor Napoleon III, reigned 1852-70), an ardent abolitionist.  France finally abolished slavery in all its domains on April 27, 1848.  Despite these momentous developments, many indigenous African powers and unscrupulous European slave traders (including Frenchmen) still carried on the Transatlantic slave trade, but at least they now faced opposition from all the major European navies, including that of France.

 

By the 1830s and ’40s France still possessed a series of ‘comptoirs’ (trading posts) along various stretches of the coasts of West Africa, although the sharp decline of the Transatlantic slave had negated their traditional purpose.  Indeed, many of these comptoirs were being wound down, while most had fallen into disrepair, or had been abandoned.

 

Thus, France now had to decide if it wanted to rebuild a new colonial empire in the post-slavery era, with Africa seen as the most promising area of growth.  In the twilight days of the monarchy, this matter sharply divided public opinion in the French hierarchy.  The ‘Colonialists’ believed that for France to remain one of the world’s great powers it had to go ‘full throttle’ to regain a grand overseas empire and to harness the natural and human resources of faraway lands.  The ‘Anti-Colonialists’ maintained that France had pressing domestic concerns, as well as security risks within Europe, such that the distraction of grand overseas ‘boondoggles’ poses an existential threat to France itself.  Both sides had very powerful backers, and for some years France’s direction was unclear.

 

Beginning in the late 1830s, the Colonialists started to make moves to create the pre-conditions for overseas expansion.  Elements of the foreign ministry and military, which tended to be controlled by ardently Colonialist figures, sponsored a series of investigative missions to Sub-Saharan Africa to assess the region’s potential for mass French colonial expansion in the post-slavery era, whereupon, instead of trading people, the priority would be trading commodities.

 

Enter Édouard Bouët-Willaumez: Abolitionist and Pathfinder of the New French Colonialism in Africa

The most important single figure in the effort to prove Africa’s value to France as a colonial asset by way of fact-finding missions, as well as being one of the greatest scourges of slave traders, was Édouard Bouët-Willaumez (1808 – 1871).  Born as Louis Edouard Bouët, the son of a successful merchant and mayor of town near Paris, he joined the French Navy in 1824.  His first assignment saw him participate in a lengthy voyage whereupon he fought in the Battle of Navarino (1827), whereby Greece secured its independence, before touring the Indian Ocean.  He subsequently took part in expeditions to Greece, Algeria, Argentina and Belgium.

 

In 1836, Bouët began his hugely consequential involvement with West Africa, when as a lieutenant, he was made the commander of the steamship L’Africain, whereupon he ascended the Senegal River to reach Félou Falls (Mali).  In 1838, Bouët, as skipper of the La Malouine, opened a trading route down the coat of West Africa south of Senegal, signing an important treaty with the King of Gabon, in 1839, that secured commercial concessions and control of the future site of Libreville.

 

Importantly, while some of his more conservative colleagues in the French Navy only very begrudgingly intercepted illegal slave traders on the high seas (or even turned a blind eye to them altogether), Bouët was an ardent abolitionist who energetically dedicated himself to eradicating the slave trade wherever possible.

 

The crown, hugely impressed with his skill and zeal, made Bouët the commander of the West Africa Fleet of the French Navy, in 1841, and from 1843 to 1844 he served as the Acting Governor of Senegal.  He reinvigorated the key port of St. Louis, Senegal, inviting Bordeaux traders to set up shop, resulting in an explosion of commerce.  He spearheaded a mission to the interior, establishing French relations with the rulers of Bambouk and Bundu.  He also led expeditions far down the coast, reviving old, and establishing new, French outposts in Senegal, Guinée and Gabon, and, in 1843, and founding new bases in the Ivory Coast, such as Fort Memours at Grand-Bassam and Assinie, as well as signing protection and trade agreements with local rulers.  In 1844, he supported the Prince de Joinville during his successful attack of the Moroccan port of Mogador.  For his excellent work, Bouët was promoted to Captain and permitted to retain valuable war trophies.

His memoirs of his expedition with his scientific analysis of West Africa and the navigation of its seas were published as, Description nautique des côtes de l’Afrique occidentale comprises entre le Sénégal et l’Equateur… (Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1846).

In 1845, he became the heir of his uncle, the late esteemed Vice-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez, and so in his honour adopted his name.  He returned to West Africa, as the Commander of the Naval Division of the Western Coasts of Africa, but this time at the head of large squadron of 26 cruisers.  During this period, he pursued ‘gunboat diplomacy’, winning several sharp battles against various indigenous forces, with the overall objective of consolidating French military dominance over the littorals of Senegal, Guinée, Gabon and Ivory Coast.

Upon his return to France, Bouët-Willaumez was regarded as the foremost authority on West Africa, particularly regarding its economic affairs and the ongoing black market in the Transatlantic slave trading.

 

The Present Work in Focus

 

This is one of the most influential and insightful works on colonialism in Africa during what was a pivotal juncture, and on the nature of the Transatlantic slave trade, and the efforts to suppress it, during its twilight years.  While Bouët-Willaumez certainly had a bias, being a committed Colonialist and Abolitionist, he always used empirical data and firsthand observations gained in the field to back up his assertions, giving his arguments exceptional credibility.  He effectively proved that it would be commercially beneficial for France to colonize parts of West Africa, and that the quest to end the Transatlantic slave trade was both morally righteous and practically beneficial, not only the African peoples, but also for France.

The text is divided into two parts, the first focusing on the post-slavery commodities trade, while the second features Bouët-Willaumez’s brilliant analysis of the history and current state of the Transatlantic slave trade and the ongoing battle to suppress it.  The work concludes with two groundbreaking original maps drafted by Bouët-Willaumez, a professionally trained cartographer.

 

In the 1^st Part: ‘Commercial Description’ (pp. 2 – 184), Bouët-Willaumez provides a very detailed, and highly insightful analysis of the commercial activity all along the western coasts of Africa, with an emphasis upon existing French ventures, as well as highlighting promising potential opportunities.  He takes the reader on a systematic tour of virtually all the coastal areas from Senegambia, in the north, all the way down to Angola in the south.  These destinations include Senegal (noting the French commercial/political capital of Saint-Louis), Bissagos (Guinea-Bissau), Sierra Leone; the Grain Coast (Liberia); Côte d’Ivoire; Gold Coast (Ghana, noting the notorious former slaving bases of Elmina and Cape Coast Castle); Benin (noting the old slaving centre of Ouidah); Calabar Coast / Bonny River (Nigeria); the island of Fernando Po (Equatorial Guinea); Gabon; Loango (Congo/Angola); Congo; and Angola (noting Luanda and Benguela).  Along the way, he discusses the commodities that could be of value to France in the post-slavery and industrial era, being, for instance, Senegal gum (Gummi arabicum), peanuts, palm oil, grains, dye woods, etc., as well as explaining the nature of the barter economy as practiced by the locals (this part should be read in close consultation with Map 2, discussed below).

 

In the 2^nd Part: ‘On the Slave Trade’ (pp. 185 – 227), it is immediately apparent that Bouët-Willaumez had a profound academic interest in both the historical and current state of the ignoble trade in West Africa, while he had more experience in the field, as both a witness to the slave trade and as an apprehender of slavers, than almost anyone else alive.  As such, his writings on slavery were always well informed and properly contextualized.

In this treatise, Bouët-Willaumez provides a succinct history of the slave trade in West Africa, before discussing 1) the purchase and incarceration of slaves in trading centers; 2) an exploration of the trading centers established on the western coasts of Africa; and 3) the repression of the slave trade.

 

Bouët-Willaumez sums up his findings in the ‘Resumé Général’ (pp. 225-7), in which, regarding commerce and the French economic exploitation of West Africa, he asserts:

 

That the commercial movement of our possession of Senegal is on the road to prosperity, since this commercial movement, which in 1840 was 11,832,912 Francs, had reached in 1846 the figure of 23,880,139 Francs;

That this remarkable progress is due above all to the principles of commercial freedom, principles which privileged societies have always been powerless to combat with success;

That the movement of our trade has increased in a proportion which is no less satisfactory, even on those parts of the African coast independent of any European establishment, where our flag was in competition with the English and American flags; that this trade, in fact, from 1,743,117 Francs in 1840, rose in 1846 to 10,502,380 Francs, that is to say, had increased sixfold in six years;

That the creation of comptoirs spread out more and more in the heart of Africa has powerfully contributed to the progress of our Senegalese trade by developing our trading territory; |

That, on the other hand, the firm and conciliatory policy of the Senegalese authority has succeeded in guaranteeing national trade a security whose results have been fruitful;

That our comptoirs on the Ivory Coast, placed at the mouth of rivers that bear rich deposits of gold, have not yet acquired, either through timidity or impotence, a satisfactory commercial base;

That a small steam vessel, placed at the disposal of the European agents of these trading posts, would allow them to take their goods across the river bars that they have not yet dared to face, and to go back to their source these rivers which have become French, and yet unknown to geography and commerce;|

That this little steamer could then enter the Kouara or Niger [River] via the Owhyère branch [or Ouère, today the Forcados River], on the banks of which a French establishment once stood;

May Gabon, this magnificent point of release and supply, open to French colonists a fertile field for colonial foodstuffs of all kinds, if they have the will and the capital necessary to engage in agricultural enterprises there;

That our factory trade, mainly that of Rouen, has found numerous outlets in the increase in the commercial movement of France on the coasts of West Africa;

That the military protection granted to date to the merchant navy by our naval station must still be guaranteed to it, but only while African leaders are guilty of violent actions towards it.

 

Concerning the slave trade, including its current state and the efforts towards its suppression, he continues:

 

That the slave trade continues to be active in the depths of the Gulf of Benin and on the coasts of Loango and the Congo, but decreases on other parts of the African coast;

That the policing of our colours and that of the British colours is rigorously carried out by the cruisers of the two nations;

The same cannot be said about the United States flag, which still more or less directly covers [i.e., aides] slave trading operations;

That the Portuguese authorities have finally vigorously attacked this criminal traffic on their own territory, on the coast of Angola, formerly open to the public transactions of slave traders;

That Brazilian and Spanish slave traders can and do count on complete impunity from the authorities of Brazil or Cuba when they unload their slaves there;

That the dispersal of slave barracoons [temporary prisons along the coasts for slaves intended for onward travel] makes the harsh measures against slave traders much more enforceable;

That Europe owes it to itself to speak harshly and firmly to those nations which still tolerate the slave trade on their territory;

That France, which has the richest trading colony in West Africa, must give the world the example of an enlightened philanthropy, even if only in atonement for the past; that it must finally develop on a vast scale, in Saint-Louis du Senegal, the African college of which I laid the first foundations in 1844, and educate there 5 or 600 young people from all the

points of Africa;

That these young people, later sent on [Christian] mission to the heart of Africa or their native country, would gradually spread French civilization and ideas, of which they would become intelligent apostles;

That the anti-slave trade patrol system of allied navies is powerless to completely eliminate the trafficking of blacks, given the multiplicity of points where they are incarcerated and taken aboard slave ships.

 

The Maps in Focus

 

Two highly important and impressive original maps, both drafted by Bouët-Willaumez, appear in print for the first time at the end of the work.  They are as follows:

 

1.

[SENEGAL].

Édouard BOUËT-WILLAUMEZ (1808 – 1871). 

Carte du cours du Sénégal, de la Falémé et de la Gambie; dressée d’après les documents les plus récents, par M. E. Bouët-Willaumez, Capitaine de Vaisseau.

Paris: Lith. Thierry frères, [1848].

Lithograph (Good but conspicuous light to moderate staining and spotting throughout), 38.5 x 53.5 cm.

 

This fine map, drafted by Édouard Bouët-Willaumez, provides the era’s superlative geographic record of the interior of Senegambia, capturing the courses of the Senegal, Gambia and Falémé rivers.  Predicated upon the best and most recent explorers’ manuscripts, it names the territories of the various indigenous nations, along with hundreds of villages, noting the locations of French and British outposts by the appearance of the appropriate flags.  The blue line traces the course of then Senegal Governor Bouët-Willaumez’s 1843 trip up the lower Senegal River to Dagana fort, while the red line shows route of the 1843 expedition led the by the chief navy pharmacist Joseph Huard-Bessinière (1808-1844) to the upper Gambia and Falémé rivers.

 

The map was first published within the present book, although evidence suggests that a handful of examples were issued separately [References to the map separately: Bibliothèque nationale de France: GE SH 19 PF 1 QUATER DIV 29 P 1 D; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: afm0003467, OCLC: 692994010 and 1089929763; Charles BECKER, Victor MARTIN & Yveline DIALLO, Cartes historiques de la Vallée du Sénégal présentées (1995), p. 21, map no. 13].

 

2.

[WEST AFRICA – THEMATIC ECONOMIC MAP / SLAVERY].

Édouard BOUËT-WILLAUMEZ (1808 – 1871). 

Carte des côtes occidentales d’Afrique / Dressée d’après les documents les plus récens, par Mr. E. Bouët-Willaumez, capitaine de vaisseau, 1848.

Paris: Lith. Thierry frères, 1848.

Lithograph with details in original hand colour (Good, lovely colours, light but conspicuous spotting and staining especially in outer areas, short hairline tear entering from hinge but closed from verso by old repair), 56.5 x 61.5 cm.

 

This is one of the most amazing maps of anywhere in Africa published during the 19^th century, being an innovative, sophisticated, and very early work of thematic cartography. Created by Édouard Bouët-Willaumez, it embraces the coasts of West Africa from Mauritania, in the northwest, down to southern Angola, in the southeast, as is based upon the intelligence he gathered during his expeditions in the region.  Its purpose is to show the locations and relative frequency of economically important commodities as found along said littoral.  It employs resplendent waves of colour, coded with yellow = gold; dark brown = Senegal gum; light brown = copal gum; dark green = palm oil; light green = leather; dark blue = grains / rice; light blue = pistachios and peanuts; red = dye woods; ink = construction woods; purple = wax; white = ivory; baby blue = orcein (a red dying material); and black = slaves.  The presence and volume of trade of any of the commodities at any given point along the coast is represented by the thickness of the appropriate colour along the wave.  The locations of French, British, Dutch, Danish, Liberian, Spanish and Portuguese outposts are indicated by their national flag, while the posts surmounted by black flags indicate ports that still facilitated the slave trade (that in some locales stubbornly persisted, despite being against international law).

The map was first published within the present book, although evidence suggests that a handful of examples were issued separately [References to the map separately: Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans, GE D-8612; Bibliothèque du Service historique de la Défense (Vincennes): MS 144 – 417].

 

Epilogue

 

Due in large part to Bouët-Willaumez’s actions and recommendations, and those of his fellow French naval officer, Charles Guillian, who explored East Africa (1846-8), the Colonialist lobby gained the decisive edge in the long-running contest to control the direction of France’s external policy.  The present work, Commerce et traite des Noirs aux côtes occidentales d’Afrique, was a major force behind this development.  It was published early in the critical year of 1848, when France finally abolished slavery in all its domains and when its monarchy was overthrown in favour of the squash buckling, outward-looking Neo-Napoleonic regime.  The work helped to give the Colonialists the evidentiary backing to convincingly argue that exploiting Africa would be greatly beneficial for France economically, while showing that France’s role in suppressing the Transatlantic salve trade was paying off dividends (as the slave trade was clearly in sharp decline) and was not only morally just but was also helpful for both maintaining good PR and the development of the new commodities-centred African trading economy.

In 1850, President (later Emperor) Napoleon formed the Commission des comptoirs et du commerce des Côtes d’Afrique, a panel of top-flight experts and major political figures, including Bouët-Willaumez, Guillian, and the diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps (later famous as the builder of the Suez Canal).  Its mandate was to study the matter of French colonial expansion in Africa and to make recommendations for how it was to be achieved.  The body soon produced the Commission des comptoirs et du commerce des Côtes d’Afrique. Rapports (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, June 1851), which recommended that France takeover all Senegal, developing it into a formal colony, controlling all manner of its economic and social affairs.  This was in line with the new concept of colonialism that could be likened to ‘nation building’, whereby the imperialist power would possess and militarily occupy the land, assuming the responsibly for managing and ‘modernizing’ the subjected society, as opposed to merely using it as a source for exporting resources.

 

Senegal, a part of West Africa in which France had maintained a presence since the 17^th century, was to be the ‘trial run’.  If the takeover and development of Senegal proved effective, it would justify the creation of further full-fledged French colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Meanwhile, beyond Senegal, France would maintain and expand it comptoirs along various parts of the coast of Africa, seeking to gain better access to precious natural resources and forging commodious relations with local powers.  These bases could be used as the foundation for expanding French mandates in the future.

 

Napoleon accepted and adopted the recommendations of the Commission’s Rapports, which became the blueprint for imminent action.  In 1852, the French government issued an ordinance that authorized the comprehensive colonization of Senegal, and expansion of the comptoirs elsewhere in coastal Africa.

 

The colonization of Senegal was realized during the governorship of Louis-Léon-César Faidherbe (in office, 1854-61, 1863-5), an incredibly energetic and visionary leader.  He charged the French military up the Senegal River, winning wars against recalcitrant indigenous nations, so taking political control over the bulk of the country.  He built mass infrastructure, created social services and founded many new outposts and urban areas.  Notably, he transformed St. Louis, the capital of Senegal, into one of the most modern and impressive cities in all Africa.  Not considering the moral problems of his actions, the French government and public considered the colonization of Senegal to be an unqualified success.

 

Elsewhere, during what was to be considered a transitional period, France developed comptoirs in various locations along the coast of Africa.  It also invited Roman Catholic missionaries to convert the locals to European ways.  While it would not be until the 1880s that France endeavoured to create additional full-fledged colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa, in the mold of Senegal, the archipelago of comptoirs and missions formed the basis for expansion.

 

As for Bouët-Willaumez, he subsequently became one of the leading naval figures during the Crimean War (1853-6) and the Second Italian War of Independence (1859), before becoming, successively, the prefect of the great naval bases of Cherbourg and Toulon, and then finally a senator.

 

A Note on Rarity

 

The present work is not particularly rare institutionally, with there being, it seems, a little over a dozen examples worldwide, held by the likes of the Bibliothèque nationale de France; John Carter Brown Library; New York Public Library; Widener Library, Harvard University; University of California-Berkeley; Cornell University Library; Duke University Library; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Indiana University Library; University of Leiden Library; Bayerische Staatsbibliothek; Bodleian Library (Oxford University); and the London School of Economics.

 

However, the work is extremely rare in commerce.  We can trace only a single sales record for another example, being one that was sold at a French auction in 2018.

 

References: Bibliothèque nationale de France: 8-LK11-176 (TEXTE); John Carter Brown Library: E848 .B757c; New York Public Library: Sc Rare 382-B; Widener Library, Harvard University: Soc 1811.9; Cornell University Library: Rare Books HF3875 .B75; Duke University Library: HT1322 .B6 1848 c.1; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: HF3920 .B67x 1848; Indiana University Library: HF3875 .B75; University of Leiden Library: KITLV3 M 3x 5; Bayerische Staatsbibliothek: Merc. 27 t; Bodleian Library (Oxford University): (RHO) 710.121 r. 1; London School of Economics: W47,607; OCLC: 21063811;  J. F. Ade Ajayi (ed.), UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. VI: Africa in the Nineteenth Century Until the 1880s (1989), p. 802; Alain TIREFORT (ed.), Guerres et paix en Afrique noire et à Madagascar, XIXe et XXe siècles (2016), p. 93; François ZUCCARELLI, ‘Le Régime des Engagés à Temps Au Sénégal (1817-1848)’, Cahiers d’Études Africaines, vol. 2, no. 7 (1962), pp. 420–61.