The African Company of Merchants or Company of Merchants Trading to Africa was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

chartered company A chartered company is an association with investors or shareholders that is incorporated and granted rights (often exclusive rights) by royal charter (or similar instrument of government) for the purpose of trade, exploration, and/or coloni ...

operating from 1752 to 1821 in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

area of modern

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, engaged in the Atlantic slave trade.

Background

The company was established by the African Company Act 1750, and in 1752 replaced the Royal African Company which had been established in 1660. Unlike its predecessor, the African Company of Merchants was a regulated company, not a joint stock company: Clause IV of African Company Act 1750 stated: "That it shall not be lawful for the Company, established by this Act, to trade to or from Africa in their corporate or joint Capacity, or to have any joint or transferable Stock, or to borrow, or take up, any Sum or Sums of Money, on their Common Seal". The assets of the Royal African Company were transferred to the new company and consisted primarily of nine trading posts or

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

: Fort William, Fort James,

Fort Sekondi Fort Sekondi, also Fort George, was an English fort on the Gold Coast (now Ghana), built in 1682 at Sekondi (earlier Zakonde and Secondee), next to the Dutch Fort Orange, which had been built in 1642. This first building was small, according to Wi ...

Fort Winneba Fort Winneba was a slave fort designed to facilitate the trade in enslaved people. The Royal African Company built the fort in 1694, on the Gold Coast, in modern-day Ghana. William Smith, who had been appointed to review the Company's castles ...

Fort Apollonia Fort Apollonia is a fort in Beyin, Ghana. The name Apollonia was given to the area by a Portuguese explorer who sighted the place on the Feast of Saint Apollonia, 9 February. Because of its importance during the European colonial period and its te ...

, Fort Tantumquery,

Fort Metal Cross Fort Metal Cross, originally Fort Dixcove, is a military structure located on a promontory at the fishing community of Infuma in Dixcove, in the Western Region of Ghana. Because of its history in the Atlantic slave trade and its testimony to Eur ...

Fort Komenda Fort Komenda was a British fort on the Gold Coast, currently preserved as a ruin. Because of its testimony to the Atlantic slave trade and European economic and colonial influence in West Africa, the fort was inscribed on the UNESCO World Herita ...

and

Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle ( sv, Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, establish ...

, the last of which was the administrative centre. This coastal area was dominated by the indigenous

Fante people The Mfantsefo or Fante ("Fanti" is an older spelling) are an Akan people. The Fante people are mainly located in the Central and Western coastal regions of Ghana. Over the last half century, due to fishing expeditions, Fante communities are foun ...

African Committee

The company was managed by the African Committee, which was composed of nine committee members, three each from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. The constitution stipulated that the committee should be elected annually from the general body of traders from these cities, who paid 40 shillings to be admitted to the company. According to the constitution, these committee members could only hold the post for three years. However, in 1772 a series of pamphlets were published claiming that the Committee members were not acting properly. The company was funded by an annual grant approved by Parliament, which covered the costs of the London office and the forts. The committee had to report to the

Exchequer In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reven ...

, the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

and, from 1782, the

Secretary at War The Secretary at War was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Afte ...

. John Shoolbred,(1740–1802), uncle of another John Shoolbred noted for his advocacy of vaccination, was secretary to the committee for several years. The imperial government prohibited the

African slave trade Slavery has historically been widespread in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were common in parts of Africa in ancient times, as they were in much of the rest of the Ancient history, ancient world. When the trans-Saharan slave trade ...

after 1807, although the company continued to operate for some years afterwards. In keeping with the ethos of liberal reform, administrative authority over the African Company's territory was transferred to Governor Charles MacCarthy of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, Sierra Leone having been founded as a refuge colony for freed formerly enslaved peoples. (Governor McCarthy was subsequently killed in the First

Anglo-Asante War The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan people, Akan interior of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African a ...

.) In 1817, the company signed a treaty of friendship recognising the Asante claims to sovereignty over large areas of the coast, including areas claimed by the Fante. However, after it became public knowledge that the company had continued the slave trade within its privately held territory, the British government abolished the company in 1821.

References

{{- British colonisation in Africa Chartered companies History of West Africa Defunct companies of the United Kingdom History of Ghana Economic history of Great Britain 1752 establishments in England British companies established in 1752 British companies disestablished in 1821 1821 disestablishments in England 18th century in Africa 19th century in Africa Economy of Ghana African Company of Merchants

Background

African Committee

See also

References