''Cassare'' or ''calissare'' (from Portuguese ''casar'', "to marry") was the term applied to the
marriage alliance A marriage of state is a diplomatic marriage or union between two members of different nation-states or internally, between two power blocs, usually in authoritarian societies and is a practice which dates back into ancient times, as far back as ear ...
s, largely in
West Africa, set up between European and African
slave traders; the "husband" was European and the wife/
concubine African. This was not marriage under Christian auspices, although there might be an African ceremony; there were few clerics in equatorial Africa, and the "wives" could not marry since they had not been
baptized. Male monogamy was not expected. As such,
concubinage is a more accurate term. The multinational Quaker slave trader and polygamist,
Zephaniah Kingsley purchased the
Wolof princess,
Anna Kingsley, who had earlier been enslaved and sold in
Cuba, after being captured in modern-day Senegal.
''Cassare'' created political and economic bonds. The name is European, and reflects similar relationships of Portuguese men, who were the first explorers of the west African coast. But it antedated European contact; selling a daughter, if not for cash then for some economic benefit, including simple peace, was pre-European practice used to integrate the "other" from a differing African ethnic group. Powerful West African groups with ties to the slave trade used these marriages to strengthen their alliances with European men by marrying off (selling) their daughters. Early on in the Atlantic slave trade, these marriages were common. The marriages were sometimes performed using African customs, which Europeans did not object to, seeing how important the connections were. African wives could receive money and schooling for
the children they bore to European men. Wives could also inherit slaves and property from their husbands when they returned to Europe or died.
Many coastal ethnic groups in West Africa, such as the
Ga and
Fante, used this system to gain political and economic advantages. It enabled Africans to trust strangers, like the Europeans, when dealing within their trade networks. It made the transition from strangers to trading partners a lot smoother.
See also
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Dutch Slave Coast
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Gold Coast Euro-Africans
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Mulatto
(, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...
*
Signare
References
{{Reflist
African slave trade
18th century in Ghana
Interracial marriage