The African-British Long Eighteenth Century: An Analysis of African-British Treaties, Colonial Economics, and Anthropological Discourse

217 Pages·2009·2.46 MB·English

by  Tcho Mbaimba Caulker

The African-British Long
Eighteenth Century

The African-British Long
Eighteenth Century
An Analysis of African-British
Treaties, Colonial Economics, and
Anthropological Discourse
LEXINGTON BOOKS
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ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
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Copyright © 2009 by Lexington Books
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Caulker, Tcho Mbaimba, 1977–
The African-British long eighteenth century : an analysis of African-British treaties,
colonial economics, and anthropological discourse / Tcho Mbaimba Caulker.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7391-2743-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7391-3487-0 (electronic)
1. Africa, West—Relations—Great Britain—History—18th century. 2. Great
Britain—Relations—Africa, West—History—18th century. 3. Great Britain—
Colonies—Africa—Administration—History—18th century. 4. Africa, West—In
literature. I. Title. II. Title: African-British long 18th century.
DT503.C38 2009
325'.3410966—dc22 2008047359
Printed in the United States of America
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Contents
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: The African-British Long Eighteenth Century xi
1 Long Eighteenth-Century Fictive Literature and
Filling the Vacuum of Africa 1
2 British-African Treaty Making and the Construction of a
British Colonial State in Sierra Leone 37
3 Reading the British Sierra Leone Company: The Sierra Leone
Company and its Ties to Emergent Colonial, Economic, and
Moral Philosophy of the Long Eighteenth Century 57
4 Natural Science, Exploration, and the Colonial Project in
West Africa 89
5 The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar, and Bringing the Long
Eighteenth-Century Archival Past into the Postcolonial Present 127
Epilogue: The African-British Long Eighteenth Century and
Imagination 165
Appendix of Treaties 167
Bibliography 173
Index 181
About the Author 185
v

List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Image Taken From “The Black Prince” (1799) 18
(Cheap Repository Shorter Tracts)
Figure 2.1 Sierra Leone Ethnic Map with Location of
“Colony of Freedom” 38
Figure 4.1 Map of West Africa from Essay on Colonization (1794) 95
By: C.B. Wadstrom
Figure 4.2 Map of West Africa from Essay on Colonization (1794) 97
By: C.B. Wadstrom
Figure 4.3 Map of West Africa from Essay on Colonization (1794) 98
By: C.B. Wadstrom
Figure 4.4 Map of West Africa from Essay on Colonization (1794) 100
By: C.B. Wadstrom
Figure 4.5 Map of West Africa from Essay on Colonization (1794) 101
By: C.B. Wadstrom
Figure 4.6 Map of West Africa from Essay on Colonization (1794) 103
By: C.B. Wadstrom
Figure 4.7 Map of West Africa from Essay on Colonization (1794) 104
By: C.B. Wadstrom
Figure 4.8 Image of Slave Ship from Essay on Colonization (1794) 106
By: C.B. Wadstrom
Figure 4.9 Blumenbach’s Five Varieties of Humankind (1790) 111
By: Daniel Chodowiecki
Figure 4.10 Blumenbach’s Five Varieties of Humankind (1790) 112
By: Daniel Chodowiecki
vii

Acknowledgments
To my mother and my family in Freetown, Sierra Leone—your sacrifices will
never be forgotten. Know that any success in life that I have is always your
success as well. To my nieces and nephews in Sierra Leone, England, and the
United States—Musu, Tittor, Macpenna, Jomo, Hassan, Judwi, Rasheed, and
those yet to be borne—that you may always pridefully know yourselves and
your place in this world as world-citizens of a global community. A heartfelt,
genuine, and respectful thanks: To my dissertation directors Ken Harrow and
Salah Hassan, and committee members Jyotsna Singh and Laurent Dubois,
who embraced my vision of what this project could be, who understood its
potential and my desire for a pluralistic approach, and who took the time to
listen, nurture, and care, in lieu of the misunderstanding that sadly closes the
door to so many minority students with potential. To Mr. Alfred Fornah, Mr.
Cole, Mr. Moore, and the entire staff at the Sierra Leone National Archives,
who have not only assisted me in my academic research, but have also always
treated me as family without fail. To Dr. Strassa King, former president of
Fourah Bay College—University of Sierra Leone, who welcomed a young
and eager upstart of a twenty-four year old as a father would welcome a son
home from abroad. To John Conteh Morgan—thank you for your encour-
agement and inspiration, and may your soul rest in peace. To Jamie Lynn
Johnson—thank you for your friendly support. To my ice hockey coaches at
Sacred Heart University—Shaun Hannah, Stephan Gauvin, Jim Drury—who
reinforced the message, time and time again, that athletics and academics go
hand in hand; that hard work will get you everywhere; and that talent and
competence are what matter, never the color of one’s skin. To Keith Sandi-
ford, Kathleen Wilson, and Lyndon Dominique, who took the time to person-
ally introduce themselves at respective ASECS conferences in order to kindly
welcome me into the profession. Many thanks to Ania Loomba, Suvir Kaul,
ix