Podcast about "Black Frriday"
The trans-Atlantic slave trade has long been narrated as a triangle of European greed, African victimhood, and coastal complicity. But like most broad strokes of history, the truth lies in the cracks — in the contradictions, the exceptions, the choices made in silence.
One such exception is the Kingdom of Appolonia, located in what is now the Western Nzema region of Ghana.
While neighboring Akan states rose to power through warfare, tribute, and slave exports, Appolonia carved a different path — one of economic caution, cultural restraint, and limited participation in the trade of humans. This is a largely untold story of African resistance — not from a rebellion in chains, but from a coastal kingdom that deliberately minimized its involvement in slavery.
Timeframe: 17th to 19th century
Appolonia’s coastal location made it a natural candidate for European interaction. Like Elmina, Cape Coast, Anomabo, and Beyin, it had access to the sea, trading networks, and the presence of foreign powers — including the British, Dutch, and Portuguese.
Yet, unlike its neighbors, Appolonia:
Did not engage heavily in the capture or sale of enslaved persons
Did not rely on slave trading as a core economic pillar
Rarely hosted European forts specifically for slave exports
Maintained local spiritual and political structures that resisted commodifying humans
In a region where kingdoms like Asante, Denkyira, Akyem, and Akwamu thrived on expansion and captive-selling, Appolonia stood apart. This was not due to a lack of access, but likely due to deliberate socio-political choices.
Scholars suggest several factors:
Political Decentralization
Appolonia's governance model was less autocratic than the Ashanti Empire or Akwamu state. Power was distributed among chiefs, which made large-scale military campaigns (often used to capture slaves) less frequent.
Cultural and Religious Principles
The Nzema people, like many coastal Akan, practiced ancestral worship and indigenous law. Enslaving neighbors may have contradicted deeply held spiritual beliefs — particularly the violation of communal lineage.
Strategic Neutrality
In a volatile coastal environment of shifting alliances, wars, and fort-building, Appolonia may have strategically resisted entanglement in the politics of slave trading, choosing rather to trade in goods like gold, ivory, salt, or fish.
Limited Militarism
Appolonia lacked the military appetite to capture and trade human beings at scale. It did not seek inland expansion in the way the Ashanti, Wassa, or Fante confederacies did.
Appolonia’s resistance was not rewarded in gold or influence. In fact, their deliberate abstention may have contributed to their political marginalization. While nearby states grew rich and militarily powerful through slave revenues, Appolonia remained relatively small and often sidelined.
In the 19th century, as abolitionist forces gained momentum and the slave trade declined, Appolonia’s relative cleanliness became a quiet badge of honor — but too late to reverse the narrative.
Yes — but not often on this scale.
While some small communities resisted the trade by fleeing inland or hiding escapees, or some rulers refused specific demands by European traders, Appolonia stands out as a rare, region-wide example of coastal, state-level resistance.
Other examples are scattered and debated:
The Ewe of Keta experienced both participation and resistance.
Akwamu shifted its stance over time — from opposition to participation.
Appolonia, however, showed consistent low engagement, which is notable considering their position on the map.
This truth matters because it challenges the "White people" or “everyone was complicit” narrative often weaponized to excuse the magnitude of the trade. Appolonia’s history proves that African kingdoms had agency — and some chose restraint.
This resistance doesn’t erase the complicity of other kingdoms. It complicates the narrative, and in doing so, gives room for a more honest conversation about choices, ethics, and forgotten voices in African history.
As visitors walk through Cape Coast Castle or Elmina, as they read the names of African rulers who sold captives for rum and muskets, they should also learn of the few who chose a different path — like Appolonia.
It was not a perfect kingdom. But it was not a slave state.
And that, in a time of moral collapse, was a kind of quiet revolution.
Michel Doortmont & Robin Law (2011). The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities
Macgaffey, Wyatt. Appolonia and the Atlantic Slave Trade (Clark University Repository)
commons.clarku.edu/historyfac/126
San Beck. British West Africa and the Gold Coast
san.beck.org/16-10-WestAfricaBritish
Kevin Shillington. History of Africa (3rd Edition)
Oral accounts and local Nzema historical traditions
Let’s talk about the real issues. No filters. No theatre. Just truth.
For those interested in how memory and fiction intersect, explore other reflections on this site.