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Difficulty: EasyWest African Societies and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

In the late 1400s, Portuguese merchants sailing along the coast of West Africa established trading posts known as *feitorias*. Rather than colonizing the interior or conquering local kingdoms, Portuguese traders negotiated agreements with West African rulers to trade European goods like metalwares and textiles for gold, ivory, and enslaved people.

Which of the following best explains why early Portuguese traders established coastal trading posts (*feitorias*) rather than conquering inland West African kingdoms in the late fifteenth century?

  1. A
    Spanish colonial administrators established the encomienda system in West African kingdoms to manage the labor supply without military intervention.
  2. B
    Portuguese merchants relied on the biological flow of the Columbian Exchange to automatically bring agricultural workers to Europe.
  3. West African kingdoms maintained political sovereignty and military power, forcing Europeans to trade on terms set by African rulers.Answer
  4. D
    European traders sought to convert the early slave trade into a system of short-term indentured servitude for workers on European farms.

Answer

West African kingdoms maintained political sovereignty and military power, forcing Europeans to trade on terms set by African rulers.
The correct option is correct because during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, West African states possessed substantial military power, centralized political systems, and demographic resistance to European diseases. Consequently, Portuguese and other European traders were restricted to coastal outposts and had to conduct trade on equal terms dictated by West African sovereigns.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus context regarding Portuguese coastal trading posts (*feitorias*) and their negotiations with West African rulers.
The stimulus indicates that Europeans did not conquer or colonize the interior, but instead negotiated trade terms with local kingdoms.
Understanding the baseline relationship between European traders and West African states in the fifteenth century is necessary to identify the power dynamics.
2
Evaluate the choices to find the historical reason why Europeans did not expand inland or conquer West African kingdoms.
The correct explanation is that West African states were militarily and politically strong enough to defend their territory, limiting European presence to the coast.
This directly matches the historical reality of Period 1, where West African rulers controlled the terms of commerce.

Key Concept

West African political sovereignty and coastal trade networks
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Topics

West African Societies and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

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