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The study of the British Empire in West Africa began before the birth of African history as an academic discipline. There were three major currents. The first was the literature generated by Europeans. The second current was the literature generated within West Africa, mainly by Arabic chroniclers and local historians such as Carl Reindorf of Ghana and Samuel Johnson of Nigeria. The third and least known current was the interest in West African history in the United States, due mainly to the activities of pan-Africanist W. E. B. Du Bois. This chapter is concerned with the work of professional historians, and particularly with work since 1945. The three currents mentioned above led to the foundation for the post-Second World War creation of African history as an academic field. Four major themes dominate the historiography of British West Africa. In addition, the historiography of British West Africa over three generations is rich and vibrant and deserves to be celebrated.

This chapter analyses the British naval policies concerning West Africa between 1843 and 1857. During this period, Britain sought to encourage legitimate commerce and curtail slavery for its own economic interest, while domestically America feared the British domination of the West African coast. As such, suspicion and mistrust was rife between the two nations, and is in great detail via the abolitionist activity in the North of England; the actions of free traders and slavers; Royal Navy operations; the competition for trade between Britain and France; Commodore Charles Hotham’s slavery suppressing naval strategy; British free trade treaties; and the naval methods of enforcing British goals. It concludes in 1857, with British interests torn between strategic naval aims and domestic pressures, and British and American diplomacy still tense over West African policies.

This chapter studies the expansion of the network of activities built up by Elder Dempster and explores the ways in which Alfred Lewis Jones extended his power and reach across the shipping, trade and banking markets in West Africa and the United Kingdom. It examines the steps taken by Jones in order to maintain a foothold in the West African shipping business and discusses the methods used when approached with limitations on his authority, in the form of rivals, government regulation and criticism from the press and public opinion. The chapter also features a commentary of the personal and professional relationship between Jones and John Holt, and old colleague and friend.

This chapter explores the underlying and long-term effects of the Second World War on the future of Elder Dempster and its relationship with West Africa. It focuses on the political and economic independence of West African colonies, and the resulting major changes in the structure and organisation of its trading areas, including the formation of independently owned shipping lines. The chapter describes the greater momentum of the establishment and extension of new ports at the end of the war, and reports the corresponding dramatic increase in West African trade. It concludes with an analysis of the decline in Elder Dempster’s share of West African trade, and provides a calculation of its profitability and success in the post-war era.

This chapter reports Elder Dempster’s increasing activity and finances and discusses the conference system and the larger merchants unsatisfied with it. It addresses the reorganisation of the British and African Steam Navigation Company in 1900 and examines the financing of the Elder Dempster fleet. The chapter acknowledges that precise details of amounts of income are not available, yet provides research on Jones’ mode of living and the transformation of the value of Elder Dempster by exploring the sources of profit. Also discussed is the development and economic advancement of British West Africa between 1852 and 1910 as a result of investment, the invention of the steamship, and advances in medical science.

This chapter analyses American naval policies concerning West Africa between 1843 and 1857, in contrast to the previous chapter concerning the Royal Navy. In particular it explores the US West African Squadron, noting the motivation to protect American commerce and resist British interference with US vessels. It paints a complex picture of the period, analysing the attack on Berriby; the Mexican-American War; the legal issues that plagued the US Army; the US Navy’s commercial goals; the American approach to the Slave Trade; and the dominance of the Royal Navy in the region. It draws the same conclusion as the previous chapter, namely that Britain and the US grew further mistrustful of one another due to their conflicting agendas regarding their commercial interests in West Africa.

This chapter describes the reconstruction of Elder Dempster’s company structure and development after the Second World War. It states the company’s losses in terms of vessels and staff, and assesses the changes made in management and head office accommodation in order to allow Elder Dempster to meet the level of success it had achieved in the early 20^th Century. The chapter also addresses the changing composition of the West African trade after the war, which included alterations in the determination of freight rates; the extension of the West African Lines Conference; and the intrusion of Scandinavian lines into the West African trade market. The chapter concludes with Elder Dempster’s purchase of the British and Burmese Steam Navigation Company Limited.

This final chapter evaluates the accuracy of the previous forecasts and predictions made in 1972. It assesses Elder Dempster’s successes and failures whilst taking into consideration the changing global economy and overall decline of British trade and shipping. It discusses alternative strategies that might have enabled the Company to remain viable in the rapidly changing business world of West Africa and prevent its eventual sale to Delmas Vieljeux in 1989. The chapter concludes with a report of the enormous progress and profit made by the Ocean Group at the end of the 20^th Century as a result of its transition away from traditional maritime activities to land-based enterprises.

This chapter provides a further analysis of naval relations, piracy restrictions and the suppression of slavery between 1820 and 1830. It continues to document the anti-piracy stance of the US Navy during the increase and decline of piracy in the early 1820s. It also documents the British anti-piracy efforts, and discusses their perceived lacklustre effort as reported by US media outlets. It examines colonisation in detail, including the actions of the American Colonization Society on the West African coast, and the presence of the Royal Navy in West Africa. It concludes by stating that the Anglo-American relationship was heavily strained in this period due to conflicting attitudes toward slavery, yet despite tensions, they remained co-operative while combatting piracy.

This chapter concerns the Anglo-American efforts to reach an agreement regarding their colonial activities on the West African coast. It discusses Lord Palmerston’s foreign policy in relation to the slave trade; America’s economic interest in West Africa; escalating difficulties in Anglo-American diplomacy; the Webster-Ashburn treaty, Quintuple treaty, and the Tucker-Paine agreement. Rather than escalate confrontation over disagreements, both Britain and America used their navies to further their goals peacefully, proving sea power to be a useful mechanism in international diplomacy.

This chapter explores the effects of the First World War on the shipping and West African trade market. It outlines Elder Dempster’s financial and trading position after the war and details the difficulties that came as a result of reduced freight rates, loss of vessels, and a fall in the value of West African produce. It juxtaposes Elder Dempster’s losses with the progress of Dutch and German lines and presents the two rival countries as a threat to the British shipping industry. The chapter concludes with the re-establishment of the West African Lines Conference.

This chapter introduces the formation of the United Africa Company and explains actions taken to secure shipping space. It discusses Elder Dempster and other merchants and organisations’ reactions to the changes made by the Company in the declining economic climate. It also discusses The Great Depression after 1929 and the resulting sharp decline in shipping activity and West African trade, which was in part contributed to by the breakdown in the financial organisation of the Royal Mail Group. The chapter ends with a description of Lord Kylsant’s failings, downfall, and eventual conviction but focuses on Elder Dempster’s relationship with the United Africa Company, and analyses the disagreements and negotiations made between the two.

This chapter examines how sea power was utilised and adjusted by America and Britain in order to diffuse political tensions and keep the balance of power and their individual commercial endeavours protected. In particular, it examines Anglo-American co-operation and conflict during the 1840s and 1850s; Spanish-American filibusters; naval policing; and the American Civil War. It concludes that by 1860, Britain and America were intent on avoiding conflict with one another, and that as civil war broke out in America, Britain avoided becoming embroiled in the conflict.

This chapter follows the professional career of Alfred Lewis Jones to his position as senior partner of Elder Dempster and Company. It details Jones’ early career history, including the establishment of his firm, Alfred L. Jones and Company, and his junior partnership with Elder Dempster and Company. The chapter concludes with Jones’ decision to create a conference system to regulate the West African shipping trade, as a result of constant negotiations with rival opponents Woermann Line of Hamburg and the Royal Niger Company.

This chapter provides an initial description of the three major groupings of West African merchants during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Niger Company, the Miller-Swanzy group and the African Association, and details their attempts to enter the shipping trade. The chapter focuses mainly on Alfred Lewis Jones’ decision to regulate the West African shipping trade via shipping conferences and explores his techniques and success rate in negotiating terms and agreements. It concludes with the eventual outcome of the conference in which Elder Dempster possessed an almost complete control of the British West African and West African carrying trade.

This chapter documents the establishment of Elder Dempster Lines Limited, a company under the control of Richard Holt, and follows the fluctuations in West African imports and exports in the 1930s. It examines the successes and failures of Elder Dempster in this period by assessing shipping tonnage and financial results, and comparing the data to the growth of rival lines. The chapter concludes with an introduction of Elder Dempster’s entry into commercial aviation as Elders Colonial Airways Limited, a venture that came to an end in the 1940s due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

This chapter explores the lives of Alexander Elder and John Dempster, two men whose work, power and influence changed the whole of Britain’s shipping and commercial relationship with West Africa. It discusses the pair’s impact on the British West African shipping trade in general and on Elder Dempster and Company in particular. The chapter details the rivalry between the African Steam Ship Company and the British and African Steam Navigation Company and presents the eventual negotiation and agreements made between the two. It concludes with the abrupt ending of the agency of the African Steam Ship Company.

This chapter describes the First World War’s effect on British shipping and West African trade. It discusses shipping losses and incidents, and describes the consequences of the end of trade with Germany and Austria; the closure of the Baltic and Black seas; congestion at ports; and the strain and depletion of ships. The chapter also reports the collapse of the West African Shipping Conference at the beginning of the war and describes the ways in this affected Elder Dempster and the Lever Brothers.

This chapter discusses the effects of the Second World War on the British shipping industry. It provides an analysis of the loss of seamen and vessels in comparison to the previous world war, and describes the subsequent trading conditions of West Africa. It also presents the establishment of the West African Co-Ordination Committee, formed by Elder Dempster, John Holt and the United Africa Company and comments on their actions made on behalf of the Ministry of War Transport in 1940.

This chapter discusses Macgregor Laird’s involvement in the formation of the African Steam Ship Company and his role as its first managing director. It also discusses Laird’s personal and professional life as an early pioneer of West African Trade and shareholder in the African Inland Commercial Company. The chapter largely focuses on the usefulness of the River Niger as a ‘highway’ into Central Africa and accounts Laird’s own expedition up the river from October 1832 to August 1833, taken in order to prove that it was navigable for steam vessels. The chapter concludes with an account of the progress of the African Steam Ship Company in the period 1863 to 1868 and outlines the company’s failure to expand as a contributing factor to the intervention of the competing line of The British and African Steam Navigation Company.