Bristol-Ghana: What's the Link?

There's at least one thing linking Bristol, the English city where I almost spent one and a half year, and the country Ghana where I'm going now. The two entities carried out slave trade between their ports. From the first one ships, loaded with cotton, brass pans and guns (1), were leaving for Africa; from the second one African people were taken to the Caribbean plantations for work (2). This form of trade became known as 'Triangular Trade' (3). England was not the only country involved. Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and France took an important part (4).

Nor Bristol was the only British port city to play a role in the transatlantic trade. London, that Bristol overtook in the 1730s, was leading in the 17th century; Liverpool overtook Bristol in the 1740s. Many port towns around Britain also joined in. Some ports didn't send cargoes to Africa but America. For example, Bridgewater and Minehead in Somerset exported herring fish to the Caribbean Islands, such as Jamaica, to feed the plantation slaves. Other places than ports were involved such as Bath, Birmingham and Manchester. (5)

Slavery existed before in Africa but Africans usually enslaved 'other' people (prisoners of war, in payment for debt or as punishment for crime), not their own particular ethnic, or cultural, group. This enslavement was usually on a small scale. It was enough to supply the demand for slaves within Africa, but not enough to supply the European demand. As the demand from outside increased with the need of workforce for the plantations, there were warfare and raids to get slaves and more kidnapping of individuals. (6)

In 1979, the Unesco inscribed on the World Heritage List forts and castles (see pictures), erected between 1482 and 1786 along the Ghanaian coast - where Accra is (7). They are remains of fortified trading-posts where enslaved Africans were kept before their deportation (8).

The travel could last until eighteen months. Many Africans died during the journey for diverse reasons (9). According to the Unesco website (10), it is estimated that between 25 to 30 million people were deported. This figure excludes the number of deaths.

I will try to find out more about slave trade in Ghana when I'm on the spot. If I pursue my journey further, I might follow the route to the Caribbean Islands.

(1) http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/showNarrative.php?narId=9&nacId=11
(2) http://www.unesco.org/culture/dialogue/slave/images/Apdf.PDF
(3) http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/showNarrative.php?narId=9
(4) http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27111&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
(5) http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/showNarrative.php?narId=108
(6) http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/showNarrative.php?narId=159&nacId=161
(7) http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/34
(8) http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/showImageDetails.php?img_id=359
(9) http://www.discoveringbristol.org.uk/showNarrative.php?narId=15
(10) http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27111&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html