“The shrieks of the women, and groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror most inconceivable,” wrote Olaudah Equiano, who was kidnapped and sold to slave traders in his Igbo home village and was taken on board a European slave ship bound for Barbados.
In the annals of world history, atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade stand as a dark chapter, one that transcends race and is etched into the collective memory of humanity. This narrative is not just black history; it is all of our story that echoes through time.
Against their will, enslaved Africans bore the weight of a cruel fate — losing family ties, language, and their very identity and enduring the brutality of forced labor. The journey of disoriented enslaved Africans was marked by raids and shackles, they walked bushy terrains and crossed dangerous streams.
The roots of this injustice lie deep into the soil of Ghana, once the Gold Coast, where Europeans initially arrived in 1471 for mutual barter trade.
In the quest to bolster their trade along the West African coast, Europeans erected approximately 60 castles and forts, with Ghana alone boasting over 50 due to its abundant gold resource that lured the European powers. Among these, the Saint Jorge Castle, also known as Elmina Castle, emerged in 1482 under Portuguese architecture. Interestingly, Elmina derived its name from the mispronunciation of ‘La Mina’ by the natives who called this place ‘Anomansah’ prior to the Portuguese arrival, symbolizing the beginning of its misplaced identity.
The Christiansborg Castle, or Osu Castle, initially constructed by the Danes in 1661, was another testament to the trade in gold, yet the tides shifted. The burgeoning demand for gold gave way to a new appetite for cotton, sugar, coffee, tobacco, timber, and other agricultural commodities.
As it turned out, what began as a trade chapter in history for unsuspecting Africans soon transformed into trans-Saharan trade and eventually spiraled into the grim trans-Atlantic slave trade, often referred to as the triangular trade. Cape Coast Castle, built around 1665, became a pivotal transit point for English exploits involving the trade in gold and slaves.
Within its walls, the victims’ wailing reverberated as the Cape Coast Castle building complex morphed into holding cells. The forbidding “palaver hall” played a crucial role in sorting slaves for their journey to the New World. In this hall, hot metals marked the captives, branding their destiny, determining whether their delivery point along the middle passage would be the Caribbean, the Americas, or elsewhere for labor, wrought with suffering.
Horror lurked in every corner — from the condemned cell where supposed offenders met suffocating fates to the male and female dungeons topped ironically by the Church of England. Another haunting feature was the “door of no return”, which marked a goodbye to homeland Africa, and one’s true identity. There is a graveyard where deceased Europeans were buried as the remains of Africans were found undignified final resting place on the ocean bed. An open courtyard served as a dreary stage where beautiful black women in chains were identified for sexual exploitation without consent.
Vacationing in Ghana is but a spiritual awakening – a return in memory of your ancestors – a chance to step back in time and walk in the footsteps of history. Solemnly connect with the slave dungeon walls that remain silent witnesses – they experienced it all, yet unable to tell a story.
In a minute of silence, take a bow, listen carefully and you will hear the loud silence of the maimed captives therein. Look carefully and you will see the walls stained with blood, tears, and sweat. Observe and find that, in sorrow, the dungeon walls bore the desperate scratches of fingernails in a plea for rescue – but there was none.
The tide took a turn, thanks to the tireless efforts of Western abolitionists such as Granville Sharp, Thomas Clarkson, and William Wilberforce, who vehemently exposed the inhumanity of slavery – but also the new labor-saving technologies of the Industrial Revolution.
Yet, even as the abolition of the slave trade gained momentum, on 6th March 1844, the Cape Coast Castle became the seat of government for the British, marking a disturbing transition into a new form of subjugation through colonization. Indeed the walls of these castles bear witness to a complex narrative — one of trade, anguish, and the eventual struggle for freedom.
‘Visit Ghana’ is a heritage call. It is more than a tour; it’s a journey of pilgrimage. This is not a call to relive the trauma but to honor the resilience of those who endured as you stand in the shadows of our painful past. In their memory, the call is clear — return, reconnect, heal, and declare “Never again.”
For inquiries about private tours in Ghana or writer engagements, feel free to reach out to Vincent at (kevinnugah@gmail.com) or WhatsApp +233545410465
Very interesting,I have learnt a lot that I never knew
Nice write up 💯