Trade in the Senegambia Region deals with the local and
trans-continental trading activities in the Senegambia Region. In this
exposition, Patience Sonko-Godwin depicts trade as an agent of change
and transposition of culture from one state to another and from one
continent to another. She delves into aspects of the trans-Atlantic
slave trade during which time millions of people from the Senegambia
Region and West Africa were forcefully transported to Europe, the
Americas, and the Caribbean. Although they were subjected to
dehumanizing treatment in captivity, they maintained much of their
culture and tradition while adopting new ones. Many improved their
social standing.
Emancipated, thousands of ex-slaves from the outside world were brought
to Africa, notably Sierra Leone and Liberia. Likewise, hundreds of
thousands of enslaved people were also liberated from the West African
coast and the Atlantic Ocean and taken to Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
All these people brought their hybrid cultures with them and juxtaposed
them with what they found in their new environment. And although these
people were victims of circumstances beyond their control, they made
immense contributions to the development of the world.