Dr Rita Pemberton

THE EUROPEAN countries which vied for possession of Tobago were intent on using the island to produce items which were highly valued in Europe. There was a high demand for tropical goods, particularly sugar, which attracted very high prices on the European markets.

A part of the competition for possession of Tobago was related to the need to obtain islands which were not fully occupied by any European country and were deemed to be 'unoccupied' and therefore available for the taking. Hence an intense rivalry for possession of Tobago developed during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The rival nations which sought possession of Tobago all had plans to establish plantations on the island and therefore one of their priority areas was to provide the means to satisfy the labour needs for the establishment and operation of plantations.

The Dutch had established themselves as traders of the world, supplying labour and other essential items to the European colonies in the Americas and the Caribbean. It is therefore no surprise that the Dutch were the first Europeans to organise trade with Tobago, where they made a settlement and sought to claim it as a Dutch possession.

But the Dutch were not the only suppliers because each European country sought the means to provide its colonies with labour rather than depend on supplies from their rivals. Quite naturally, because the prevailing sentiment of the era, Africa was seen as the source of bodies that were suitable for labour and were available in large numbers.

The savage trade which commodified human beings had already been developed and was operative in Barbados when Tobago was subject to the myriad claims of European countries. While the island's labour supply was brought from Africa, three factors are noteworthy.

Firstly, the ships which crossed the Atlantic with the human captives sailed from the coast of West Africa.

Secondly, each European country established its own forts, which played an important role in the trade of African bodies for they functioned as trading posts, they housed the captives until the ships crossing the Atlantic arrived and were ready to load their cargo.

In addition, European rivalry was reflected in the trade during which Africans were captured and sold. The forts served as military defences because the trade was pursued with intense competition from rival European traders.

The main Portuguese fort was El Mina, which was built in 1482 and fitted with cannons facing the sea to ward off rival traders. French forts were established on Goree Island in Cape Verde and Saint Louis in Senegal. The Dutch established their forts in the area called the Dutch Gold Coast, which included Dutch Guinea, and they captured El Mina from the Portuguese. The British established over 50 forts between the Senegambia and the Bight of Benin.

By these means, the European participants empowered themselves to defend their leg of the human trade.

Thirdly, the departure points from the African coast are no indication of t