Cape Coast Castle () is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. Cape Coast Castle is located in the Central Region of Ghana. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, established in 1555, which was named Cabo Corso, meaning "Short Cape."
In 1653, a timber fort was constructed by the Swedish Africa Company. The fort originally was named Carolusborg after Charles X Gustav and was built as a center for timber and gold trade. In the 18th century, its dungeons were used in the Atlantic slave trade. Other Ghanaian slave castles include Elmina Castle and Fort Christiansborg. They were used to harbor enslaved Africans before they were loaded onto ships and sold in the Americas, especially the Caribbean. This "gate of no return" was the last stop before crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Coast Castle, along with other forts and castles in Ghana, are included on the UNESCO World Heritage List because of their testimony to the Atlantic gold and slave trades.
The large quantity of gold dust found in Ghana was what primarily attracted European traders, and many natives of Cape Coast used this to their advantage. In exchange for gold, mahogany, and other locally produced goods and enslaved captives, local Africans received clothing, blankets, spices, sugar, silk and many other items. Cape Coast Castle was a market where this barter trade took place. In addition, the "Account of the Limits and Trade of the Royal African Company" stated the agent-general at Cape Coast Castle would supply trading forts with goods intended to be traded for gold, ivory, and slaves.William St Clair, The Door of No Return (New York, NY: BlueBridge, 2007), 18.
Enslaved Africans were a valuable commodity in the Americas, the Middle East, and elsewhere, and enslaved people were the main trade in Cape Coast. Due to this, many changes were made to the fort. One of the alterations was the addition of large, underground dungeons that could hold as many as a thousand enslaved people awaiting export. Many European nations flocked to the area in order to get a foothold in the slave trade. The business was very competitive, which led to conflict and for this reason, the forts changed hands many times during the course of its commercial history.
In 1672, the "Royal African Company of England was given a legal monopoly on English trade ‘for a thousand years’ along the entire western coast of Africa from the edge of the desert in the north to the Cape of Good Hope in the south," and the company would expand Cape Coast Castle in the decades to come. The Royal African Company found itself unable to enforce its monopoly due to a loss of ships from pirates and privateers and unafflicted slave captains who could undercut their prices because they "paid nothing towards the costs of the Castle and the forts”.William St Clair, The Door of No Return (New York, NY: BlueBridge, 2007), 56
Slaves were valuable enough that the French were forbidden from trading "in Africa, at cape Appollonia, or between it and the river Volta, where, and at Popo and Whidah, to the eastward of that river," where slaves were obtained for sugar plantations. Such that, the "late company’s governor" at Cape Coast Castle upon seeing a French ship, sent a messenger with the following message, "You are ordered on board the French vessel, to tell the master, the governor and council do not make trade with the subjects of France, nor do they suffer the natives to trade with them. But as there subsists a good friendship and alliance between the king of Great Britain and the French king, if the master should be distressed for water, or such like necessaries, he might have it upon application, by admitting an officer on board, to prevent his having intercourse with the natives, or others, till he should have received such supplies; but that he should not be allowed to trade to the westward of the river Volta, which if he attempted, proper measures would be taken to prevent and obstruct his commerce. Therefore, should he neglect those orders, and receive any damage thereby, it would be his own fault; as the governor and council held the trade of the Gold Coast, the indubitable right and property of the Royal African company of England."Robert Vaughan, and Thomas Carney, "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Considerations on the present peace, as far as it is relative to the colonies, and the African trade," Project Gutenberg, October 19, 2024. Considerations on the present peace, by various—A Project Gutenberg eBook
In 1750, the Royal African Company was abolished by the African Company Act 1750 (24 Geo. 2. c. 49), with Parliament also removing the monopoly of trading in Africa that had previously belonged to the Royal African Company. In its place, "Parliament provided a public subsidy to the slaving industry as a whole in the form of a block grant to a private sector body, the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, who took over the Castle, the forts, and the previous employees." The company's committee consisted of important members of the slaving industry in London, Bristol, and Liverpool.William St Clair, The Door of No Return (New York, NY: BlueBridge, 2007), 56
In 1777, the African Company of Merchants at Cape Coast Castle experienced stagnation by attempting to lower the price of slaves. Their plan was disrupted by a French ship that arrived at Annamaboa, and Captain Cotton intended on driving away the French ship to proceed with the company's intentions to lower the price of slaves.Roberts, John, and Rowland Cotton, Extracts from an Account of the State of the British Forts, on the Gold Coast of Africa, Taken by Captain Cotton, of His Majesty’s Ship, Pallas, in May, and June, 1777. To Which Are Added, Observations By John Roberts, Governor of Cape Coast Castle, in the Service of the Late Royal African Company of England, for the Management of Their Affairs, on the South Coast of Africa. (London: Printed for J. Bew, No. 28, Pater noster Row, 1788), 5.
Living conditions In Cape Coast Castle, the underground dungeon was a space of terror, death, and darkness. This stood as a direct juxtaposition to the European living quarters and commanding heights of the administrative quarters above, whose occupants lived relatively luxuriously. The basement of this imposing fortress was often the last experience enslaved people had of their homeland before being shipped off across the Atlantic, as this signified the beginning of their journey.Apter, Andrew. “History in the Dungeon: Atlantic Slavery and the Spirit of Capitalism in Cape Coast Castle, Ghana”. The American Historical Review, vol. 122, no. 1, 2017, pp. 23–54., doi:10.1093/ahr/122.1.23.
The dungeon was built into the rock foundation of the slave castle and is described as "[c]ut into the rock, beneath the parade ground” that formed part of the castle’s large, open courtyard, the facility “consist of[ed] of large vaulted cellars, divided into several apartments which [could] easily hold a thousand slaves.” It was unknown exactly when the dungeon was built. However, the dungeon is estimated to have been built by 1682.Stephanine Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery : A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press), 37.
Jean Barbot, a French traveler described the dungeon as "a very handsome place of arms, well paved; under which a spacious mansion, or place to keep slaves in, cut out of the rocky ground, arch’s, and divided into several rooms; so that it will conveniently contain a thousand Blacks, let down at an opening made for the purpose. The keeping of the slaves thus underground is a good security to the garrison against any insurrection."William St Clair, The Door of No Return (New York, NY: BlueBridge, 2007), 78.
In the first decade of the 18th century, Cape Coast Castle was determined to be overcrowded. In addition, the shackles were considered to be uncomfortable. The chief agent at Cape Coast Castle stated about the shackles, "Double Irons are too painful for ye Slaves."Stephanine Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery : A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press), 35.
Cape Coast Castle, among other slave castles and coasting slave ships, were locations intended on transforming its captives into slaves, along the lines of "a scientific empiricism always seeking to find the limits of human capacity for suffering."Stephanine Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery : A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press), 35.
However, not all slaves at Cape Coast Castle were slaves intended for the Atlantic slave trade. The Royal African Company distinguished between "shipping slaves," or "slaves in chains," slaves who were intended for the slave trade and "castle slaves," or "Arda slaves," slaves who lived and worked the Royal African Company at Cape Coast Castle.Stephanine Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery : A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press), 37.
At Cape Coast Castle, in January 1682, nine chests of corn were allocated daily for feeding the eight "chain slaves," in addition to one-fifth a bushel of grain. However, the supply of corn and its daily allocation depended on the local price of corn and the budget of the slave castle, and occasionally, the Cape Coast Castle could not feed all its prisoners. In June 1683, Cape Coast Castle had six chests of corn and an inability to acquire corn in the local market lead to its prisoners starving. The factor wrote, "Beg a supply within this week, else must send what slaves I have to Cabo Corso in the 5-hand canoe for they will be starved else.”Stephanine Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery : A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora (Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press), 37.
In 1777, Cape Coast Castle was reported to house 12 soldiers, and 288 castles slaves: 157 men, 96 women, and 35 children.Roberts, John, and Rowland Cotton, Extracts from an Account of the State of the British Forts, on the Gold Coast of Africa, Taken by Captain Cotton, of His Majesty’s Ship, Pallas, in May, and June, 1777. To Which Are Added, Observations By John Roberts, Governor of Cape Coast Castle, in the Service of the Late Royal African Company of England, for the Management of Their Affairs, on the South Coast of Africa. (London: Printed for J. Bew, No. 28, Pater noster Row, 1788), 5.
Building history The first fort established on the present site of Cape Coast Castle was built by Hendrik Caerloff for the Swedish Africa Company. Caerloff was a former employee of the Dutch West India Company who had risen to the rank of fiscal administrator before employing himself with the latter company established by Louis de Geer. As a former high-ranking officer of the Dutch, Caerloff had the friendly relations with the local chiefs necessary to establish a trading post. In 1650, Caerloff succeeded in getting the permission of the king of Fetu to establish a fort at Cabo Corso (meaning "short cape" in Portuguese, later corrupted to English Cape Coast). The first timber lodge was erected at the site in 1653 and named Carolusborg after King Charles X of Sweden.
Caerloff returned to Europe in 1655, leaving Johann Philipp von Krusenstjerna in charge of Carolusborg. Louis de Geer had, however, died in the meantime, and Caerloff got himself involved in a serious dispute with his heirs. In Amsterdam, he convinced merchants to give a financial injection to the Danish West India Company, for which he set sail to the Gold Coast in 1657, with the goal in mind to capture for Denmark the Swedish lodges and forts he had established himself. With the help of the Dutch, Caerloff succeeded in driving the Swedes out, leaving the Gold Coast on the captured ship Stockholm's Slott, and with Von Krusenstjerna on board as a prisoner.