One aspect of the slave trade that we all know about in principle but don't know about the details he's the role of the local Africans on the supply side of the equation. It turns out that in the early days of the slave trade the Africans were very much in control of it. The European trading stations were there purely at the whim of the local African chieftains. They might look like forts armed with guns, that the guns were aimed outwards to deter other Europeans not to impose their will on the local inhabitants.
It's a fascinating insight into something which it doesn't really get talked about very much. The sad reality is that man's inhumanity man is pretty much colourblind.
http://newbooksinhistory.com/crossposts/randy-j-sparks-where-the-negroes-are-masters-harvard-up-2014/
