Late 19th–Early 20th Century: (Captives and Labor: Colonial Rule Not Ending Slavery Because It Was Too Widespread and Too Useful, the Legal Basis Simply Not…

Late 19th–Early 20th Century: (Captives and Labor: Colonial Rule Not Ending Slavery Because It Was Too Widespread and Too Useful, the Legal Basis Simply Not Recognized but the Enslaved Discouraged from Leaving, Zanzibar 1897 and Northern Nigeria Not Until 1936, Slavery Continuing in Portuguese Territories and Ethiopia into the Interwar Years, and Formally Free Labor Often Treated as Mere Captives by African Employers): One of the stated aims of the civilizing mission had been to crush the last vestiges of slavery. But colonial rule did not end slavery. It was too widespread in African polity and society, and too useful for stability. Colonial authorities approached abolition with caution, conscious of the economic cost and potential upheaval of abruptly emancipating the enslaved population. In many territories the legal basis of slavery was simply not recognized, but the enslaved were discouraged from actually leaving, prevented from owning land and not assisted to resettle. In Zanzibar in 1897, formerly enslaved people continued working on the plantations as before. In northern Nigeria under indirect rule, slavery was abolished only with the caveat that the enslaved had to purchase their own freedom, continuing until it was finally made illegal in 1936. Slavery continued in Portuguese territories well into the twentieth century despite being outlawed in 1878, and persisted in Ethiopia until at least the interwar years. African employers and ruling elites often treated formally free labor as mere captives. In the cocoa-producing areas of Nigeria and the Gold Coast, the labor of the enslaved was central to the cash-crop economy.