Trade Patterns in Ghana at the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

r 1HE end of the seventeenth century is especially important in the historical geography of Ghana; for many of the features of the country's present human geography appeared or began to evolve at that time. The fundamental tribal structure had been formed, and the population was engaged in a number of economic activities whose basic organizational characteristics have persisted into the twentieth century. Politically, Ghana was a medley of independent states, and whatever coherence it possessed it owed to the intricate network of major and minor routes along which men from all parts of the country traveled to trade. In the same way Ghana was drawn closer to other West African countries and to Europe through trade. Trading, a major source of income, was a carefully organized economic activity and was conducted at three levels: local, regional, and international.