A permanent exhibition of artefacts from the slave trade, inside Cape Coast Castle

In 1471, the Portuguese landed on Ghana's shores in search of gold, which they found in abundance. By the end of the seventeenth century, Britain had joined the Portuguese and other European powers in the fight for Ghana's many resources. But instead of dealing in gold, Britain decided to get into an even more lucrative business, the slave trade.

A slave trade had existed in Africa long before the Europeans or Americans arrived, but slaves were incidental captives of inter-tribal war and relatively few in number. The transatlantic slave trade operated on an unprecedented scale, was ruthlessly well-organised, and had a devastating effect on African society. It is estimated that between 12 and 20 million Africans were transported across the Atlantic between the late seventeenth century and early nineteenth century. Slaves were subjected to a five-week trip in conditions so cramped and unhygienic that it was not unusual for a boat to lose half its slaves in transit.

The slave trade out of the Gold Coast continued unabated throughout the eighteenth century, but as the century drew to a close ,the anti-slavery lobby became an increasingly powerful voice in Europe. In 1804, Denmark abolished the slave trade, followed by Britain in 1807, the USA in 1808, and Holland, France, Portugal, and Spain between 1814 and1817.