The Slave Trade's African Wars: Dahomey and the Fall of Whydah

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into a brutal chapter of the transatlantic slave trade that's often glossed over: the African wars that supplied the captives. They focus on the Kingdom of Dahomey and its conquest of Whydah in 1727, a campaign that reshaped the slave trade on the West African coast. Lucas explains how Dahomey, under King Agaja, turned slave raiding into a state-sponsored enterprise, capturing thousands of war captives for European traders at the coast. The conversation touches on the role of female soldiers, the infamous 'Amazon' corps, and the broader political chess game between Dahomey, Oyo, and European powers like Portugal and France. They also discuss the moral complexity of African kings participating in the trade, and how the wealth from selling humans transformed Dahomey into a regional superpower. Luna asks about the difference between coastal kingdoms and inland states, and Lucas clarifies how the slave trade's violence was not just European. The episode ends with a reflective note on how we remember the victims, not just the systems, and a brief mention of listener support. #Dahomey #Whydah #Agaja #SlaveTrade #WestAfrica #Oyo #Ouidah #1727 #AfricanHistory #RoyalAfricanCompany #AtlanticHistory #Slavery #FrenchTrade #PortugueseTrade #AmazonCorps #FexingoHistory #History #Colonialism Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo