John Fage

John Donnelly Fage FRHistS (3 June 1921 – 6 August 2002) was a British historian who was among the first academics to specialise in African history, especially of the pre-colonial period, in the United Kingdom and West Africa. Quotes The rise of Benin...is closely connected with the European demand for slaves...The profits from the trade with the Europeans gave the rulers and merchants of Benin an incentive and also, in the form of firearms, the means, to extend their rule...By the end of the seventeenth century, however, the continual warfare was destroying the prosperity and even the structure of the state...Large parts of the city were deserted and left to crumble into ruins. Trade, even the trade in slaves, declined, and, as European traders came ever less frequently to the city, so the purpose of slave-raids became increasingly to provide victims for human sacrifices. Eventually, of all the greatness of Benin, all that survived was the unchecked and self-destructive lust of its rulers for power and human booty. An Introduction to the History of West Africa, 3rd ed. (Cambridge University Press, 1962) pp. 92–93. Quoted in James D. Graham, "The Slave Trade, Depopulation and Human Sacrifice in Benin History: The General Approach", Cahiers d'Études Africaines, vol. 5, no. 18 (1965) p. 318. See also: A. M. Boisragon External links Category:1921 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Historians from England Category:People educated at Tonbridge School Category:University of Cambridge alumni Category:University of Birmingham faculty Category:People from London