Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction; 2. The Aro in the Atlantic context: expansion and shifts, 1600s-1807; 3. The trade diaspo ra in regional context: commercial organization in the era of expansion , 1740-1850; 4. Culture formation in the trading frontier, c.1740-c.185 0; 5. Household and market persons: deportees and society, c.1740-c.185 0; 6. The slave trade, gender, and culture; 7. Cultural and economic ch ange after the overseas slave trade era; 8. Summary and conclusions.

"The Slave Trade and Culture in the Bight of Biafra dissects and exp lains the structure, dramatic expansion, and manifold effects of the sl ave trade in the Bight of Biafra. By showing that the rise of the Aro m erchant group was the key factor in trade expansion, G. Ugo Nwokeji rei nterprets why and how such large-scale commerce developed in the absenc e of large-scale centralized states. The result is the first study to l ink the structure and trajectory of the slave trade in a major exportin g region to the expansion of a specific African merchant group - among other fresh insights into Atlantic Africa's involvement in the trade - and the most comprehensive treatment of Atlantic slave trade in the Big ht of Biafra. The fundamental role of culture in the organization of tr ade is highlighted, transcending the usual economic explanations in a w ay that complicates traditional generalizations about work, domestic sl avery, and gender in pre-colonial Africa"-- Provided by publisher.