Instead, the Europeans were only able to establish trading
stations where local kings permitted it. With the exception of a
few raiding parties which seized Africans and carried them off as
slaves, most slave acquisition was done through hard bargaining
and a highly systematized trading process. The Europeans were
never allowed to penetrate inland, and they found that they
always had to treat the African kings and their agents as business
equals. Many of the early European visitors, in fact, were
impressed by the luxury, power, trading practices, skilled crafts,
and the complex social structure which they found in Africa. Only
in some parts of East Africa, where the states were unusually
small, were the Portuguese able to pillage and conquer at will.
While many Europeans may have thought of Africa as being filled
with ignorant savages, those who reached its shores were
impressed instead with its vigorous civilization.
The Culture of West Africa
An African should not have to find it necessary to make apologies
for his civilization. However, Europeans and Americans have come
to believe, at least in their subconscious minds, that civilization
can be equated with progress in science and technology.
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