The Land of No Return: Isle de Goree

The Gate of No Return

Gate of No Return

Located at a lovely beach, the door of no return is a monument that reveals a part of local history: Ouidah (the capital of Benin voodoo) is the city from which went slaves sold by their countrymen who were then purchased by whites. The door of no return inexorably marked the transition out of the homeland. The men who died before they were through the door and then initiates were still buried in the ground, but after the past were no longer men and were thrown into the ocean. With four bas-reliefs depicting a fight between some slaves chained and various other representations as male and female figures kneeling, the door of no return is a must for those who spend their holidays in Ouidah.

http://www.globeholidays.net/Africa/Benin/Ouidah/Ouidah_Door_Of_No_Return1.htm

Ouidah: Social History Of West African (Western African Studies) Robin Law (1)

Ouidah and Dahomey, like Elmina and Asante, represent some of the most recognizable names of West African ports and states during the transatlantic slave trade. Robin Law's new work builds upon a historiographical tradition that explores Ouidah's role, especially after the Dahomean conquest, in that trade. While much of the literature on Dahomey and the Asante stresses the role of the state in controlling and profiting from exchange, Law successfully changes this perspective by focusing upon the "evolution of the merchant community" (p. 3). As Law convincingly shows, Ouidah's merchant community proved successful in gaining some degree of economic freedom from the Dahomean political structure. Over time, a system developed at Ouidah where both the Dahomean state and the local transatlantic merchant community could profit from the slave trade and, later, legitimate trade. In laying the foundations for a social history of Ouidah, Law places it within its larger Atlantic context by examining how internal and external factors influenced its development.

http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=11029

Whydah or Ouida

Pirate Bartholomew Roberts at Ouidah, with his ship and captured merchantmen in the background

In local tradition Kpase is supposed to have founded the town.^[4] This probably happened towards the end of the sixteenth century.^[5]The town was originally known as Glēxwé, literally 'Farmhouse', and was part of the kingdom of Xwéda.

In 1727 the Kingdom of Whydah was captured by the forces of King Agaja of Dahomey.

The Portuguese, English, Dutch, and French all constructed forts in the city to protect their interests in slaving. The Portuguese reached the town they called Ajudá in 1580 and the Portuguese Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá, now housing a museum, dates from 1721 and remained with Portugal until 31 July 1961.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouidah

Slavery Record: Duc du Maine

Source: Africans in Colonial Louisiana By Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, American Council of Learned Societies