European industrialization restructured West African trade before formal colonial rule began.

Evidence

Long-distance trade specialized in luxury items such as slaves, kola nuts, and salt. External trade was of course also well established by the end of the nineteenth century; indeed, after the demise of the European and American slave markets in the 185o’s, and with the onset of industrialization in Europe, a veritable “trade revolution” had taken place in West Africa. At that time, local farmers began to specialize in, and export in ever-increasing quantities, oleaginous products demanded by Europe’s burgeoning industrial sector. The most important of these products were palm oil and peanuts, although gum arabic, rubber, ivory, cotton, and timber were also traded. In return, cheap manufactured goods began flowing into West Africa, principally textiles, spirits, salt, iron, tobacco, guns, and gunpowder. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 114

Categorization

• QUESTION: How did this trade revolution reshape West African social structures and what did French claims of ‘civilizing missions’ leave out about preexisting commercialization?
• ADDENDUM: Relevant to the reader’s goal of understanding the republicans’ framing of empire: French claims of bringing commerce may have obscured an already-existing trade network.