Slaves formed majorities of West African town and state populations.

Evidence

Around commercial towns and in powerful states like Segu or Dahomey, slaves were a majority of the population, where they produced food and staffed the state. In desert-side areas slaves constituted 50 percent of the population; only in what is today southern Mali and eastern Senegal were slave concentrations small, and these areas served as labor reservoirs for more centralized societies to their north. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 109

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 109
• XREF: connects to: Slavery formed the demographic and economic backbone of precolonial West African states; Labor shortages and Atlantic commerce drove West African slavery’s expansion. — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 111

Broader Connections

• Slavery formed the demographic and economic backbone of precolonial West African states #corroborates (0.70)
• Labor shortages and Atlantic commerce drove West African slavery’s expansion. #expands (0.40) — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 111