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Lagos Chicago Research Paper

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The city of Lagos, Nigeria, has a long and complex history. The history of the city is connected to the geographical location of the city. It is the connection of geography and historical events of the city that account for the complexity of Lagos’ history. Looking at the history of Lagos one sees that the city grew to become an economic center through its geography. The economic growth from trade drew the slave trade in the city. Eventually, the slave made the city one of the largest slave trading centers in Western Africa. The slave trade created wealth and this created British interest in the city. The wealth of the city attached the British to colonize. Lagos grew out of its geographical location, specifically allowing for the combination …show more content…

One of the largest growth factors for Lagos was the building of a regional and city-based economy. This was not simply the local economy of the city, but the economy connected to the interior region, as well. The “economic effects of the [slave] trade… [created] the growth of commerce at Lagos [and] stimulated a broader expanse of trade linking the town and market in the interior.” The legitimate trade allowed for the formation of an economic center in the city, and the slave trade came to the city once legitimate forms of trade were established. This meant that the city had a system already in place for the slave trade to form itself around and it allowed for the creation of wealth from the slave …show more content…

An event that was considered to have far-reaching historical consequences, but it’s rooted in this history of the city. The trade at the city was from Lago’s geographical location. This allowed for the slave trade to start. Regional captives arrived at the city to be sold to slave traders. Fighting in the interior allowed for Lagos to become wealthy for it created a follow of captives to be sold as slaves and then Europeans started to settle in the city. Europeans knew that they can make wealth in the city and this lead to the British intervention in eighteen fifty-one. It was the prosperity of the slave trade which goes back to the other forms of legitimate trade. Each trade was connected to the city by geography. This reveals that Lagos has a complex history that builds upon itself and is centered on the city’s geographical location. Looking through Lagos’ history reveals that what came before connects to what comes next for the city. The history of Lagos was a series of interlocking events that created a complex history and the next historical event for the city was the British intervention in eighteen

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