American-East African relations: 1827-1861

Abstract

The United States was not only the first nation to have a commercial treaty with East Africa but also during the pre-Civil War period it held the eminent trade position in that part of the world over England, France, the Hanseatic States, and India. The relationship between America and East Africa was fascinating because of the colorful characters playing the leading roles in this spirited drama--the Americans, Arabs, Indians, Englishmen, Frenchmen, and, to a lesser extent, the Germans and Africans--and because of the exotic and debilitating locale where most of the action took place: the island of Zanzibar. (Zanzibar was the entrepot for the East African commerce.) Of major interest, too, is the desperate struggle of the Salem merchants, by capturing the Zanzibar market, to survive in the intense competition with Boston and New York for overseas business. During this remarkable period the American merchant marine was pioneering to establish new frontiers of trade. Perhaps the efforts in Zanzibar to maintain the dominant commercial position for a quarter of a century reveal as well as in any place and time the Yankee character. Perseverance, ingenuity, determination, and courage explain the success of these indestructible New Englanders as they battled against innumerable difficulties and challenges to their supremacy. Only the American Civil War could break their dominance and end the heyday of American influence in that remote area of the world. The Salemites had a number of factors going for them in East Africa: (1) they arrived on the scene first among western nations and just at the moment when Said, the able sultan of Zanzibar and East Africa, was laying the foundation for a commercial empire and offered enticing trade arrangements; (2) they had ideal ships for the requirements of the trade; (3) they offered a highly popular product--merikani (cotton cloth)--which had profound repercussions in East Africa; (4) they managed to get their own people named as consuls in Zanzibar; (5) they were not interfered with by their own government because Washington officials had no political interest in East Africa and acted only to protect the commercial investment; (6) they were well received and respected by Said, his officials, Indian and Arab traders, and the Zanzibari people, because they were dependable, willing to adjust to the East African environment, and did not intervene in Said's domestic affairs. Though they played no direct role in Zanzibari politics, nevertheless where these matters affected business the American consuls were persistent in seeking to protect the American trade position. True, these five consuls-- Richard P. Waters, Charles Ward, William McMullan, Daniel H. Mansfield, and W. G. Webb--were diplomatic amateurs but they knew well the interests of Salem and the United States economically and to this end they served with distinction.