Euro-American Influence On Madagascar

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Madagascar’s position within established trade networks underwent a significant change with the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope by Bartolomeu Dias and his Portuguese ships. What had been an endpoint on a spur of the Indian Ocean trade network became a noteworthy player in an increasingly global system of trade. Madagascar provided slaves for the growing colonial empires of Europe, supplies for European shipping and, for a brief time between 1690 and 1720, was a haven for pirates. These pirates had a considerable impact on a network of trade that included the British East India Company, the native population of Madagascar (the Malagasy), the Mogul Empire and the British Colonies in the Americas. In tracing the development of pirate activity …show more content…
First, as Jane Hooper argues, “…the age of piracy coincided with a period of rapid state development within Madagascar, as various European and American groups introduced oceanic trade to regions that had been isolated from this trade previously.” The pirates did not simply exist on the island, independent of the native populations; they interacted with and in the long run changed the nature of leadership and life on Madagascar. As Hooper states, “The elites of Madagascar formed close relationships with the Euro-American pirates who temporarily lived on their shores. In time, these elites established new states using strategies they gained through their contact with pirates.” Creole populations developed on Madagascar, which traced their lineage down to the pirate intruders. These populations became active players in the trade networks that developed as the British gained a stronger foothold in the Indian …show more content…
Secretary Vernon wrote to the Council of Trade and Plantation on February 28, 1698, “…the King has ordered the Admiralty to appoint two fourth-rate and a sixth-rate to be sent to the East Indies for the suppression of the pirates in those seas, either by force or by bringing them to submission upon terms of pardon and mercy.” Throughout the rest of 1698 there was a back and forth between the various politicians in the American Colonies and British officials in an attempt to set up Thomas Warren as captain of a mission to go and take care of the pirate menace. In addition, a variety of first hand accounts of pirate attacks were submitted to officials in an attempt to outline the problem at hand. By July, Captain Warren responded to the Council of Trade and Plantations, “According to your orders I have enquired as to the navigable part between this and Madagascar. I find that we may go at all times of the year. The East India Company have several ships now going for India, which is far more difficult navigation than that to Madagascar with regard to the time of year.” By October, money was allotted to the mission. The actions of Captain Warren, or a similar mission, must have been successful for as Virginia Bever writes, “Concerted
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