The African Atlantic islands in maritime history during the Ancien Régime

  1. Santana-Pérez, Juan Manuel 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
    info

    Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

    Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01teme464

Journal:
International journal of maritime history

ISSN: 0843-8714

Year of publication: 2018

Volume: 30

Issue: 4

Pages: 634-648

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1177/0843871418803301 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: International journal of maritime history

Abstract

This paper aims at describing and explaining certain common characteristics that have endured in the African Atlantic islands by virtue of the fact that these islands depend on centres of authority located at considerable distances away. Their location on linking routes to three continents led to the first globalization since the world economic shifts of the 16th century. The islands have sometimes been described metaphorically as a bridge, but we prefer to speak of maritime doors. These islands have been an entrance and exit for goods, people, culture, and ideas, opened or closed, depending on your point of view, through the modern age as European penetration spread. It includes the archipelagos of the Middle Atlantic, the cases of Madeira, the Canaries, Cape Verde, São Tomé, and Principe, and the Guinea Islands of Bioko, Corisco, and Annobon.