Encyclopedia of African American History

Signares  99

Senegambia had long been in contact with and was in-

fl uenced by surrounding Muslim peoples, and many Sen-

egambian traders and social elite were Muslim. Th e greater

population generally subscribed at least superfi cially to

Islam. During various eras in the region’s history, Islamic

revival movements sprang forth, particularly during the

19th century. Th e jihad of Umar Tal (1797–1864) in the

mid-19th century resulted in the establishment of the Tu-

kulor Empire, which encompassed the eastern portions of

Senegambia. Tukulor and all of Senegambia were eventu-

ally folded into the colony of French West Africa in 1895.

See also: Atlantic Slave Trade; Futa Jallon; Ghana; Gorée Is-

land; Mali; Rice Cultivation; Sahel; Sierra Leone; Songhai

Brent D. Singleton

Bibliography

Barry, Boubacar. Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade. New

York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Curtin, Philip D. Economic Change in Precolonial Africa: Senegam-

bia in the Era of the Slave Trade. Madison: University of Wis-

consin Press, 1975.

Signares

Th e signares were a group of primarily mixed-race women

who lived on the islands of Saint-Louis and Gorée in Sen-

egal, West Africa, during the 17th and 18th centuries. Saint-

Louis is located in the Senegal River. Gorée is approximately

one-half-mile long and only a few hundred yards wide and

is located by the Cape Verde Peninsula. Th ese islands had

European settlements established by the French, Portu-

guese, and Dutch beginning in the mid-1600s. Th e signares

were able to obtain great wealth and esteemed social sta-

tus and became icons of beauty and fashion through the

18th century.

Th e European men who settled on these islands were

typically sailors and soldiers from France. Th ese men mar-

ried the local women, who oft en were mixed-race women.

Th e women who entered into these marriages were active

in trade, as women tended to dominate the marketplaces

of West Africa. Th e houses that the signares lived in were

known for their beauty. Many of the houses were at least

two stories; the fi rst fl oor would contain the kitchen, store-

rooms, and holding cells for slaves that were for sale. Th e

features in grammar, vocabulary, and phonetics. Jamaican
Patois, Papiamento in Curacao, and Gullah in South Caro-
lina are just a small handful of examples of this. In addi-
tion, when new Africans became familiar with the tenants
of Euro-American Christianity, they Africanized that too—
inserting spirit possession, music, expressive dance, and
the belief of transmigration in the creation of new religious
forms. Finally, the unique foodways, folklore, and healing
traditions of new Africans found new and transformed ex-
pressions throughout the Western Hemisphere.
See also: Acculturation; Atlantic Slave Trade; Gullah; Salt-
Water Negroes

Walter C. Rucker

Bibliography
Curtin, Philip. Th e Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. Madison: Uni-
versity of Wisconsin Press, 1969.
Davidson, Basil. Th e African Slave Trade: Precolonial History,
1 450– 1 850. Boston: Little, Brown, 1961.
Handler, Jerome S. “Survivors of the Middle Passage: Life Histo-
ries of Enslaved Africans in British America.” Slavery and Ab-
olition 23 (2002):25–56.
Th omas, Hugh. Th e Slave Trade: Th e Story of the Atlantic Slave
Trade, 1 440– 1 870. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997.

Senegambia

Senegambia is the West African region that comprises por-
tions of the Futa Jallon Plateau and the Senegal and Gambia
river basins, corresponding to all or part of modern-day
Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Senegal, as well as portions
of Guinea, Mali, and Mauritania. Due to its relative geo-
graphical proximity to both Europe and the Americas, Por-
tuguese, Dutch, British, and French trading outfi ts fought
for domination and the establishment of trade centers in
the region. Th e Europeans developed coastal centers such
as Gorée Island and Saint-Louis, both of which were used
extensively to engage in the slave trade. As a consequence,
Senegambia became a predominant source of slaves sent to
the New World during the 15th and 16th centuries, sup-
plying up to 40 percent of all slaves during some periods.
By the early 17th century, Senegambia became less reliant
on the slave trade by diversifying its exports to agriculture,
animal products, and other natural resources, from then on
supplying only 10 percent or less of total slaves.