The Barriers to Conversion

Abstract

From 1766 to 1816, the Rev. Philip Quaque, through the employ of the Society for the Gospel in Foreign Parts and the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, worked to proselytize and educate the Cape Coast people. As Quaque struggled to overcome the barriers to conversion erected by Cape Coast’s role as an Atlantic trade enclave, he penned a series of letters to the SPG that provide insight into his life and the trading community of Cape Coast. The life of Rev. Philip Quaque, especially his lack of missionary success and limited educational success at Cape Coast, provides insight into the workings of a Gold Coast trade enclave, nonetheless. To understand his successes and failures, one must understand how trade and interaction worked within this commercial and administrative center and from there we can better understand the insurmountable odds that Quaque faced within his labors.