Ghanaian Akan drummer with a drum from the early 18th century. It was crafted in the Akan culture of Ghana, West Africa, approximately 300 years ago. It is speculated that the drum was carried across the Atlantic by slaves. Slaves were kept physically fit for work on slave plantations by playing drums and making them dance during the journeys.

Ghanaian Akan drummer with a drum from the early 18th century.

It was crafted in the Akan culture of Ghana, West Africa, approximately 300 years ago.

It is speculated that the drum was carried across the Atlantic by slaves. Slaves were kept physically fit for work on slave plantations by playing drums and making them dance during the journeys.

Forcibly suppressing enslaved Africans and their culture included the confiscation and prohibition of drums in North America. Virginia, then a British colony and now a state in the United States, is where a Reverend Clerk first came into possession of the drum around 1730. From there, it made its way into the collection of Sir Hans Sloane and eventually to the British Museum.