# Agents of transformation  
In the same period, and with a variety of issues as their starting points, studies by African historians, including J. F. Ade Ajayi and Isaac A. Akinjogbin, highlighted how Brazilian freedpersons in the Bight of Benin contributed to nineteenth-century trade relations and the local political sphere, in addition to underlining the role of this community in the fight for independence in the second half of the twentieth century (Ajayi, 1965; Akinjogbin, 1967; MortonWilliams, 1964). Among the points addressed by these works, in particular by that of Ajayi on the history of Brazilians in Nigeria in the nineteenth century, was the relationship between these individuals and the freedpersons who returned from other regions of the Caribbean, along with those who had been recaptured and sent to Sierra Leone and who had integrated into the 'Brazilians' group. The contribution of these returnees to the spread of Christianity, agricultural labour and European habits was also brought to the fore. Along the same lines, Brazilian researcher Alcione M. Amos conducted a study on the returnee communities of Togo and Ghana, providing an abundance of local sources and focusing on family history. He highlighted the role played by the communities that grew on the west coast of Africa and emphasized their relationship with Brazil and contribution to civilization in the nineteenth century - the period during which they established themselves in these societies.