ABSTRACT
In ancient legend a unicorn is a horse-like creature with a single, spiraled horn sprouting from its forehead. In its most effective incarnation the logic of continuous dealings amounts to a society-wide boycott of people who misbehave: cheat someone today and no one will deal with you tomorrow, or indeed ever again. Precolonial Africans took a feature of their broader society that threatened to prevent anarchic cooperation-cultural diversity-and turned it to their advantage. But to find it we need to narrow our sights on the west-central part of the continent where in the nineteenth century a trade flourished in beeswax, ivory, and wild rubber destined for export to Europe. To address these difficulties pirates developed a system of constitutional democracy. Precolonial Africans took a feature of their broader society that threatened to prevent anarchic cooperation—cultural diversity—and turned it to their advantage.
