Primary sources:
- Breaking up the slave-trade. (1850). The African Repository (1850–1892), 26(10), 298. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/89573711?accountid=14784This textual article will help my paper in many ways. This article explains the slave trading on the coast of Africa and Atlantic Ocean. This detailed article describes which areas of Africa had slavery and which agencies were in control of certain ports of slave trade. Knowing which areas held slavery and under which agencies helps explain the relations between those agencies and slaves. For an example, although the British had jurisdiction in many areas of Africa they had blocked some areas of slave transportation. Also, the British seemed to be losing much power in Africa when the French took over some of their ports. It’s important to see where slavery is supported and where it is not supported and for what reasons can help us better understand slave trading. This source is credible because it’s pulled from The African Repository from slave trade periods.
- Mayer, Brantz.“Inspection and Sale of a Negro”. (1854).
This is a picture of a colonial male fully dressed in explorer type of clothing that is inspecting a slave that is in chains and wearing a cloth around his waist only. I felt this picture is important for my paper because it shows how even with loaded guns and group of colonizer that the slave that is being inspected is still chained. Also, the three African natives standing behind the slave are holding guns so it looks like the slave was sold for some guns. This source is credible because the slave painter’s name was attached to the picture.
Secondary sources:
- Rodney, Walter. “African slavery and other forms of social oppression on the Upper Guinea coast in the context of the Atlantic slave-trade.” The Journal of African History7.03 (1966): 431–443.
This article will help my paper because it discusses slavery as it still was in Africa before the boom of slavery towards the Americas. It describes how slavery was pre-existing in Africa and before imperial control. His paper talks about how most African natives before were in a serving position towards local agencies like servants for a king. The article discusses slavery of Africans by Africans in different parts of Africa, which will help with the background portion for my paper. It’ll also help me understand slave relations by understanding the history of it.
- Curtin, Philip D. The Atlantic slave trade: a census. Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1972.
This is a book that gives a good census of the Atlantic slave trade and gives numerical data based for how many slaves were sold, bought, and brought to the Americas. It gives an overview of slave trade in Africa then in Americas. It’s important to look at the slave trade that happened after the first initial slave trade because then it shows how slavery was reinforced and maintained across seas.
Jaspreet Kaur
HSTCMP 358
Smallwood
29 May 2015
Slave Trade
Trading slaves was a common practice amongst Africans and the Middle East region the new development of slave trade by the Atlantic voyages brought new forms of slavery. With the boom in the industries across the Atlantic Ocean slave trading intensified back in Africa to where people are being kidnapped and forced into slavery. Many regulations by the Imperial British Crown were set out to even end slave trade practices however such regulations failed when it came to implementing and enforcing them. I will be focusing on the new form of slave trade and how it came to be from the original consented slavery to the new type of slavery, which was for filling a new economic structure across the ocean.
Prior to the Atlantic slavery time period of late 16th century to the 18th century, slavery was pre-existing even in European countries. For an example, in the book The Atlantic Slave Trade the author Herbert Klein brings to attention that “slavery still existed in Europe in 1492. Like almost all complex societies in world history until that time, the states of Europe had known slaves from their earliest foundations, and slavery in earlier centuries had been a fundamental labor institution” (Klein, 01). This is very crucial to look at because prior to the Atlantic slave trade practices there was already an existing foundation of slave trading meaning that trading slave was not a new concept. With a pre-existing regulation of slave trading and treatment we can better understand the difference between slave trading before the Americas versus slave trade for the Americas and within the Americas. Since slaves were already a part of the European countries it means that Europeans knew slaves would provide an efficient source of labor therefore motivating the purchases of slaves from Africa. The slaves in Europe were mostly distinguished from other workers like peasants and serfs wasn’t the labor work they provided or any specialization in work, but their lack of familial and communal ties. Slaves are people who are not connected to anyone but their masters and solely rely on their masters (Klein, 02).
However European societies adopted this slave system from the Greeks and Romans, which closely relates to the slave system and practices of the Americas (Klein, 04). The close connection Roman slavery had with the American slavery is the legal scripture around slaves and masters. The dialogue in these legal scriptures displays the same type of ownership of slaves we see in Americas. For an example, Thomas Wiedemann points out in his book Greek and Roman Slavery “The legal convention is an agreement that whatever is captured is the course of warfare is said to belong to the conqueror” (Wiedemann, 17). This relates to slave ownership in the Americas when free slaves would easily fall victim of false ownership of masters claiming slaves as their property. Also, this relates to runaway slaves that have their masters searching for them and claiming them as their property.
There can be a common misconception that slave trade was finalized and only existed in Africa, but trading slaves still continued to exist in the Americas. In this article by Hugh A. Garland he goes on to describe the re-selling and buying of slaves in the Virginia colony. This piece of text shows how slaves take on the same identity, as does property. Slaves are no longer seen as human beings but a commodity of their own labor.
As slavery progressed in the Atlantic slave trade many people began to notice the barbaric practices that followed slavery. Therefore, the Imperial British Crown closed down many of their ports and in their territorial colonized regions banned slavery. In a newsletter called Breaking Up The Slave Trade from the 1850 time period, it showed the regions of them that were under the British regime had closed down their ports and stopped slavery practices. But, in neighboring areas slavery still existed either under the French, Portugal, or Spain. Slave trading of slaves in these areas in Africa didn’t only happen in formal large quantities but also informally. One constant half true fact that people believe is true is that white colonizers just took slaves but since slave trade has been a long practicing labor mechanism Africans sold other Africans. As we can see in the picture below which is painted by Brantz Mayer a former free slave in the time period 1854, we can see what looks like a trade off of a gun supplied by the colonists for another African slave brought by Africans. However, this process soon began to crumble
When other Africans noticed they were being kidnapped and taken without consent for slavery. The author James F. Searing shows in his book West African Slavery and Atlantic Commerce that when other Africans who are not slaves were being kidnapped and taken far away that they began to hide and seek protection (Searing, 02).
terrific use of terminology in the piece, it in reality did help when i was reading
These are great sources Jaspreet! One thing to note: you need to show us the image you are using! Where does it come from? You have to include all the relevant bibliographic details so a reader can go find the image him/herself if they want to.