by Freedom- The Overthrow of the Slave Empires (retail) (epub)
One historian above all demands special and respectful acknowledgement. The major volumes by David Brion Davis devoted to the various problems of slavery stand as a unique intellectual achievement. I hope his influence is clear, even in the necessarily truncated and crisp version I have used in my broad approach to this complex issue.
My thanks also go to Duncan Proudfoot for trusting me by commissioning this book, and to Howard Watson, whose excellent copy-editing greatly improved the final text – and, once again, to my agent Charles Walker.
As a young, inexperienced historian speaking to a group of historians meeting in Hull, I tried to make the case that slavery belongs at the centre of recent Western historical and economic experience. My remarks (doubtless too simple and naive) received a hostile response. This book might stand as my answer – fifty years late – to what, at the time, was a disheartening experience.
Index
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
AASS see American Anti-Slavery Society abolition 97, 263–4, 266
British 81, 90, 97, 99, 106–8, 110–23, 124–6, 133, 136, 141, 165–6, 189, 192, 194–5, 202, 228, 233–6, 239
European 85
Mexican 179
Modern-day 250, 251, 259
and the Quakers 100, 102–9, 113–16, 125
rise as political movement 106
and Spain 195, 198
in St-Domingue 88
US 108–9, 121, 147–9, 151–4, 156–7, 160–3, 165–9, 192, 241
and the wider world 23 3–42
Accra 5
Admiralty 112, 203
Africa xii, xiv, 1–10, 2, 12, 27, 35, 47, 94, 104, 213
Atlantic coast 3–8, 13, 17–19, 57
Benezet’s account of 105
and the Berlin Congress 238
and Brazil 200
and contemporary slavery 256, 257
East 235
enslavement in 61
European control of 239
and European trade 3–4
and the General Act of Brussels 240
and global abolition 235
Islamic 213
missionaries in 237
and the normalisation of trade with 117
North 13, 246
riches 3
river system 6
‘scramble for’ 235
slave trading locations 17–18
south-east 8
and Spain 175
traditional religious systems 127, 211–14, 218–19
West 5, 12, 13, 14, 194, 200
West-Central 8, 20
Western sympathy towards 102
African culture 43–4, 212–13
African diaspora, enforced 179
African diseases 4
African Free School 101
African languages 65
African slave forts 55
African slaves xi–xiv, 1–24, 2, 25–44, 47, 50, 99, 104, 247, 262–3
and the abolitionists 113, 116–17, 119, 121–2, 124–5, 237–40
and Brazil 202, 205–13, 217–18, 220, 231
and emancipation xv, 124–6, 129, 130–1,138
and the enslavement process 55–6
European justification of the use of 34
improving the conditions of 97–8, 124–5
loss of names/giving of numbers 20
numbers 1, 2, 23
offspring 50
outnumbering of their owners 36
Portuguese trade in 176–7
as possessions xiv, 54, 61, 140
and the Quakers 105–6
and rebellions 70–1, 74–5, 78, 84, 91
and runaways 59, 60
and security issues 36–7
and slave defiance 55, 58, 59, 60, 94–5
and the Spanish Empire 174, 174–87, 190, 191–4
supply 2
US/Royal Naval interception of 234
violence against 55–6
Western sanctioning of 96–7
African suffering 122–3
African voices 50, 122, 266
African-Americans 160, 162
and the American Civil War 169
and the Dred Scott decision 166–7
and enforced family break-up 47
and Union soldiers 171
Africans
free 54
racist European views of 34
agriculture 177, 179, 246, 254, 255
Alabama 46, 47
Albanian gangs 253
Amazonia 28
American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) 161
American chattel slavery 98
American Civil War 45–6, 143, 145, 160, 168–73, 195, 222, 266
American colonies 22
American economy 157, 164
American Independence 82, 102, 142
American Indians 26, 44, 175–6, 179, 180
enslaved 32, 96, 176
free labour 32
American republic 142–3
American Revolution 108
American slavery
comparison with contemporary slavery 247, 249, 250, 255, 259
fall of 142–73
and punishment 68
range of slave occupations 57–8
American War of Independence 103–4, 107, 108–9, 119, 182
Americas xi–xv, 1–2, 6–8, 11–13, 16, 23, 30, 32–6, 38, 41–2, 140, 216, 220, 231, 265, 266
and abolition 122, 233, 236–7
African slavery and the making of xii–xiii, xv, 2, 25–51
and emancipation 88
and the friends of black freedom 96, 98, 102
and the Haitian revolt 76, 79, 89, 94
and manumission 214
and slave defiance 53–4, 56–8, 61, 71–2, 76, 79, 89, 94
and violence against slaves 72
see also Central America; North America; Spanish Americas; specific countries
Amistad (slave ship) 151
Amsterdam 12, 13, 26
ancien régime
Brazilian 231
French 82
ancient slave societies 53
Andes 175
Anglicans 110, 128, 133
Angola 4, 6, 26, 211
Anomabu 17
Anthony, St 219
anti-slavery Convention 251
Anti-Slavery Society 125–6, 136, 256
Antigua 31, 33, 72
Antwerp 26
Aponte, José Antonio 190–1
‘Apprenticeship’ system 138
Arab slave traders 2, 238
Arabia 235
Argentina 60, 179, 186
Arguin 3
Arkansas 46, 152
armed slaves 187–8
Asia xiv, 3, 9, 13, 250
South 256
south-east 5
Asiento de negro agreements 176
Atlanta 169
Atlantic cotton trade 46
Atlantic economy 97
Atlantic Ocean 3, 22–3, 25, 33–4, 36, 50, 201
see also North Atlantic
Atlantic slave trade xi–xv, 1–24, 25–44, 47
and abolition xiv–xv, 24, 114, 118, 233, 236–7
atrocities of 111–12
and Brazil 200, 202, 203, 207, 209
Catholic sanctioning of 96
economic importance 34
enforcement system xiii
expansion 35–6
and friends of black freedom 101, 102, 105–6
numbers xiii, xv, 1, 2, 26
Portuguese 8, 176–7
and slave defiance 52, 55
and slave rebellions 151
and slaves as property 136–7
and South America 189
and Spain 175, 181
and St-Dominigue/Haiti 74–5
and violence 55–6
Western sanctioning of 96–7
Atlantic slave trade 7–8
see also Afri
can slavery; British Atlantic slave trade; North Atlantic slave trade; Portuguese Atlantic slave trade; South Atlantic slave trade
auction blocks 28
Auschwitz 248
Australia 120
Austria 90
Aztecs 31
Bahamas 144–5
Bahia 200–1, 213, 217–18, 226, 229
Bales, Kevin 258
Balkan conflicts 257
banking industry 147
Bantu people 217
baptism, slave 127
Baptist Church 127, 135, 158–60
Baptist War 1831–2 134–6
Barbados 14, 31, 38, 41, 43, 81
and cotton 144–5
and friends of black freedom 99
and slave revolts 130–1, 132
and sugar 33
beads 13
beef economy 28
Belgium 238, 239–40
Belle, Dido Elizabeth 111
Bemba 194
Benedictines 206
Benezet, Anthony 100–7, 109, 114, 115
Bengal 13
Benguela 17
Benin 5
Berlin Congress 1889–90 238
Bibb, Henry 162
Bible 128, 150, 160
Bight of Benin 8
Bight of Biafra 8
Birkenau 248
Black Caribs 62
black equality 149, 167
black freedom 55, 88, 95, 161
Brazilian support for 227, 228, 231, 232
and Britain 126, 130, 132, 136, 164
friends of 96–123, 223–4
in the Spanish Americas 184, 186, 195
and the US 151, 164, 170
see also manumission
black landowning classes 92
black people
loyalist refugees 113
majority populations 47
as objects/things 120
status in Britain 120–1
see also free blacks
black troops 90
Bolívar, Simón 184, 185, 188
Bolivia 179
bondage 53–5, 73, 81, 98–9, 123, 140, 149, 156–7, 171, 173, 211, 216, 250, 255, 265
Bonny 17
Bordeaux 10, 79
Bourbons 181, 182
Brandenburgers 9
brandy, French 13
Brazil xii, 7–9, 11, 20, 25–32, 41–2, 47–8, 56, 74, 95, 97, 174–5, 199, 262–3
and abolition 203, 219, 222–4, 227–31
attacks on slavery 122, 146
and Britain 203, 224–5
and coffee 28–30, 201, 204–7, 221–2, 226, 229
and cotton 144, 204, 226
and the end of slavery 30–1, 200–32, 266
and European immigration 222–3
exile of the Portuguese court to 183
failure of internal slave proliferation 208–9
independence 183, 201, 202
internal slave trade 29, 226–7
modernisation 204
nineteenth-century slave trade expansion 200–1, 204
North-east 200
and Paraguay 187, 225
political power 224
as republic 232
and runaway slaves 60, 62–3, 203, 217, 220–1, 223–4, 229–30, 263
and slave conditions 207–8
and slave defiance 60–1, 62–3, 71
and slave mortality 208–9
slave population 201, 202–3, 205, 214
and slave prices 206–7, 222
and slave punishment 68
and slave revolts 71, 210-n, 217–20, 229, 230
and sugar 25–7, 33, 38, 43, 49, 201, 204, 206, 222
and the threat posed by slaves 44
and tobacco 13, 14, 201
variety of slave occupations in 27–8, 201–2, 205–6
Brazilian Anti-Slavery society 227
Brazilian army 230
Brazilian economy 200, 201, 204
Brazilian military 60
Brazilian slave ships 8, 16, 236
Bristol 10, 13
Britain 18, 35, 184
and abolition 81, 90, 97, 99, 106–8, 110–23, 124–6, 133, 136, 141, 165–6, 189, 192, 194–5, 202, 228, 233–6, 239
and the American War of Independence 104, 108–9
attitudes to US slavery 164–5
and Brazil 203, 224–5
and the Caribbean 88, 91
and the Christian conversion of slaves 127–8
and contemporary slavery 253–5
and emancipation from slavery 129
and the end of slavery 1834 138
and the First Maroon War 62
and France 90, 119, 121
and the friends of black freedom 81, 98–99, 106–8, 110–23
and Haiti 92
and Jamaica 74
and modern-age slavery 243
and textiles 46, 49
see also England
British Act 1845 203
British Atlantic slave trade 5, 9, 13–14, 18, 19, 22, 102, 177, 179, 233–4
British Caribbean 11, 74, 165, 166, 266
and abolition 124–5
and Christian conversion of slaves 126, 127–30
and emancipation from slavery 130–1, 135–41
and slave revolts 130–2, 135
British Civil War 99
British colonialism 28, 38–9, 44–5, 108, 121
British colonies 32–3, 35, 36, 182
British migrants 42
British North America 182
British trade 34–5, 203
British West Indies 127
Brookes (slave ship) 15
Brown, Henry Box 153
Brown, John 168
Brown, William Wells 162
Brussels 239, 240
Buenos Aires 183
Burgesses, House of 102
Bussa 130–1
Buxton, Thomas Fowell 125
Cabinda 17
Cachoeira 229
Cadiz 183
calico 13
Campinas 219
Canada 14, 60, 148–9, 153–4, 156, 165
Canaries 7, 37
Candomblé 213
Cap-Français (Le Cap, now Cap-Haitien) 76, 83, 86
Cape 3, 6
capitalism 204
Caracas 183, 184
Caribbean xiv, 5, 7–8, 11, 20, 22, 26, 31–41, 44, 47, 56, 74, 97, 99, 113, 120, 152, 160, 181, 184
and cotton 144–5
and the emancipation of the slaves 124–5
French 82
and ‘Maroon’ societies 62
and slave punishment 68
and slave rebellions 71, 72
Spanish 8, 41, 174–5, 179, 189–99
and sugar 33, 34, 43, 49
and tobacco 32
wealth 34
see also British Caribbean Carlisle, Lord 118
Cartagena 179, 183
Casas, Bartholomé de las 96, 176
Castile 3
‘Cat Club’ 89–90
catering slaves 254
Catholic Church 89, 96, 180, 212, 214, 237–8
Catholic emancipation 134
Catholic emancipists 108
Catholicism 37, 126, 182, 211–14, 219
Afro-Brazilian 212, 213
cattle economies 38, 177
Ceará 227
Central America 7–8, 31, 37–8, 174–5, 177–8
Céspedes, Carlos Manuel de 196
chain gangs 215
Charles IV of Spain 183
Charleston 44, 71, 89, 150, 166, 168
Charlotte, Queen 105
Chartists 108
Chesapeake 33, 42, 44, 45, 104, 146
Chesapeake Bay 8
child slaves 209, 210, 220
Atlantic transportation 19
contemporary 254, 256
and manumission 214
occupations 58
child soldiers 256
Chile 179, 184, 186
China 12, 13, 241, 255
&n
bsp; Chinese slaves 250
Christian conversion 126–31, 135–6, 141, 150, 158–61, 211–13
Christianity 80, 232, 235, 238
see also Baptist Church; Catholicism; Methodists
Clapham Sect 115
Clarkson, Thomas 18, 104, 114–18, 132
coartados (slaves en route to freedom) 190
Código Negro (Black Code) 1789 182
coffee xii, 28–30, 35, 39–40, 74–5, 77, 79, 263
Brazilian 28–30, 201, 204–7, 221–2, 226, 229
Colombia 179, 186
Colonial Assembly 86
colonial militias 69
Colonial Office 125
colonialism 9, 33, 36, 97, 184
British 28, 38–9, 44–5, 108, 121
French 38, 79, 82, 92–3, 95
Spanish 181, 185–7, 191, 192
colonies 62
Columbus, Christopher 25
Committee of the Privy Council 118
common law 98–9
compensation 111–12, 136–41, 172, 225–6, 230–1, 248–9
Confederate army 169, 171
Confederate States of America 168, 171
Congo 4, 6, 8, 80, 235, 238–9, 257
Congregationalists 158, 159
Congress 156, 163, 164, 166, 172
Congress of Vienna 1815 234–5, 239
Congressional Medal of Honor 171
Connecticut 42, 143
Constitutional Convention 142–3
control mechanisms xiii, 53, 67–8, 77, 211
see also punishment coral 13
Cortes 183, 198
Cortës, Hernán 176
cotton xii, 28, 29, 30, 32, 38, 43, 44–50, 61, 74, 263
Brazilian 144, 204, 226
Caribbean 144–5
US 143–7, 155, 182, 188, 201, 204
cotton gin 45, 145
cotton mills 49
courts 155, 156, 203
Cowes 9
cowries 13
Craft, Ellen 162
creole cultures 180
creole officers 91