African Slaves Research Articles

Girmityas' Portrayal in Ashwin Desai’s Inside Indian Indenture: An Apprehensive Study

Indentured system was highly tormented form of slavery began when the Britishiers faced the lack of labourers at the sugar, cotton and tea plantation due to the end of African slavery . In this system millions of Indians were contracted to work in the 19 British colonies included Fiji, Trinidad, Guyana, South Africa on low wages.Girmityas refers to those bonded indian slaves who agreed to migrate to british colonies in order to escape from the poverty and famine of british india with dream of getting a life of roses without having any idea of difficulties that they were going to face .Some were also defrauded into Migration without any complete knowledge. They were recruited on different plantations by signing a contract of four to five years with the condition of providing the return amenities at the end of their contract however only seldom time it happened. Many died during the journey that took 10 to 20 weeks and many tried to return to their homeland however , failed. In Literature the representation of these turmoiled indentured labourers were first began in Caribbean literature by ARF. Webber, V.S Naipaul, Ashwin Desai etc. In Ashwin Desai’s Inside Indian Indenture we get the realistic and authentic portrayal of the biography of indentured labourers who were ignored by the history. This book seeks to give voice to those unvoiced people whose stories still remained unknown to the masses . This book is a journey through all those silenced, ignored indentured labourers who were tormented by the hardships showered on them by the proprietors.

Contextualized Rights as Effective Rights to All: The Case of Affirmative Action in Brazil

This article explores how two main narratives about slavery may lead to varying perspectives on social rights. Some collective narratives endorse a superficial idea of equality of rights, neglecting factors such as race and ethnicity, while others reject this apparent universalistic view, promoting more effective, de facto equality. The latter narrative supports horizontal redistribution, strongly contrasting with the former. Using Brazil’s affirmative action programs for Black students as a case study, this article will address two prevalent national narratives about the slavery of Black Africans and persons of Black African descent. Only one of those narratives could lead to what I would identify as a “contextualized theory of rights,” ensuring horizontal equality amidst a backdrop of brutal slavery and structural racism. This narrative offers a plurally faceted, dialogical approach to rights that can respond to the needs of differently situated individuals. The article will explore the evolution of such a collective narrative in Brazil’s race relations.

The Abolition of Slavery in Africa's Legal Histories

AbstractThis introduction contextualizes the special issue's articles in the broader continental dynamics. It discusses the Eurocentric bias of the historiography and suggests that the view that Europe was responsible for the legal abolition of slavery in Africa should be nuanced and qualified. Some independent African polities abolished slavery before Europe's colonial occupation. Nowhere did European abolitionists encounter a tabula rasa: African polities had complex jurisdictions, oral or written, which formed the normative background against which slavery's abolition should be studied. To do so, however, it is misleading to imagine abolitionism as a unitary movement spreading globally out of Europe. What happened differed from context to context. Normative systems varied, and so did abolition's legal processes. This introduction examines the dynamics that led to the introduction and implementation of anti-slavery laws in African legal systems. It recenters the analysis of the legal abolition of slavery in Africa around particular African actors, concepts, strategies, and procedures.

Reconsidering the Curse of Ham in Milton’s Paradise Lost: Canaan, “Vitious Race,” and Renaissance Biblical Commentary

ABSTRACT John Milton writes in Paradise Lost of a “vitious Race,” which many scholars have taken to signal his endorsement of the slavery of Black Africans. Yet these scholars often mistakenly associate Milton’s language with certain contemporary views that were indeed racist. For Milton, the “curse” on the “vitious Race” does not refer to a European subjugation of Black Africans in the slave trade but is at once more general and more specific. He subsequently in the epic applies this curse specifically to Israel’s conquest of the Canaanite people while also suggesting the impact of the curse on many “Nations,” including his own England.

Lot's Daughters and Naomi and Ruth: Of “Moral Love” and National Myths

ABSTRACTThis essay argues that the book of Ruth's reopening of Israel's history and national mythology functions in such a way as to redeem, as it were, the plight of the subaltern Moabite—a plight begun with the daughters of Lot in Genesis 19. A parallel is then drawn with the 1619 Project, the recent journalistic project which posits the entire historical sweep of African slavery in North America since 1619 as the defining arc of the United States' founding. As theoretical frames, the essay draws on the work of literary critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (including her concept of “moral love”) and political philosopher Arash Abizadeh. In so doing, the essay illustrates how a “functionalist” approach to biblical ethics that balances the content of the biblical narrative with attention to how the text functions in its broader context can provide guidance for contemporary ethical application.

“In the Name of the God of All Names: Yahweh, Obatalá, Olorum”: The 1981 Quilombos Mass as an Ecumenical Pilgrimage in Brazil

AbstractOn November 22, 1981, thousands of laypeople, along with bishops, priests, and theologians, gathered in Recife to celebrate the Eucharist. Offered during a military dictatorship in a period of popular insurgency, the Quilombos Mass mourned the death of millions in the African slave trade, sought pardon for the Church's past sins, and celebrated the resistance of Blacks in Brazil and beyond its borders. The acclaimed Black Brazilian pop star and activist Milton de Nascimento collaborated with an activist poet and three bishops to produce a multimedia performance; in the spirit of liberation theology, it was marked by striking visuals, dance, music, and the invocation of the sacred. This article draws on reportage, speeches and correspondence, military court and intelligence records, published interviews, and the author's interview with one of its composers. It offers a close textual analysis, with attention to Catholic theological debates, as well as an analysis of the performance itself, drawn from video recordings and bringing attention to aspects neglected by most commentators, who refer only to the album, as it was finally produced. Initially stifled by the Vatican, Milton's masterpiece, issued as an album on vinyl and performed in paid concerts, became a powerful cultural reference for activists, serving as a touchstone for a strategic alliance between Black activists and the liberationist Church.

“Our blood is becoming white”: Race, religion, and Siddi becoming in Hyderabad, India

Abstract“Our blood is becoming white.” This was a constant lament I heard from siddis in contemporary Hyderabad, India—third‐ and fourth‐generation descendants of East African slaves and soldiers recruited by the local ruler or Nizam in the 1860s to form the African Cavalry Guard in his army. The article explores this siddi lament and the multivalent symbols—of color, blood, affect, belonging—latent in it. It draws on fieldwork conducted over the course of the last decade among siddis in Hyderabad, ambivalently situated as Indian citizens who are racialized as “Black” in an Indian and global order that denigrates Blackness and marked by their religious identification as Muslim in a virulently Hindu nation. The article unpacks these contexts, exploring the forces of empire and region and constructions of race, gender, and religion that have prodded and inflected siddi processes of becoming. In so doing, it unearths the ways in which Blackness, Muslimness, and masculinity are constituted as (intersecting) social and political categories, caught in the dialectics of alienation and intimacy, belonging and otherness, with enduring effects on the lives and cosmologies of siddis in Hyderabad and on the contemporary politics of race, gender, and religion in India.

Abolicionismo e escravagismo no Padre Antônio Vieira: uma controvérsia anacrônica

This article analyzes the controversy about slavery produced by commentators in the works of Antônio Vieira. In addition to being a great speaker, the Jesuit was famous for his defense of the American Indians, having even influenced Portugal's legislation on indigenous slavery and was expelled from Maranhão for such opinions. Yet, when it comes to African slavery, Vieira's texts prove to be more conformist. Thus, commentators were divided into classifying the author either as abolitionist, or as a slaver. However, a contextualization of Vieira's ideas within the thoughts of Iberian Scholasticism allows a better understanding of his legacy and may dispense with such labels altogether.

Eastward across the Western Sea: The Indian Oceanic Trafficking of Africans into China

AbstractDespite its greater extensiveness in comparison to the ferrying of their West African counterparts across the Atlantic Ocean into bondage in the New World, the history of the extraction of East Africans to serve as slaves in the various lands that ring the Indian Ocean is barely known to most of us. Particularly as Westerners, our knowledge of even the sketchiest outlines of the latter phenomenon pales before what we know intimately about the intricacies of the former. Furthermore, unknown altogether to too many is the fact that—from at least as early as the eighth century of the Common Era—these East African slaves were exported as distantly as China. Based principally on the pertinent Chinese sources, this study raises and investigates three fundamental questions concerning this conveyance of East Africans into China. First, who were the original enslavers of these East Africans and thus the prime purveyors of their entrance over the centuries into bondage in China? Second, how—that is, by land or by sea—and under what auspices were these East Africans typically transported from their homelands mainly along the eastern African coastline to a locale as far away as China? Third and finally, what was the probable fate of these East Africans once they had arrived in China? The essay concludes with a consideration of the consequentiality of this largely overlooked and therefore unheralded saga amidst the history of Chinese institutionalised servitude overall.

The Legacy of Clóvis Moura: A Marxist Critique of Race in Brazil

Clóvis Moura (1925–2003) was a working class intellectual who immersed himself in the study of Brazilian history and contemporary reality, producing historiographical and theoretical works of great importance. Moura’s primordial contribution was to identify the nature of the capitalist mode of production in Brazil that combined slavery and the elaboration of a particular ideology of racism in the transition to wage labor. Moura identified the conservative character of the Brazilian bourgeoisie that had been forged in the colonial path and which, after the abolition of slavery, articulated and implemented an Aryanization policy, with far-reaching consequences for the evolution of the Brazilian social formation in the twentieth century. Moura provided rigorous critiques of the ideologues of the Brazilian bourgeoisie, at the same time as he illuminated the struggles of the descendants of African slaves at the margins of a developing capitalist economy. His contributions remain fundamental to the analysis of the contemporary Brazilian reality.

Digitized Publications of Spirituals from the Nineteenth Century

Compilers and editors of hymnals and scholars of hymnology have often lacked suitable tools for identifying the earliest sources of spirituals, or even key sources that serve as models for later arrangements. In the twenty-first century, the development of internet-based repositories of digital books has enabled the ability to search for publications of spirituals using strings of lyrics or keywords, but more importantly, these repositories allow researchers to examine the relevant sources and glean contextual information about those spirituals beyond what might exist in any list or index. Although African slaves had been present in North America since 1619, this unique musical artform was not considered a national treasure worth preserving and publishing until the onset of the Civil War, thus any study of sources of antebellum plantation spirituals really begins at the end of that era and moves forward from there. In order to understand the problem and the digital solution to tracing these songs, a brief overview of the longstanding publishing standard will be presented, followed by an overview of older research materials, then a detailed examination of three existing repositories (HathiTrust, Google, Internet Archive), and one forthcoming repository (Sounding Spirit). The publications located in these repositories have been tied together through a pair of web-based bibliographies at Hymnology Archive, covering the years 1862–1900 and 1901–1942.

A decolonial look at the past, present and future based on the rescue of memories of visitors to the National History Museum (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

History museums can foster discussions about historical contexts and encourage critical reflections on power relations and values that permeate society, helping to overcome historically constructed prejudices. Knowing the audiences, their perceptions, readings and interpretations, allows the adoption of more efficient communication actions between museums and visitors. Thus, in this qualitative research, we aimed to investigate the memories of the experience of five adult visitors at the National Historical Museum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, eight months after the visit with their families. The methodology involved the use of a semi-structured interview, with the adoption of the stimulated memory method. The results showed that the exhibition was able to promote long-term impacts, enabling the formation of memorable experiences that favored critical reflections on the part of visitors, mainly on the enslavement of black African populations, slave trade and themes related to the period of the Empire, which still reflect its problems today. It is important for museums to approach historical processes, carrying out adequate contextualization, from a decolonial perspective, which serve to raise awareness, educate and promote a movement to repair and correct the hegemonic narratives perpetuated in society.

White, Sophie et Trevor Burnard (dir). Hearing Enslaved Voices. African and Indian Slave Testimony in British and French America, 1700–1848. New York, Routledge, 2020, 264 p.

White, Sophie et Trevor Burnard (dir). Hearing Enslaved Voices. African and Indian Slave Testimony in British and French America, 1700–1848. New York, Routledge, 2020, 264 p.

Maternal ancestry and lineages diversity of the Santander population from Colombia.

Santander, located in the Andean region of Colombia, is one of the 32 departments of the country. Its population was shaped by intercontinental admixture between autochthonous native Americans, European settlers, and African slaves. To establish forensic databases of haplotype frequencies, the evaluation of population substructure is crucial to capture the genetic diversity in admixed populations. Total control region mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid haplotypes were determined for 204 individuals born in the seven provinces across the department. The maternal native heritage is highly preserved in Santander genetic background, with 90% of the haplotypes belonging to haplogroups inside A2, B4, C1, and D. Most native lineages are found broadly across the American continent, while some sub-branches are concentrated in Central America and north South America. Subtle European (6%) and African (4%) input was detected. In pairwise comparisons between provinces, relatively high FST values were found in some cases, although not statistically significant. Nonetheless, when provinces were grouped according to the principal component analysis results, significant differences were detected between groups. The database on mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid control region haplotype frequencies established here can be further used for populational and forensic purposes.

A Critical Analysis of the State of Modern Slave in the 21st Century

The study critical examines slavery in the modern day with focus on examination of contemporary slavery in Africa. The phenomenon of slavery can be traced from the dawn of time and it banned in the 19th century. However, millions of people are still suffering under what called modern day slavery. The results of this study is basically based on secondary data sources. It is revealed that forced labor, sex slavery, practice of debt bondage and trafficking in human beings, all these are types of modern slavery. This human tragedy has become most effective business in the 21st century, although it is illegal around the world as well recognized as a violation of one’s human being. The impacts of this is tremendous as well contrary to the modern civilized community. The study reveals that modern day slavery in the 21st century compose a complete breaches of fundamental human rights together with a global blackmail to democracy, peace as well sustainable development.

Historical Archaeology of the Dente Shrine at Peki, Ghana: Landscapes of Power and Memories of Atlantic Slavery in West Africa

Historical Archaeology of the Dente Shrine at Peki, Ghana: Landscapes of Power and Memories of Atlantic Slavery in West Africa

Royal Attitudes to the Atlantic Slave Trade and Abolition in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries

Abstract Recent historiography has placed particular emphasis on the social origins and influence of individuals who took opposing sides in debates on the abolition of the slave trade between 1787 and 1807. There is no doubt that family networks and connections influenced patterns of pro-slavery and abolitionist support. Despite this familial focus, comparatively little attention has been paid to the attitudes and interventions in the debate of King George III and his family. As early as 1808, Thomas Clarkson’s History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade by the British Parliament recorded how Prince William Henry, duke of Clarence, and his younger cousin, Prince William Frederick, second duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, held diametrically opposed views on the issue. Evidence that has recently come to light in the Royal Archives makes it possible to assess whether the divide between George III’s son and nephew points to a royal family riven by disagreement on the rights and wrongs of slavery. By broadening the canvas of study to include other royal dukes, this article contributes to a much fuller understanding of the family’s reaction to one of the most pressing moral and economic questions of the day. Their views were not just a matter of their own personal opinions; their interventions in debate affected (and on balance, impeded) the progress of abolition and had direct repercussions on the lives of hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans.

Challenges of the black communities; the conservation of the Santiago Cayapas river commune

This article addresses the case of Afro-descendants in the Rio Santiago Cayapas Commune, Ecuador. Chapter I contextualizes Esmeraldas within the Chocó Biogeographic region. Chapter II analyzes the history from African slaves to the resistance stronghold. Chapter III explores how the resource-rich Rio Santiago Cayapas Commune faces state-driven displacement, logging industry, oil palm agriculture, and mining, prioritizing resource exploitation, impacting local communities. Logging, oil palm, and mining lead to deforestation, territory loss, conflicts, and environmental degradation, straining life in the Rio Santiago Cayapas Commune.

Contesting Chinese Contract Labor: Yung Wing's Reports and the Qing Mission to Peru

Abstract In 1874, government officials in Qing China sent a Yale-educated special envoy named Yung Wing to Peru to survey the conditions of Chinese contract workers on plantations. A parallel mission to the better-known Qing survey of Chinese in Cuba, Yung Wing's trip to Peru has received almost no scholarly attention. Drawing on new archival evidence, this essay provides a historical analysis of the Qing mission to Peru and its official findings, as rendered in the original, 1874 English-language translation, “Yung Wing's Reports.” I argue that Yung Wing elaborated a multivocal, cross-cultural, and transimperial condemnation of Chinese indenture in Peru. Yung Wing served as a crucial broker across political and cultural systems. He strategically mobilized testimonies from American, Chilean, and Chinese informants and deployed abolitionist discourse to equate Chinese contract labor with African slavery. Denouncing Western failures to guarantee liberal principles for Chinese people, he pressured Qing authorities to protect Chinese subjects by opening formal legations in Latin America. Chinese workers in Peru had a different perspective, and their testimonies often diverged from Yung Wing's core argument. Chinese informants never equated contract labor with chattel slavery. Instead, they denounced employer failure to fulfill existing contract terms. Moreover, they provided evidence of successful collective efforts and alliances between Chinese and non-Chinese people that pressured Peruvian authorities to defend Chinese workers. Taken as a whole, “Yung Wing Reports” both elaborates a powerful Chinese denunciation of contract labor and demonstrates Chinese ability to negotiate its terms.

Mısır Fātimī Devletinde Siyahi Hadımlar, Cariyeler ve Köle Askerler

Although slavery was a common practice in medieval Muslim societies, this subject had not been studied enough. Yet, scholars recently have begun to focus on the subject of slavery in the Muslim world, and produced new academic monographs about it. As a part of this fashion, in my paper, I will try to answer how slavery was perceived and practiced in Fātimid Egypt. Particularly, I will argue that the position of African black slaves in the Fātimid Empire goes beyond the simple dichotomy of free and un-free and of black slaves and white masters. Also, I will argue that even though African black slaves were subordinated and marginalized in the Fātimid Empire, they created new opportunities for themselves and advanced into the highest positions in the Fātimid state structure. Besides, I will argue that African black slaves (eunuchs, commanders, and concubines) were not a marginal group but a dominant one that played important roles in the Fātimid political life throughout its history.