Atlantic Trade Research Articles

Forgotten Truth

The Haitian Revolution stands as an important event in the history of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade due to it being the first successful slave revolt resulting in complete independence from the former slave society. This paper, follows the cultural history of the Haitian Revolution by analyzing political femininity present within Saint-Domingue/Haiti pre, mid, and post-revolution in order to bring forward female Haitian political actors. By examining how gender influenced the Haitian Revolution, a broader historical narrative is formed, one that accounts for intersectional perspectives and understandings to better conceptualize the whole history of the Haitian Revolution. This paper seeks to preserve the often-forgotten female legacies by analyzing primary sources written directly on the Haitian revolution and secondary sources written by historians specializing in either Trans-Atlantic or gendered histories.

Resilience and Domination: Resonances of Racial Slavery in Refugee Exclusion

Abstract We are encouraged to think of refugees as resilient people with agency and capacity for flourishing, rather than passive victims needing help. This framing purports to uphold and celebrate refugees’ humanity. But some scholars worry that it problematically serves to demand resilience from refugees, normalize their displacement, and legitimate state bordering practices. This article builds on this critique by examining how powerful actors have long attributed resilience to vulnerable others to legitimate domination and control. I focus on the deployment of resilience-talk by white enslavers and their supporters to justify Black enslavement in the American South. Their philosophical, climatological, and epidemiological arguments about the resilient Black slave were supplemented with a claim that Black people could not survive liberation in the American North. I probe the resonances of this resilience-talk with contemporary invocations of the resilience of refugees in the Global South, and their supposed non-resilience in the Global North.

Ancient Plasmodium genomes shed light on the history of human malaria

Malaria-causing protozoa of the genus Plasmodium have exerted one of the strongest selective pressures on the human genome, and resistance alleles provide biomolecular footprints that outline the historical reach of these species1. Nevertheless, debate persists over when and how malaria parasites emerged as human pathogens and spread around the globe1,2. To address these questions, we generated high-coverage ancient mitochondrial and nuclear genome-wide data from P. falciparum, P. vivax and P. malariae from 16 countries spanning around 5,500 years of human history. We identified P. vivax and P. falciparum across geographically disparate regions of Eurasia from as early as the fourth and first millennia bce, respectively; for P. vivax, this evidence pre-dates textual references by several millennia3. Genomic analysis supports distinct disease histories for P. falciparum and P. vivax in the Americas: similarities between now-eliminated European and peri-contact South American strains indicate that European colonizers were the source of American P. vivax, whereas the trans-Atlantic slave trade probably introduced P. falciparum into the Americas. Our data underscore the role of cross-cultural contacts in the dissemination of malaria, laying the biomolecular foundation for future palaeo-epidemiological research into the impact of Plasmodium parasites on human history. Finally, our unexpected discovery of P. falciparum in the high-altitude Himalayas provides a rare case study in which individual mobility can be inferred from infection status, adding to our knowledge of cross-cultural connectivity in the region nearly three millennia ago.

Spatiotemporal Changes in the Slavery–Inequality Relationship: The Diffusion of the Legacy of Slavery

Despite the persistence of relationships between historical racist violence and contemporary Black–White inequality, research indicates, in broad strokes, that the slavery–inequality relationship in the United States has changed over time. Identifying the timing of such change across states can offer insights into the underlying processes that generate Black–White inequality. In this study, we use integrated nested Laplace approximation models to simultaneously account for spatial and temporal features of panel data for Southern counties during the period spanning 1900 to 2018, in combination with data on the concentration of enslaved people from the 1860 census. Results provide the first evidence on the timing of changes in the slavery–economic inequality relationship and how changes differ across states. We find a region-wide decline in the magnitude of the slavery–inequality relationship by 1930, with declines traversing the South in a northeasterly-to-southwesterly pattern over the study period. Different paces in declines in the relationship across states suggest the expansion of institutionalized racism first in places with the longest-standing overt systems of slavery. Results provide guidance for further identifying intervening mechanisms—most centrally, the maturity of racial hierarchies and the associated diffusion of racial oppression across institutions, and how they affect the legacy of slavery in the United States.

Scars on the Land: An Environmental History of Slavery in the American South

Scars on the Land: An Environmental History of Slavery in the American South

Colonial Landscape Navigation: Postcolonial Ecocriticism in Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

This article examines how colonialism, ecology, and postcolonial viewpoints interact in Amitav Ghosh’s novel. The main themes and theoretical frameworks used to analyse the novel’s representation of a colonial environment and its ecological repercussions are highlighted in this study. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh brings readers to a 19th-century India firmly enmeshed in British colonialism. This work explores the intricate interactions between people and the environment, exploring the massive ecological changes brought on by imperial conquest via a postcolonial eco-critical perspective. This study reveals the novel’s ecological roots by looking at how Ghosh questions conventional narratives and presents a criticism of the effects of colonial rule on both human and non-human beings. The research emphasises the function of landscape as a place of contestation and resistance, illuminating how nature is exploited and perverted within the colonial setting by drawing on postcolonial theory and eco-critical frameworks. Important problems about power dynamics, environmental justice, and the connections between capitalism and ecological degradation are brought up by Ghosh’s depictions of the opium trade, the transatlantic slave trade, and the privatisation of nature.

Zombies in Unexpected Places: Rebellion, Subversion, and the Undead in Romantic Depictions of Obeah

Abstract: The lineage of the zombie myth is complex, reaching far beyond Haiti and Haitian folklore. To expand the zombie's literary history and further complicate our understanding of its cultural heritage, this paper will read four Romantic texts through Sarah Juliet Lauro's framework of the "protozombie": Maria Edgeworth's "The Grateful Negro" (1804), "Song of an Obeah Priestess" (Anonymous, 1821), Cynric R. William's Hamel, the Obeah Man (1827), and William Earle's Obi; or, The History of Three-Fingered Jack (1800). Although these texts do not depict a Haitian zombie-drone, their depictions of Obeah complicate the boundaries between life and death, raising questions about rebellion, subversion, and freedom in response to the transatlantic slave trade. Reading these texts through the lens of the protozombie expands our understanding of the cultural and historical forces that shaped the zombie, moving the conversation beyond Vodou to consider Obeah's connection to the zombie myth.

Before Equiano: A Prehistory of the North American Slave Narrative

Before Equiano: A Prehistory of the North American Slave Narrative

Before Equiano: A Prehistory of the North American Slave Narrative by Zachary McLeod Hutchins (review)

Before Equiano: A Prehistory of the North American Slave Narrative by Zachary McLeod Hutchins (review)

Middle Passages: The Multiple Forced Migrations of Enslaved Africans

ABSTRACT This article proposes a linguistic shift for scholars of trans-Atlantic slavery regarding the quintessential term ‘the Middle Passage' to the plural ‘Middle Passages'. As a singular noun, ‘the Middle Passage' conforms with the ‘triangular trade' which represented the three-way relationship between Europe, Africa and the Americas. The term almost exclusively encompasses the North Atlantic, failing to explore South Atlantic trading routes. By changing our language, we can look deeper into the multiple forced journeys of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic world. Through application of plurality, we can better study people's multiple ‘Middle Passages' from the ancient silk roads to the slave castles and forts along the African littoral in a system of movement that does not belittle the horrors of the Atlantic oceanic passages. Indeed, multiple ‘Middle Passages' as a concept exacerbates the experiences of enslaved persons through continual uprooting and journeys. ‘The Middle Passage' is evocative of a peregrination preceded with a beginning and succeeded with an ending; while the pluralistic ‘Middle Passages’ forces us to recognize the multiple complex facets of journeys. For many enslaved persons, there existed no end to continual relocations on arrival in the Americas and people were in a constant state of flux.

Dental disease in a 15th-17th centuries skeletal sample of enslaved Africans (Lagos, Portugal)

ObjectiveDental disease is frequently used as a proxy for diet and overall health of individuals of past populations. The aim of this study is to investigate dental disease in a sample of enslaved African individuals recovered from an urban dump (15th-17th centuries) in Lagos, Portugal. DesignIn all, 81 African individuals (>12 years old) were analysed (19 males, 49 females, and 13 of unknown sex), in a total of 2283 alveoli, 2061 teeth, and 2213 interdental septa. Analysed oral pathologies include dental caries, periodontal disease, and ante-mortem tooth loss. Dental wear was also recorded. ResultsDental caries affected 52.0 % of the teeth, although only 31.9 % were cavitated lesions. In all, 96.3 % of the individuals presented at least one cariogenic lesion. Gingivitis and periodontitis were recorded in 56.7 % and 19.0 % of the septa, respectively. Only one male individual had all septal areas healthy. Ante-mortem tooth loss was recorded in 38.3 % of the individuals, in a total of 96 teeth lost (4.2 %). Regarding occlusal wear, 70.8 % of the surfaces were recorded with grades 1–3. ConclusionsThe frequencies of the oral pathological conditions observed may not only reflect a cariogenic diet (rich in starches and with a high frequency of meals) but also the conditions during the maritime voyage of the first victims of the North Atlantic slave trade (xerostomia due to lack of water, sea sickness and vomiting, vitamin C deficiency, poor hygiene), and also the impact intentional dental modifications had on the dentitions.

Out of Breath: Toward a New Origin Story of Public Health.

Problems caused by overcrowding and the simple need to breathe represent one of the major consequences of medical racism. With few exceptions, histories of epidemics, disease prevention, and sanitation often focus on municipal reform efforts to clean up gritty urban centers from London to Paris to New York. This article traces how concerns about ventilation emerged during the transatlantic slave trade and continued to be a problem for Black people throughout the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The article emphasizes that Black people were not just the victims of medical racism but initiated many crusades in the United States to promote better ventilation throughout the twentieth century. This article highlights the work of Black reformers, doctors, and thinkers who fought to create healthy living conditions for Black people.

From US Slavery Defence to Article 19 TFEU: Treaty Reform in the Scales of History

From US Slavery Defence to Article 19 TFEU: Treaty Reform in the Scales of History

The long shadow of Edward Long

In this interview, Professor Catherine Hall considers the impact and legacy of Edward Long’s three-volume History of Jamaica, published in 1774. Long—slave-owner, planter and supporter of a racial-based slave economy—drew on a range of contemporary thinking in politics, economics and natural sciences, and on his own detailed experience of Jamaica, to make a case for the ‘naturalness’ of African enslavement and of what is now termed ‘racial capitalism’. Professor Hall considers the uncomfortable contexts and longevity of this seminal 18th-century book and its influence on racial thinking that still resonates today.

Shipwrecked: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Blockade-Running and the Slave Trade

Historian Jonathan W. White tells the riveting story of Appleton Oaksmith, a swashbuckling sea captain whose life intersected with some of the most important moments, movements, and individuals of the mid-19th century, from the California Gold Rush, filibustering schemes in Nicaragua, Cuban liberation, and the Civil War and Reconstruction. Most importantly, the book depicts the extraordinary lengths the Lincoln Administration went to destroy the illegal trans-Atlantic slave trade. Using Oaksmith’s case as a lens, White takes readers into the murky underworld of New York City, where federal marshals plied the docks in lower Manhattan in search of evidence of slave trading.

Slave trades, kinship structures and women's political participation in Africa

AbstractWe study whether present‐day women's political participation in sub‐Saharan Africa is associated to the temporary gender ratio imbalances caused by the transatlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades, taking into account pre‐existing gender norms influenced by kinship structures. To study the interrelatedness between historical exposure to the slave trades, patrilineality and their association to contemporary women's political participation, we use individual‐level data for 35,595 women from 28 sub‐Saharan African countries from three rounds of Afrobarometer surveys, georeferenced to historical ethnic region kinship and slave trade data. Our findings suggest that a woman's ethnic region historical exposure to the transatlantic slave trade is associated with an increase in her likelihood to vote today, however, only in non‐patrilineal ethnic regions. This effect is mitigated in patrilineal ethnic regions, where women have less decision‐making power. This paper contributes to the literature on the contemporary sub‐national effects of the slave trades and the historical causes of gender gaps in political participation.

“God of One Blood”: Deeds of Manumission in The Counties of Accomack, Northampton, Norfolk, and Elizabeth City, Virginia (1785-1824)

When considering the analytical framework of chattel slavery in the history of this nation, its history has been written in laws, constitutional amendments, cases, and a variety of legal mechanisms and precedents that simply do not tell the entire narrative of that “peculiar institution.”2 In our examination of American chattel slavery, it is as if we were crafting a quilt commencing with those legal pronouncements as composing the outside frame of that particular construct. But it is only when we consider the individual narratives of those persons for whom slavery was a lived experience that we can see that the institution was composed of a multitude of smaller pieces and patches, that when arranged in a patchwork manner, reveal remarkable narratives of the lives of many brave men, women, and children who lived their lives on both sides of the line, and regardless of which side of the side of the divide, whether enslaved or enslaver.

Elite schools and slavery in the UK – capital, violence and extractivism

ABSTRACT Elite schools in the UK are bound to the history of British colonialism. This paper examines the material ties between these schools and the transatlantic slave trade. We combine multiple sources to examine which schools and their alumni accrued substantial economic capital derived from the enslavement of Black people. We find two principal connections: first, in donations and foundations of schools from those who made their fortune in the slave trade; and second, through income of boys attending these schools. Drawing on the Legacies of British Slavery dataset, we show that schools with alumni benefitting from the slave trade include the most prestigious British private schools. Moreover, this paper traces the histories of several secondary schools founded by, or in receipt of, substantial donations from slave-owning families. We argue that extractive, violent forms of colonial capital accumulation have been central to, the formation and maintenance of these elite educational institutions.

Economic warfare goes global: the incorporation of the Indies in the great reprisal against the French, 1635–1640

ABSTRACT This article examines the Indies’ significant role in Spain’s economic warfare during Philip IV’s reign. It challenges the perception of the American territories as peripheral participants, emphasizing their central involvement in the General Reprisal against the French during the Franco-Spanish War. The study reveals interconnected policies between the Indies and European territories, the adaptations of the reprisal scheme to suit the American settings, and the consideration of each territory’s unique conditions. It also highlights the importance of the French mercantile community in Seville, their integration into the Atlantic trade, and their strategies to recover property in the American territories. Additionally, the article analyzes the introduction of rogation days in the Indies as a complementary measure, serving as a propaganda tool to otherize the French, influence public opinion, and shape perceptions of foreignness. Overall, the research enhances our understanding of Spain’s economic warfare strategies and their global impact.

Reparations and the Ministry of Planetary Peace

AbstractThis article explores the historical roots and unfolding legacies of reparations denial as a continuation of the spiritual and socioeconomic planetary war perpetuated through the transatlantic slave trade. An examination of the social production of an anti‐reparations norm against Afro‐Americans in the United States seeks to uncover underlying fears of national destabilization and their relations to underexamined opportunities for functional solidarities across ethnicities, potentially offering a unique contribution to the pursuit of lasting global peace. The article proposes a twofold re‐examination. First, it insists on the rejection and reconception of religious concepts upholding and extending the socioeconomic relations of slavery and white supremacy through evasive political theological notions of human nature and historical time. Second, it advocates the formation of local, national, and international alliances dedicated to articulating, supporting, defending, and achieving reparations for distinct historical events as a means of repairing unique legacies of the transatlantic slave trade and Western colonialism for the common good, using an international ecumenical alliance for repair and reparations (AIRRE) developed by the Presbyterian Church's (USA) Center for the Repair of Historical Harms as an active example.