American Slavers: Merchants, Mariners, and the Transatlantic Commerce in Captives, 1644-1865

Description

The first telling of the unknown story of America’s two-hundred-year history as a slave-trading nation   A total of 305,000 enslaved Africans arrived in the New World aboard American vessels over a span of two hundred years as American merchants and mariners sailed to Africa and to the Caribbean to acquire and sell captives. Using exhaustive archival research, including many collections that have never been used before, historian Sean M. Kelley argues that slave trading needs to be seen as integral to the larger story of American slavery.   Engaging with both African and American history and addressing the trade over time, Kelley examines the experience of captivity, drawing on more than a hundred African narratives to offer a portrait of enslavement in the regions of Africa frequented by American ships. Kelley also provides a social history of the two American ports where slave trading was most intensive, Newport and Bristol, Rhode Island.   In telling this tragic, brutal, and largely unknown story, Kelley corrects many misconceptions while leaving no doubt that Americans were a nation of slave traders. Cover Half Title Book Title Copyright Dedication Contents Maps Introduction: Ships Coming In, Ships Going Out Part 1. SLAVERS AS SETTLERS, 1644–1700 ONE: Puritan Slavers, 1644–1700 TWO: The Madagascar Moment, 1680–1700 Part 2. SLAVERS AS BRITONS, 1700–1775 THREE: Newport and the Rise of the Rum Men, 1700–1750 FOUR: Knowledge and Networks, 1751–1775 Part 3. SLAVERS AS AMERICANS, 1775–1807 FIVE: Revolution and Reorientation, 1775–1803 SIX: Crescendo, 1804–1807 Part 4. LIFE AND DEATH IN THE SLAVE TRADE, 1700–1807 SEVEN: Captivity EIGHT: Slave-Trading Communities Part 5. SLAVERS AS OUTLAWS, 1808–1865 NINE: Evasion, 1808–1835 TEN: Shills, Hirelings, and True Believers, 1835–1865 Conclusion: A Reckoning of Accounts Chronology List of Abbreviations Notes Acknowledgments Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z