Slavery & Abolition

The Portuguese slaver Diligenté captured by H.M. Sloop Pearl, Lieutenant Henry Samuel Hawker, May 1838. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Public Domain.

‘The Heretic of Cacheu’ and ‘Worlds of Unfreedom’ review

The Heretic of Cacheu by Toby Green and Worlds of Unfreedom by Roquinaldo Ferreira, painstakingly recreate the worlds at the beginning and end of Portugal’s slave trade.

World map identifying Asia with Shem, Europe with Japheth, and Africa with Ham. From Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae, printed in Augsburg, 1472. Harry Ransom Center, The University of Austin, Texas. Public Domain.

Noah’s Ark and the Slave Trade

After the Flood, Noah’s sons were repurposed to support a new worldview justifying racial hierarchy and slavery.

‘Representation of an Insurrection on board a Slave-Ship’, by Carl Bernhard Wadström, 1794. Beinecke Library, Yale University. Public Domain.

Slavery After Abolition: Revolt on the Amelia

The slave trade was an international criminal enterprise. In 1811 an uprising on the slaving ship Amelia off the coast of West Africa revealed a complex network spanning four continents.

‘View on the River Roseau, Dominica’, by Agostino Brunias, c.1770-80. Art Institute of Chicago. Public Domain.

On the Spot: Imaobong Umoren

‘Who is the most underrated person in history? Mary Prince, an enslaved woman who played a critical role in the abolition of slavery.’

Portrait of a man in a red suit, traditionally thought to be Olaudah Equiano, c. 1740-80. Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery. Public Domain.

On the Spot: Nicholas Radburn

‘Who is the most underrated person in history? Olaudah Equiano. His resilience in the face of adversity was phenomenal.’

A statue of Zumbi dos Palmares, in Alagoas, Brazil. Photograph by Gorivero (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Zambi of Palmares is Beheaded

On 20 November 1695, Zambi of Palmares – ruler of an ‘invincible’ community of former slaves in the Brazilian jungle – was killed by the Portuguese.

Scotland Too

Scotland’s profiteering and complicity within the British Empire’s transatlantic slave trade.

Frederick Douglass, by Samuel J. Miller, 1847-52. Art Institute of Chicago. Public Domain.

Frederick Douglass on Tour

When abolitionist author Frederick Douglass visited Britain and Ireland in 1845, he was celebrated in poems and songs wherever he went. Arriving as an enslaved man, he left with his freedom.