A World Transformed: Slavery in the Americas and the Origins of Global Power 9780520386259

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A WORLD TRANSFORMED

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Also by James Walvin: Slavery in Small Things: Slavery and Modern Cultural Habits Different Times: Growing Up in Post-War England Crossings: Africa, the Americas and the Atlantic Slave Trade The Zong: A Massacre, the Law and the End of Slavery The Trader, The Owner, The Slave: Parallel Lives in the Age of Slavery Atlas of Slavery Black Ivory: Slavery in the British Empire Questioning Slavery An African’s Life: The Life and Times of Olaudah Equiano, 1745–1797 Making the Black Atlantic: Britain and the African Diaspora How Sugar Corrupted the World: From Slavery to Obesity Freedom: The Overthrow of the Slave Empires

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A WORLD TRANSFORMED SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS AND THE ORIGINS OF GLOBAL POWER

James Walvin

ROBINSON

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ROBINSON First published in Great Britain in 2022 by Robinson Copyright © James Walvin, 2022 Maps by Stephen Dew 135798642 The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-47214-433-1 (hardback) ISBN: 978-14721-4434-8 (trade paperback) Typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro by Hewer Text UK Ltd, Edinburgh Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A. Papers used by Robinson are from well-managed forests and other responsible sources

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FSC www.lsc.org

MIX Paper from responsible sources

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Robinson An imprint of Little, Brown Book Group Carmelite House 50 Victoria Embankment London EC4Y 0DZ An Hachette UK Company www.hachette.co.uk www.littlebrown.co.uk

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For Jenny Walvin

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Contents

Maps Introduction

x xv Part One: The Trade

1 2 3 4

The Scattering of People Spanish Origins Spain and the Other Slavery Slavery, Sugar and Power

3 10 20 36

Part Two: People and Cargoes 5 Bound for Africa: Cargoes 6 The Dead

59 88

Part Three: Internal Trades 7 Upheavals 8 Brazil’s Internal Slave Trade 9 The Domestic US Slave Trade

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105 115 125

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A WOR L D T R A NSFOR M E D

Part Four: Managing Slavery 10 11 12 13

A World of Paper: Accounting for Slavery Managing Slavery Brute Force Working

143 175 191 207

Part Five: Demanding Freedom 14 Finding a Voice 15 Demanding Freedom

225 246

Part Six: A World Transformed 16 Beauty and the Beast 17 A World Transformed 18 Slavery Matters

275 315 331

Acknowledgements Guide to Further Reading Index

355 359 367

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Overview of the slave trade out of Africa N umber of enslaved people

2, 000,000 1,000,000

if

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NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

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NORTH ~ AMERICA ~ =

__________ Ettttator ___________ 'l,i;.

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9781472144331 A World Transformed (918j) - 6th pass.indd x

_1to __________ _

SOUT MERICA Salvador da

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SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

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Scale 0

....

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.., .., .., .., .., .., .., ....

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Global maritime trade routes in the age of Potosi silver

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