Enslaving spirits : the Portuguese-Brazilian alcohol trade at Luanda and its Hinterland, c. 1550-1830 / by José C. Curto.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Curto, José C.

Series:

Atlantic world (Leiden, Netherlands) ; v. 2.

The Atlantic world, 1570-0542 ; v. 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Liquor industry--Angola--History.

Liquor industry.

Slave trade--Angola--History.

Slave trade.

History.

Angola.

Drinking of alcoholic beverages--Africa, East--History.

Drinking of alcoholic beverages--Angola.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 252 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2004.

Summary:

"This volume focuses on the topic at Luanda and its Hinterland, where the connections between foreign alcohol and the slave export trade reached their zenith. Here, following the mid-1500s, an extremely close relationship developed between imported intoxicants and slaves exported, by the thousands in any given year, into the Atlantic World: first, fortified Portuguese wine and, following 1650, Brazilian rum emerged as crucial trade goods for the acquisition of slaves. But the significance of Luso-Brazilian intoxicants goes far beyond this singular fact: they also served a number of other functions, some of which were directly tied to slave trading and others indirectly underpinned the business.

The volume addresses the problem of alcohol in African history, historicizes "indigenous" alcoholic beverages in West-Central Africa at the time of contact and analyzes the introduction and increasing use of foreign intoxicants for the acquisition of exportable slaves. It also ponders the profits that such transactions generated within the Atlantic world and reconstructs the other uses of imported alcohol in directly and indirectly underpinning the export slave made of Luanda Furthermore; the impact of foreign alcohol upon West-Central African consumers is assessed."--Jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: Alcohol as History in Africa

Ch. 1. Alcohol in Early Modern West Central Africa

Ch. 2. The Introduction of Bacchus Into West Central Africa

Ch. 3. The Reign of Bacchus: Portuguese Alcohol at Luanda and its Hinterland During the Early Slave Trade, c. 1550-1649

Ch. 4. The Downfall of Bacchus: Brazilian Traders, Portuguese Capitalists and the Struggle for the Alcohol Trade at Luanda and its Hinterland, c. 1650-1699

Ch. 5. The Long Century of Gerebita: The Luso-Brazilian Alcohol Trade at Luanda and its Hinterland, c. 1700-1830

Ch. 6. The Profits of Luso-Brazilian Alcohol in Slaving at Luanda and its Hinterland.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 226-247) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Curto, José C. Enslaving spirits.

ISBN:

9004131752

9789004131750

OCLC:

52706313

Online:

Book review (H-Net)