The Bonds of Freedom : Liberated Africans and the End of the Slave Trade.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richards, Jake Subryan.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (336 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, 2025.

Summary:

The story of the long fight for freedom of African captives rescued from the illegal slave trade only to be forced back into bondage The Bonds of Freedom tells the forgotten story of people seized from slave ships by maritime patrols, "liberated," then forced into bonded labor between 1807 and 1880. Using extensive archival research from Sierra Leone, South Africa, Brazil, Cuba, the United Kingdom, and the United States, historian Jake Subryan Richards uncovers the contrasting ideas and practices of authoritarianism and freedom that empires and liberated Africans developed during the protracted end of the illegal slave trade. Following the Africans' journeys from enslavement to liberation, Richards recounts their capture and embarkation on ships that participated in the vast slave trade to Brazil and Cuba, the maritime seizure of those ships, and the adjudication that assigned freed captives to bonded labor. The captives fought against their bondage as state agents limited their freedom of choice and movement. The liberated Africans' story shows that, far from following a straightforward path to freedom, these men and women navigated anti-slave-trade laws that both subjected them to authoritarian control and provided a domain for them to create their own visions of freedom. Through meticulous research and engaging narrative, Richards sheds light on their legal battles, community-building efforts, and ongoing quest for justice and autonomy in the face of enduring challenges.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgments

A Note on Terminology

Introduction

1 War's Crucible

2 A Narrow Window

3 Gunboat Regulation in Atlantic Africa

4 Compulsory Labor

5 Insurgent Abolition

6 The Rupture of Property Rights

7 The Bonds of Freedom

Conclusion

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-300-28607-4

OCLC:

1532790235