The Atlantic Slave Trade from West Central Africa, 1780–1867 Cambridge Studies on the African Diaspora Series

The Atlantic Slave Trade from West Central Africa, 1780?1867 traces the inland origins of slaves leaving West Central Africa at the peak period of the transatlantic slave trade. Drawing on archival sources from Angola, Brazil, England, and Portugal, Daniel B. Domingues da Silva explores not only the origins of the slaves forced into the trade but also the commodities for which they were exchanged and their methods of enslavement. Further, the book examines the evolution of the trade over time, its organization, the demographic profile of the population transported, the enslavers' motivations to participate in this activity, and the Africans' experience of enslavement and transportation across the Atlantic. Domingues da Silva also offers a detailed 'geography of enslavement', including information on the homelands of the enslaved Africans and their destination in the Americas.

List of figures; List of tables; Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. The Atlantic slave trade in the century of abolition; 2. The commercial organization of the slave trade; 3. The origins of slaves leaving West Central Africa; 4. The demographic profile of the enslaved population; 5. African patterns of consumption; 6. Experiences and methods of enslavement; Conclusion; Appendix A. Slave origins data; Appendix B. Slave prices data; Appendix C. Exchange commodities data; Bibliography; Index.

Daniel B. Domingues da Silva is Assistant Professor of African history at the University of Missouri, Columbia.