1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910785733503321

Autore

Sears C

Titolo

American Slaves and African Masters [[electronic resource] ] : Algiers and the Western Sahara, 1776-1820 / / by C. Sears

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York : , : Palgrave Macmillan US : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2012

ISBN

1-283-64147-X

1-137-29503-1

Edizione

[1st ed. 2012.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (253 p.)

Disciplina

306.3620965

Soggetti

Africa—History

United States—History

History, Modern

America—History

Africa, North—History

Social justice

Human rights

African History

US History

Modern History

History of the Americas

History of North Africa

Social Justice, Equality and Human Rights

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Half-Title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; List of Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction: Remembering the "Horror of Mahometan Vassalage"; 1 "This World Is Full of Vicissitudes"; Part I Algiers; 2 "Far Distant from Our Country, Families, Friends, and Connections": American Slaves in Ottoman Algiers; 3 "Once a Citizen of the United States of America, But at Present the Most Miserable Slave": Americans and Slave Community; 4 "American Livestock, Now Slaves in Algiers": Elite Slaves in Ottoman Algiers; 5 "We Set No Great Value upon



Money": A Slave Economy

Part II Western Sahara6 "Sons of Sorrow": American Slaves in the Western Sahara; 7 "Clear the Country of All You Christian Dogs": The Business of Redemption; Epilogue: A Different Kind of Slavery; Notes; Bibliography; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Whether by falling prey to Algerian corsairs or crashing onto the desert shores of Western Sahara, a handful of Americans in the first years of the Republic found themselves enslaved in a system that differed so markedly from nineteenth century U.S. slavery that some contemporaries and modern scholars hesitate to categorize their experiences as 'slavery.' Sears uses a comparative approach, placing African enslavement of Americans and Europeans in the context of Mediterranean and Ottoman slaveries, while individually investigating the system of slavery in Algiers and Western Sahara. This work illuminates the commonalities and peculiarities of these slaveries, while contributing to a growing body of literature that showcases the flexibility of slavery as an institution.