Slavery on the Barbary Coast

Slavery on the Barbary Coast (see Barbary slave trade) was a form of unfree labour which existed between the 16th and 18th centuries in the Barbary Coast area of North Africa.

The Slave Market of Algiers in the early 17th Century.

According to Robert Davis, between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves in North Africa and The Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 19th centuries.[1][2] However, these numbers have been challenged by other historians, such as David Earle, author of The Corsairs of Malta and Barbary and The Pirate Wars.[3]

From bases on the Barbary coast, North Africa, the Barbary pirates raided ships traveling through the Mediterranean and along the northern and western coasts of Africa, plundering their cargo and enslaving the people they captured. From at least 1500, the pirates also conducted raids along seaside towns of Italy, Spain, France, England, the Netherlands and as far away as Iceland, capturing men, women and children. On some occasions, settlements such as Baltimore, Ireland were abandoned following the raid, only being resettled many years later. Between 1609 and 1616, England alone had 466 merchant ships lost to Barbary pirates.[4]

Barbary Wars

Commercial ships from the United States of America were subject to pirate attacks. In 1783, the United States made peace with, and gained recognition from, the British monarchy. In 1784, the first American ship was seized by pirates from Morocco. By late 1793, a dozen American ships had been captured, goods stripped and everyone enslaved. After some serious debate, the US created the United States Navy in March 1794.[5]

This new military presence helped to stiffen American resolve to resist the continuation of tribute payments, leading to the two Barbary Wars along the North African coast: the First Barbary War from 1801 to 1805[5] and the Second Barbary War in 1815. Payments in ransom and tribute to the Barbary states had amounted to 20% of United States government annual revenues in 1800.[6] It was not until 1815 that naval victories ended tribute payments by the United States. Some European nations continued annual payments until the 1830s.[7] The white slave trade and markets in the Mediterranean declined and eventual disappeared after the European occupations. [8]

Slave narratives

Because of the large numbers of Britons captured by the Barbary States and in other venues, captivity was the other side of exploration and empire Captivity narratives originated as a literary form in the seventeenth century. They were widely published and read, preceding those of colonists captured by American Indians in North America.[9]

See also

• Turkish Abductions
• Barbary slave trade
• Jan Janszoon

References

1. Davis, Robert. Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500-1800.
2. "When Europeans were slaves: Research suggests white slavery was much more common than previously believed" Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine, Research News, Ohio State University
3. Carroll, Rory; correspondent, Africa (2004-03-11). "New book reopens old arguments about slave raids on Europe". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
4. Rees Davies, "British Slaves on the Barbary Coast", BBC, 1 July 2003
5. The Mariners' Museum: The Barbary Wars, 1801-1805
6. Oren, Michael B. (2005-11-03). "The Middle East and the Making of the United States, 1776 to 1815". Retrieved 2007-02-18.
7. Richard Leiby, "Terrorists by Another Name: The Barbary Pirates", The Washington Post, October 15, 2001
8. The Cambridge World History of Slavery: Volume 3, AD 1420–AD 1804
9. Linda Colley, Captives: Britain, Empire and the World, 1600-1850, London: Jonathan Cape, 2002, pp. 9-11

External links

• Barbary Slavery Discussion