Paul startribune, october 19, 2007, an eyeopening history of slave ships, by richard thompson. By 1807, more than ninemillion africans in shackles, manacles, neck rings, locks and chains had been carried to new world plantations, a crime impossible without ships, the most complex machines of the age, turned for this evil purpose into floating dungeons. The violence of abstraction is a big part of redikers thesis because it showed how brutally. In this book marcus rediker engages with the historiography of slavery by examining the ways in which slave ships shaped and were shaped by the slave trade. African blacks took their captives as slaves, and even initiated wars specifically to gather slaves, either for their own use or to sell to the white men. Such is my prejudice that i imagine telegraph readers coming to redikers work not to be educated about the shaping of race and class in the western hemisphere by the atlantic slave trade but to bask in reminiscences about the source of their wealth or. Marcus rediker the new chairman of the pitt history department is an acknowledged master of maritime life in the 1700s and has written previous books on merchant seamen, naval crewmen and pirates. The use of slaves provided a great economy for the european countries due to the fact that. The amistad rebellion an atlantic odyssey of slavery and rebellion. With what comes down to a pioneering and pathbreaking work, within the slave ship. The slave ship by marcus redikercombining an expert maritime historians knowledge with the power of primary sources says lucy scholes.
The slave ship by marcus rediker books the guardian. Marcus redikers lecture the slave ship was recorded in july of 2012 at the frank c. Marcus rediker 114 after the slave ship was published in the fall of 2007, i gave dozens of lectures and informal talks about it, to all kinds of groups, academic, public, and community. The slave ship by marcus rediker is a great fiction novel that describes the horrifying experiences of africans, seamen, and captains on their journey through the middle passage. A human history by marcus rediker, he bring to life the authentic horrors of the atlantic slave trade and what truly happened on the slave ships. Always update books hourly, if not looking, search in the book search column. Marcus rediker is distinguished professor of atlantic history at the university of pittsburgh and senior research fellow at the college detudes mondiales in paris. The hebrews included a provision that a man held as slave must be set free after seven years. Us historian marcus rediker talks to hassan mahamdallie about oppression and resistance. The slave ship gives a fascinating forte in the archives of slavery and the making of modern history.
Slave ship is the best of histories, deeply researched, brilliantly formulated, and morally informed. History professor marcus rediker lectured during a course on colonial america at the university of pittsburgh. Rediker states that he chose this approach because he believes it reveals the complexity of. Download file to see previous pages eminent scholar and historian marcus rediker throws light onto a few of the most horrifying and dark avenues of history during the eighteenth century. In the introduction to the slave ship you say that this was a painful book to write. Marcus rediker s lecture the slave ship was recorded in july of 2012 at the frank c. For more than three centuries, slave ships carried millions of people from the coasts of africa across the atlantic to the new world. He talked about the origins of the slave trade to the americas between 1640 and the. The middle passage marked the water way in the atlantic ocean between africa and the americas. He is the author of numerous prizewinning books, including the manyheaded hydra with peter linebaugh, the slave ship, and the amistad rebellion.
A human history article pdf available in atlantic studies 71. Slave ship essay jillian miesner marcus rediker the slave. Pdf colloquy with marcus rediker on the slave ship. On a moonless night, after four days at sea, the captive africans rose up, killed the captain, and seized control of the ship. Interesting, rediker writes that the slave ship crystalized the creation of the white race. The slave ship ebook by marcus rediker rakuten kobo. Marcus rediker is the distinguished professor of atlantic history at the university of pittsburgh and the awardwinning author of the slave ship. Marcus rediker restores the slave ship to its rightful place alongside the plantation as a formative institution of slavery, as a place where a profound and still haunting history of race, class, and modern capitalism was made. A human history by marcus rediker article pdf available in transforming anthropology 172. It was a way to avoid looking at the brutality of slavery by focusing on numbers and data, rather than people. Marcus rediker in this widely praised history of an infamous institution, awardwinning scholar marcus rediker shines a light into the darkest corners of the british and american slave ships of the eighteenth. The slave merchants, captains and tavern keepers would conspire to run sailors into debt, and they would either be thrown in jail or sold directly to the slave ship captain. In the slave ship, awardwinning historian marcus rediker draws on thirty years of research in maritime archives to create an. But always, the slave trade, which transported more than.
The reasons they served on slave ship voyages were many and complicated. But never in a setting like this, in which everything i said about incarceration, violence, and the horrors of life aboard an eighteenthcentury slave ship. The slave ship by marcus rediker overdrive rakuten. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the slave ship.
In his book he documents the history of the american and british slave ships of the 18th century that. Much is known of the slave trade and the american plantation complex, but little of the ships that made it all possible. An individual history marcus rediker reminds us of the items he calls the more dark and much more violent side from the good reputation for atlantic slavery, noting by using their abstract, indeed bloodless statistics. Marcus rediker slave ship essays and research papers. The slave ship by marcus rediker is a scholarly story of the middle passage.
The great strength of rediker s book lies in its insistence that there are people in this story, not statistics, obfuscatory categories, artifact typologies, or shipwreck parts, and that the proper vantage point for studying this subject is the lived alltoohuman experiences of the people engaged in the drama. Im here for a symposium organized by the hutchins center at harvard university on new work on the atlantic slave trade, and my part in it was to show my documentary ghosts. Munson institute of american maritime studies at mystic seaport. Drawing on thirty years of research in maritime archives, court records, diaries, and firsthand accounts, the slave ship is. Marcus rediker is one of the most distinguished historians of the eighteenth. The recording and web presentation of the lecture were made possible by the national endowment for the humanities. Marcus rediker1 carl grey martin and modhumita roy carl grey martin. There are more than 1 million books that have been enjoyed by people from all over the world. Falconbridge, alexander 1788 an account of the slave trade on the coast of africa. Making the slave ship real, historian rediker historyuniv. Slave ship essay jillian miesner marcus rediker the. University of maryland college park, department of anthropology. Marcus rediker uses his experience as a maritime historian and his mastery of the contemporary documents to recreate all three legs of the triangle, often in the very words of the participants captains, seamen and slaves. On june 28, 1839, the spanish slave schooner amistad set sail from havana on a routine delivery of human cargo.
Play the complete audio lecture or download it as an mp3 file. Marcus rediker talked about his book the slave ship. This book traces the tale of the slave from capture, through a torturous journey across africa and the final chapter, transported across the atlantic ending in the beginning of hell to millions of black africans. It was a vehicle, transporting captives whose labor was necessary for americas economic survival. The missing link in the chain of american slavery for three centuries slave ships carted millions of people from the coasts of africa across the atlantic to the americas. The great strength of redikers book lies in its insistence that there are people in this story, not statistics, obfuscatory categories, artifact typologies, or shipwreck parts, and that the proper vantage point for studying this subject is the lived alltoohuman experiences of the people engaged in the drama. Much is known of the slave trade and the american plantation system, but little of the ships that made it all possible. It was the last successful largescale importation of slaves into the united states, and it was done in defiance of a federal law. Such is my prejudice that i imagine telegraph readers coming to rediker s work not to be educated about the shaping of race and class in the western hemisphere by the atlantic slave trade but to bask in reminiscences about the source of their wealth or. The cover of my edition of marcus redikers the slave ship features a quote from the sunday telegraph describing it as a truly magnificent book. Penguin, 2007 the violence of abstraction was a way of calling the slaves. Never before has the reality of the trade been so comprehensively and subtly conveyed.
The slave ship book cover for more than three centuries slave ships carried millions of people from the coasts of africa across the atlantic to the. A human history, a meticulously researched work, marcus rediker, a maritime historian at the university of pittsburgh, has drawn the slave ship out of the shadows, creating a. Sep 29, 2016 interesting, rediker writes that the slave ship crystalized the creation of the white race. Read the slave ship a human history by marcus rediker available from rakuten kobo. Redikers thesis spoke about the four dramas that were played out on the ships by the ship captain, the motley crew, the. Life, death, and terror in the slave trade chapter two. A human history is a revelation of marcus effort of rigorous research of more than thirty years through the passage of countless maritime archives, records from court, entries in. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Published in 1967, the slave ship wanderer details the journey of the elegant yacht that was used to secretly land a cargo of 400 enslaved africans off the coast of jekyll island, georgia, in 1859. Marcus rediker born 1951 in owensboro, kentucky is an american professor, historian, writer, and activist for a variety of peace and social justice causes. Oct 08, 2007 making the slave ship real, historian rediker historyuniv. In the slave ship, awardwinning historian marcus rediker draws on thirty years of research in maritime archives to create an unprecedented history of these vessels and the human drama acted out on their rolling decks.
Rediker approaches this book in a four prong approach. Sailors, pirates, and motley crews in the age of sail. Rediker was also an advisor on this summers reboot of roots. A human history, a meticulously researched work, marcus rediker, a maritime historian at the university of pittsburgh, has drawn the slave ship out of. A human history by marcus rediker table of contents 1 table of contents 2 introduction 3 thesis statement 3 the slave ship. A human history marcus rediker in this widely praised history of an infamous institution, awardwinning scholar marcus rediker shines a light into the darkest corners of the british and american slave ships of the eighteenth century. Daily mail, december, 2007, cargo of the living dead.