A human history how this relates to global history a brief summary secondary theses the slave ship and its social relations have shaped the modern world, but their history remains in many was unknown rediker, 10. The slave ship itself is the focus of marcus redikers well written and thoughtful book on the british and american slave trade of the 18th century. The hawk, the hawk sailed for calabar, with instructions to buy 340 slaves. The work seeks to offer a new perspective on the slave trade by focusing on the slave ship itself, which, rediker claims, despite the immense recent outpouring of studies of the slave trade, has remained a neglected topic p. Letter the slave ship marcus rediker the new york times. For a fleeting moment, coloniser and colonised have merged into one.
See all books the slave ship a human history purchase. The slave ship is the best of histories, deeply researched, brilliantly formulated, and morally informed. Rediker restores the slave ship to its rightful place alongside the. Slaveship sailors like butterworth usually detested the captains favorites as they were required to be snitches. Much is known of the slave trade and the american plantation system, but little of the ships that made it all possible. Oct 21, 2007 rediker looks not at that bigger picture but at the slave ship itself, as a microeconomy where the captain was chief executive, jailer, accountant, paymaster and disciplinarian, exercising these.
The slave ship by marcus rediker is a scholarly story of the middle passage. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. By 1807, more than ninemillion africans in shackles, manacles, neck. Marcus rediker is distinguished professor of atlantic history at the university of pittsburgh and senior research fellow at the college detudes mondiales in paris. In the slave ship, awardwinning historian marcus rediker draws on 30 years of research in maritime archives to create an unprecedented history of these vessels and the human drama acted out on their rolling decks. Marcus rediker is a distinguished professor for the history department in the university of pittsburgh with three videos in the cspan video library. In the slave ship, awardwinning historian marcus rediker draws on thirty years of research in maritime archives to create an unprecedented. In his most recent book, the slave ship, marcus rediker mentions by name some 99 slave ships and often recounts facts and incidents a bout them as one would expect a narrative historian to do. Lecture on slave trade featuring awardwinning pitt history. A human history, african diaspora archaeology newsletter.
Rediker approaches this book in a four prong approach. May 08, 2009 the author identifies four dramas played out repeatedly over the course of the 18th century aboard slavers. Between the devil and the deep blue sea by marcus rediker. We very often consider slavery to be precapitalist or noncapitalist, which capitalism simply starts with free waged work, however i believe that.
The 2008 george washington book prize, given by the gilder lehrman institute, the mount vernon ladies association, and washington college. The impact of isolation on the courtroom narratives of slave ship. The middle passage marked the water way in the atlantic ocean between africa and the americas. 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. Redikers perspective seeing the slave ship as a machine or technology of imprisonment is an interesting view thats not received as much coverage as other aspects of the transatlantic slave trade. He traces the slave trade through the relationship. Hannibal, an english slaver of the atlantic slave trade. Reviewed for the african diaspora archaeology newsletter by fred l. 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. African captives discovered on a slave trade ship upon its interception by a. The slave ship by marcus rediker overdrive rakuten.
But for the nimble singer and dancer the sailors had the highest esteem. 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. Seamen, captains, and pirates occupy a special place in our popular culture, yet until now the historical record of their lives has been remarkably neglected. Rediker illustrates the horrendous conditions that the slaves endured by reproducing a 1787 drawing of the slave ship brooks. The slave ship by marcus rediker, 9780143114253, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. The hebrews included a provision that a man held as slave must be set free after seven years.
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. The slave ship gives a fascinating forte in the archives of slavery and the making of modern history. But always, the slave trade, which transported more than. It was also a factory producing labour for the world economy. He reconstructs in chilling detail the lives, deaths, and terrors of captains, sailors, and the enslaved aboard a floating dungeon. 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.
The slave ship was a power of capital, also it was the bearer of capitalist assumptions and practices concerning the world and exactly how it must be. Much is known of the slave trade and the american plantation complex, but little of the ships that made it all possible. He is the author of numerous prizewinning books, including the manyheaded hydra with peter linebaugh, the slave ship, and the amistad rebellion. 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. Aboard a slave ship, 1829 americas first steam locomotive, 1830 a portrait of america, 1830 traveling the national road, 1833 a slave s life traveling the erie canal, 1836 victoria becomes queen, 1837 escape from slavery, 1838 a flogging at sea, 1839 p. But always, the slave trade, which transported more than 12 million people across the atlantic from the late 1400s to the late 1800s, loomed in his. He talked about the origins of the slave trade to the americas between 1640 and the. Marcus rediker, a preeminent historian the maritime atlantic, unravels its history with unmatched knowledge of the material changes and moral ruptures its created. It was a vehicle, transporting captives whose labor was necessary for americas economic survival. The malevolent genius of the slave ship lay in its combination of many different roles.
History professor marcus rediker lectured during a course on colonial america at the university of pittsburgh. 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. Barnum discovers tom thumb 1842 living among the shakers, 1843 visit to the red light. Oct 15, 2007 by marcus rediker, read by david drummond. Oct 15, 2007 for more than three centuries, slave ships carried millions of people from the coasts of africa across the atlantic to the new world. Marcus rediker slave ship essays and research papers. Slave ship is the best of histories, deeply researched, brilliantly formulated, and morally informed. Redikers lecture on the slave trade and slave ships also will air on cspan radio at 10 p. In the slave ship, awardwinning historian marcus rediker creates an unprecedented history of these vessels and the human drama acted out on their rolling decks.
The book is well researched and really well written flows pretty evenly while not shirking from the more grisly aspects of the story. Oct 08, 2007 making the slave ship real, historian rediker historyuniv. Marcus rediker uncovers the extraordinary human drama that played out on this worldchanging vessel. The slave ship marcus rediker thesis proposal i help to study. 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. Hebe, portuguese slave ship carrying 401 angolans when captured by hms nimble july 1832. The slave ship is a book, like bury my heart at wounded knee, that will change the way we see history and ourselves. Sep 29, 2016 interesting, rediker writes that the slave ship crystalized the creation of the white race.
Marcus rediker born 1951 in owensboro, kentucky is an american professor, historian, writer, and activist for a variety of peace and social justice causes. A human history by marcus rediker article pdf available in transforming anthropology 172. Marcus rediker is one of the most distinguished historians of the eighteenth. Nichter, coexecutive producer of cspan 3s american history tv. She was universally respected by the ships company. The slave ship was the instrument of historys greatest forced migration and a key to the origins and growth of global capitalism, yet much of its history remains unknown. For more than three centuries, slave ships carried millions of people from the coasts of africa to the new world. Peter linebaugh and marcus rediker, the manyheaded.
Ira berlin, author of many thousands gone the slave ship is an open metaphoric wound lying at the heart of attempts to understand the middle passage. In this brilliant work, marcus rediker achieves the impossible. Pdf colloquy with marcus rediker on the slave ship. M arcus rediker attempts to solve the problem of how to write the biography of millions by combining an expert maritime historians knowledge with the power of. Professor rediker was selected for american history tvs lectures in history program because of his specialty and publications on the slave trade, said luke a. Rawley prize, given by the american historical association. The slave ship by marcus rediker books the guardian. 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 find, read and cite all. Guerrero, spanish slave ship wrecked in the florida keys in 1827 carrying 561 africans.
The 2008 oah merle curti award, given by the organization of american historians. Rediker was also an advisor on this summers reboot of roots. 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 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.
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