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  • When Europeans Were Slaves of North Africa

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    A new study suggests that a million or more European Christians were enslaved by Muslims in North Africa. Between 1530 and 1780, between 1 million and 1. Million European Christians were captured. Most previous estimates of slavery along the Barbary Coast tended to be in the thousands.

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    16533224 When Europeans Were Slaves of North Africa

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    A new study suggests that a million or more European Christians were enslaved by Muslims in North Africa. Between 1530 and 1780, between 1 million and 1. Million European Christians were captured. Most previous estimates of slavery along the Barbary Coast tended to be in the thousands.

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    261 views3 pages

    When Europeans Were Slaves of North Africa

    Uploaded by

    spectabear
    A new study suggests that a million or more European Christians were enslaved by Muslims in North Africa. Between 1530 and 1780, between 1 million and 1. Million European Christians were captured. Most previous estimates of slavery along the Barbary Coast tended to be in the thousands.

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    WhenEuropeansWereSlavesofNorthAfrica

    WHENEUROPEANSWERESLAVES:RESEARCHSUGGESTSWHITESLAVERYWASMUCH MORECOMMONTHANPREVIOUSLYBELIEVED COLUMBUS,OhioAnewstudysuggeststhatamillionormoreEuropeanChristianswereenslaved byMuslimsinNorthAfricabetween1530and1780afargreaternumberthanhadeverbeen estimatedbefore. Inanewbook,RobertDavis,professorofhistoryatOhioStateUniversity,developedaunique methodologytocalculatethenumberofwhiteChristianswhowereenslavedalongAfricasBarbary Coast,arrivingatmuchhigherslavepopulationestimatesthananypreviousstudieshadfound. MostotheraccountsofslaveryalongtheBarbarycoastdidnttrytoestimatethenumberofslaves,or onlylookedatthenumberofslavesinparticularcities,Davissaid.Mostpreviouslyestimatedslave countshavethustendedtobeinthethousands,oratmostinthetensofthousands.Davis,by contrast,hascalculatedthatbetween1millionand1.25millionEuropeanChristianswerecaptured andforcedtoworkinNorthAfricafromthe16thto18thcenturies.Davissnewestimatesappearinthe bookChristianSlaves,MuslimMasters:WhiteSlaveryintheMediterranean,theBarbaryCoast,and Italy,15001800(PalgraveMacmillan). EnslavementwasaveryrealpossibilityforanyonewhotraveledintheMediterranean,orwholived alongtheshoresinplaceslikeItaly,France,SpainandPortugal,andevenasfarnorthasEnglandand Iceland. Muchofwhathasbeenwrittengivestheimpressionthattherewerenotmanyslavesandminimizes theimpactthatslaveryhadonEurope,Davissaid.Mostaccountsonlylookatslaveryinoneplace, oronlyforashortperiodoftime.Butwhenyoutakeabroader,longerview,themassivescopeofthis slaveryanditspowerfulimpactbecomeclear. DavissaiditisusefultocomparethisMediterraneanslaverytotheAtlanticslavetradethatbrought blackAfricanstotheAmericas.Overthecourseoffourcenturies,theAtlanticslavetradewasmuch largerabout10to12millionblackAfricanswerebroughttotheAmericas.Butfrom1500to1650, whentransAtlanticslavingwasstillinitsinfancy,morewhiteChristianslaveswereprobablytakento BarbarythanblackAfricanslavestotheAmericas,accordingtoDavis. Oneofthethingsthatboththepublicandmanyscholarshavetendedtotakeasgivenisthatslavery wasalwaysracialinnaturethatonlyblackshavebeenslaves.Butthatisnottrue,Davissaid.We cannotthinkofslaveryassomethingthatonlywhitepeopledidtoblackpeople.Duringthetimeperiod Davisstudied,itwasreligionandethnicity,asmuchasrace,thatdeterminedwhobecameslaves. EnslavementwasaveryrealpossibilityforanyonewhotraveledintheMediterranean,orwholived alongtheshoresinplaceslikeItaly,France,SpainandPortugal,andevenasfarnorthasEnglandand Iceland,hesaid.

    Pirates(calledcorsairs)fromcitiesalongtheBarbaryCoastinnorthAfricacitiessuchasTunisand AlgierswouldraidshipsintheMediterraneanandAtlantic,aswellasseasidevillagestocapture men,womenandchildren.TheimpactoftheseattacksweredevastatingFrance,England,and Spaineachlostthousandsofships,andlongstretchesoftheSpanishandItaliancoastswerealmost completelyabandonedbytheirinhabitants.Atitspeak,thedestructionanddepopulationofsome areasprobablyexceededwhatEuropeanslaverswouldlaterinflictontheAfricaninterior. AlthoughhundredsofthousandsofChristianslavesweretakenfromMediterraneancountries,Davis noted,theeffectsofMuslimslaveraidswasfeltmuchfurtheraway:itappears,forexample,that throughmostofthe17thcenturytheEnglishlostatleast400sailorsayeartotheslavers. EvenAmericanswerenotimmune.Forexample,oneAmericanslavereportedthat130other AmericanseamenhadbeenenslavedbytheAlgeriansintheMediterraneanandAtlanticjustbetween 1785and1793. DavissaidthevastscopeofslaveryinNorthAfricahasbeenignoredandminimized,inlargepart becauseitisonnoonesagendatodiscusswhathappened. TheenslavementofEuropeansdoesntfitthegeneralthemeofEuropeanworldconquestand colonialismthatiscentraltoscholarshipontheearlymodernera,hesaid.Manyofthecountriesthat werevictimsofslavery,suchasFranceandSpain,wouldlaterconquerandcolonizetheareasof NorthAfricawheretheircitizenswereonceheldasslaves.Maybebecauseofthishistory,Western scholarshavethoughtoftheEuropeansprimarilyasevilcolonialistsandnotasthevictimsthey sometimeswere,Davissaid. DavissaidanotherreasonthatMediterraneanslaveryhasbeenignoredorminimizedhasbeenthat therehavenotbeengoodestimatesofthetotalnumberofpeopleenslaved.Peopleofthetimeboth EuropeansandtheBarbaryCoastslaveownersdidnotkeepdetailed,trustworthyrecordsofthe numberofslaves.Incontrast,thereareextensiverecordsthatdocumentthenumberofAfricans broughttotheAmericasasslaves. SoDavisdevelopedanewmethodologytocomeupwithreasonableestimatesofthenumberof slavesalongtheBarbaryCoast.Davisfoundthebestrecordsavailableindicatinghowmanyslaves wereataparticularlocationatasingletime.Hethenestimatedhowmanynewslavesitwouldtaketo replaceslavesastheydied,escapedorwereransomed. TheonlywayIcouldcomeupwithhardnumbersistoturnthewholeproblemupsidedownfigure outhowmanyslavestheywouldhavetocapturetomaintainacertainlevel,hesaid.Itisnotthebest waytomakepopulationestimates,butitistheonlywaywiththelimitedrecordsavailable. Puttingtogethersuchsourcesofattritionasdeaths,escapes,ransomings,andconversions,Davis calculatedthataboutonefourthofslaveshadtobereplacedeachyeartokeeptheslavepopulation stable,asitapparentlywasbetween1580and1680.Thatmeantabout8,500newslaveshadtobe capturedeachyear.Overall,thissuggestsnearlyamillionslaveswouldhavebeentakencaptive duringthisperiod.Usingthesamemethodology,Davishasestimatedasmanyas475,000additional slavesweretakeninthepreviousandfollowingcenturies.

    Theresultisthatbetween1530and1780therewerealmostcertainly1millionandquitepossiblyas manyas1.25millionwhite,EuropeanChristiansenslavedbytheMuslimsoftheBarbaryCoast. Davissaidhisresearchintothetreatmentoftheseslavessuggeststhat,formostofthem,theirlives wereeverybitasdifficultasthatofslavesinAmerica. Asfarasdailylivingconditions,theMediterraneanslavescertainlydidnthaveitbetter,hesaid.While AfricanslavesdidgruelinglaboronsugarandcottonplantationsintheAmericas,EuropeanChristian slaveswereoftenworkedjustashardandaslethallyinquarries,inheavyconstruction,andabove allrowingthecorsairgalleysthemselves.Davissaidhisfindingssuggestthatthisinvisibleslaveryof EuropeanChristiansdeservesmoreattentionfromscholars. Wehavelostthesenseofhowlargeenslavementcouldloomforthosewholivedaroundthe Mediterraneanandthethreattheywereunder,hesaid.Slaveswerestillslaves,whethertheyare blackorwhite,andwhethertheysufferedinAmericaorNorthAfrica. # ContactRobertDavis,Davis.711@osu.edu WrittenbyJeffGrabmeier,Grabmeier.1@osu.edu PostedinArticles,Rastas. ByDonJaide September14,2008

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