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Accounting for the Traffic in Africans: Transport Costs on Slaving Voyages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2010

David Eltis ,
Frank D. Lewis  and
Kimberly McIntyre
David Eltis*
Affiliation:
Robert W. Woodruff Professor of History, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322. E-mail: deltis@emory.edu.
Frank D. Lewis*
Affiliation:
Professor of Economics, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada. E-mail: lewisf@econ.queensu.ca.
Kimberly McIntyre*
Affiliation:
International Economist, International Finance and Development Division, Finance Canada, 140 O'Connor, Ottawa K1A 0G5, Canada. E-mail: kim.mcintyre@fin.gc.ca.
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Abstract

Relying mainly on the manuscript records of the Royal African Company, we explore the factors that contributed to the large gap between slave prices in Africa and the Caribbean. Twenty-two voyages from the mid-1680s are analyzed. These were conducted with hired ships and the payments to the shipowners and captains were recorded. In addition to transport costs, mortality and morbidity had a big effect on slave prices; while the earnings from the trade in gold and ivory had a moderating influence. The effect of mortality and transport costs on slave prices during the eighteenth century is also explored.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 70 , Issue 4 , December 2010 , pp. 940 - 963
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2010

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