Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585–1660
This book shows that the first generation of Africans taken to English and Dutch colonies before 1660 were captured by pirates from these countries from slave ships coming from Kongo and Angola. This region had embraced Christianity and elements of Western culture, such as names and some material culture, the result of a long period of diplomatic, political, and military interaction with the Portuguese. This background gave them an important role in shaping the way slavery, racism, and African-American culture would develop in English and Dutch colonies throughout the Western Hemisphere.
- Extremely well documented by a variety of primary sources in seven languages from repositories in three continents
- Has a truly integrated, multi-continental approach that can be a good introduction to the history of the Atlantic basin
- Makes original contribution to the study of the histor of West Central Africa, as well as important revisions to the history of African Americans in colonial America, and European colonization
Reviews & endorsements
"A good addition to the historiography of the Atlantic slave trade." -Choice
"Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585-1660 is a compelling and well-researched account of the earliest days of Atlantic slavery that will reward students and academics, especially those who reject the notion that we cannot untangle the ultimate origins and cultural antecedents of the first African slaves." -John Roby, African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter
"This extremely important and informative book should put to rest any conceivable effort to minimize the brutally destructive impact of the Atlantic slave trade upon Africa and Africans or to blame the victims." -Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"...important contribution...to the history of Atlantic slavery." -Gayle K. Brunelle, H-Atlantic
Product details
- Published: September 2007
- Format: Paperback
- ISBN: 9780521779227
- Length: 386 pages
- Dimensions: 229 × 152 × 23 mm
- Weight: 0.516kg
- Availability: Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Privateering, colonial expansion and the African presence in Early Anglo-Dutch Settlements
- 2. The Portuguese, Kongo and Ndongo and the origins of Atlantic Creole culture to 1607
- 3. Wars, civil unrest and the dynamics of enslavement in West Central Africa, 1607–60
- 4. Atlantic Creole culture: patterns of transformation and adaptations, 1607–60
- 5. Shifting status and the foundation of African-American communities: Atlantic Creoles in the early Anglo-Dutch colonies
- 6. Becoming slaves: Atlantic Creoles and the defining of status.
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