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Karlee Ringle
Captives as Commodities the Transatlantic Slave Trade
By Lisa A. Lindsay
2008, Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey
AFA 230: Fall 2012
19 November 2012
The book Captives as Commodities the Transatlantic Slave Trade, written by Lisa A.
Lindsay, is from the series Connections: Key Themes in World History. As a series, the books
serve to provide history and conjecture on important specific topics using a blended mixture of
sources, which make the books more accessible and comprehensible than the average textbook.
In this particular text, Lindsay combines elements most textbooks use such as primary sources,
as well as the use of explanatory narrative of the Historical event, the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The phenomenally interesting topic is what makes a book so appealing, but what makes the small
book so effective as a piece of text is that it also provides reflective questions for the reader or
student to ask while reading, and it also includes an Epilogue, “Making Connections”, where the
reader is given even more information about the slave trade in other areas of the world, which
may have affected the success or downfalls of the trade itself. Lindsay’s, Captives as
Commodities the Transatlantic Slave Trade allows readers to absorb a more full and relatable
view of the historical slave trade in Africa. Its short length and efficient use of pictures, maps,
diagrams and art all add to the ease in which students are able comprehend the subject. This book
would be an incredible and smart choice for any educator looking for a text that would not only
educate his or her students, but would also force them to evaluate and think critically about the
information at hand.
The book, which is separated into five different chapters, and then broken down further
into smaller headings within the chapters, begins with an introduction that readily introduces
readers into the history and beginnings of slavery as well as the European trade. This brief
introduction provides backstory for students who may have not had any previous lesson
pertaining to the subject of trade and slavery, positively allowing the book to be a source quickly
handed to students as a material early in the semester, without much explanation from the
professor. Still, the book, which I believe should be used to supplement understanding of the
Transatlantic slave trade, not merely be the only source to provide it, is quick enough in its
introduction to the topic to not drag familiar readers into boredom.
The first chapter of the text, “Why Did Europeans Buy African Slaves?” begins the
submersion of the student into the slave trade with a question commonly asked by those just
beginning to study the subject. Lindsay chose this small subset of the subject to address first in
her book, and I believe it had great effect. Right from the start the reader is able to delve into
some of the popular misconceptions about the slave trade and have them dismissed as to not get
into the way of fact later in the text. Lindsay describes the origin of the enslavement of Africans
as a means of economics, rather than the popular belief that it was mere racism, that led the
Europeans to enslave the inhabitants of Africa. It is explained that in order for Europeans to even
begin enslaving Africans, they first needed to require the means to do so; means such as wealth
and exploration technologies. In the late 15th century, the growing ability to explore the oceans
and search for new lands up for colonization became the forefront goal, mainly, for the
Portuguese. With new colonies in the Americas mining for gold and silver as well as the tending
of crops like tobacco, sugar, and cotton, workers were needed. However, to much surprise,
Africans were not the first people sought for the jobs. Native Americans, who would not need to
be shipped overseas and could be conquered easily, were first popularly enslaved as workers.
Although many know the fatal effect of the foreign European diseases on the indigenous peoples
in the Americas, other contributing causes such as “destruction of Indian communities,
disruption of established patterns of agriculture and forced labor on European mines and
plantations also played deadly roles,” (Lindsay, 27). Consequently, these devastating downfalls
in the Native American population in the 15th century led Europeans to again, have an undying
need for harvesters and miners. With the large and consequential loss of its workers, Europeans
were almost economically forced to begin shipping Africans to take Indians’ place in the
plantations and mines.
The second chapter deals with another question, which is directly related to the question
of why Europe needed to buy slaves. Chapter two, called, “Why Did Africans Sell Slaves?”,
answers the follow-up question that lingers in the minds of the readers after Chapter one.
Beginning with some misconceptions about how slaves were obtained by Europeans, it is
assumed that almost everyone imagines the enslavement of peoples in a similar way: an African,
while collecting food for the day, is attacked, captured, and wielded away to a ship where he is
forced over to a new land and is now the property of a slave master. Yet however brutal and
dramatic we now see enslavement, with closer looks at how the Transatlantic Slave Trade was
dealt, one is able to see that an event resembling the one described would be illegal, as
“Europeans nearly always bought slaves,” (55) . It is a fact that Africans did sell the slaves to
Europeans even though the impact of such actions has had nothing but negative effects on the
continent’s societies and economics. More importantly, at the time, the trading adversely
affected the lives of the African people and their families. So the question is why, with all these
negative effects, would Africans be willing to sell their people? According to Lindsay, these
traders who traded inhabitants of their country had more than likely no relationship or allegiance
to the slaves since the continent of Africa was so vast and expansive. This idea is reflected on
page 57 on the text: “A king who sold war captives to a European trader likely had no more
sense of affiliation with those enslaved individuals than the European did.” Just a few lines later,
she elaborates more on the African view of selling.
“Africans considered slavery to be a legitimate institution for incorporating,
domesticating, and exploiting outsiders. The main difference between Western
Europeans and Africans in that period of the slave trade was simply that
Europeans drew the boundaries of their “insider group” (i.e., those who should
not be enslaved) more expansively than the Africans did,” (Lindsay, 57).
Adding in the size and diversity of the continent as a contributor for the lack of
compassion held in the slave trade, one is able to see the trade as less of a personal attack on a
group of people and see the event more as an unfortunate economic adventure. Because it was a
business, Europeans would not steal slaves from the coasts; they held a fear that harsh actions
would ruin the trading relationships that were developed. Truthfully, in this chapter, Europeans
and Africans are depicted as having a successful business relationship. The Europeans would be
supplied with African workers in exchange for their goods such as guns and ammunition, giving
more power to Africans in their civilizations, and also textiles. The imported fabrics from Europe
and Asia were seen as exotic and luxurious to the Africans who wanted to flaunt their wealth.
Both sides of the Transatlantic slave trade benefited during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Since not many students are educated on the reasons why the slave trade began, or why
Africans were chosen as captives, the first two chapters give a significantly interesting new view
on slavery. But in Chapter three the readers are brought back to some of the moral issues of the
trade. The third chapter, named, “How Did Enslaved People Cope?” brings the readers a closer
view of how cruel these conditions for slaves had been. Traders and Kings may have understood
the Transatlantic Slave Trade as a business gain, yet the point of view was entirely different for
those enslaved. The book blatantly illustrates the horrifying reality of slave ship conditions and
treatment of slaves while on the voyages to and from Africa. Nearly everyone who imagines how
it would feel to be a slave grieves over the tragic separation from their family at the selling posts,
and the painful strain of plantation and mine work; but many do not realize that the most
terrifying part of becoming a slave was the voyage to the new world. It is estimated that while
almost 20 million Africans were captured as slaves to be brought to ships, only about 12 million
survived. Lindsay describes the process as first beginning with separation from loved ones,
followed by shackled inland marches to warehouses or dungeons where they would be stuffed
into pens to await worse fates from their European traders. Slaves had to experience degrading
examinations and branding before they were able to board a slave ship (Lindsay, 91). Those who
lived through that process were then forced onto the ships as human cargo, where the horrors
were intensified. Lindsay describes the horrifyingly poor conditions of these ships on page 91.
“Below decks, the muck and stench from blood, sweat, urine, feces, and vomit overwhelmed any
attempts at cleanliness. Crews were ordered to mop up the mess…they made efforts to bathe the
slaves by tossing seawater on them, in spite of the pain salt water inflicted on open wounds,”
(Lindsay). These ships that contained anywhere from 100-300 slaves could be identified by ships
downwind just by their odor even when they were far out of sight. These unhealthy conditions
paired with the lack of fresh foods and water for the slaves caused many to die before they
reached their destinations. And because these voyages were for business, the losses in slaves’
lives hurt the profits of the traders. To keep slaves alive “slaves were beaten severely for
attempting suicide,” (Lindsay, 94). Also, slaves who refused to eat were force-fed and tortured
with a device that would pry their mouths open, called a Speculum Orum. Later rather than
sooner, merchants began to make regulations on sizes for the cargo in the ships as well as the
speed of the ships, to help keep the slaves alive while they travelled. Unfortunately, even with
the provisions made, it seems that the luckiest slaves were those who were able to die quickly in
the process.
The book does a great job in this third chapter of transitioning from the horrors of slave
shipping to the issue of how slaves dealt with their lives in the New World. Slaves who survived
the long, harsh voyages to the New World did find the strength to bring their own strong
identities with them. Africans tried as hard as they could to instill cultures and languages to their
children in the New World, and keep their beloved home alive as a memory. The history and
culture of Africans is muddled for many historians today because of the slave trade. The
ownership placed on the African peoples by the slave masters kept many from passing on their
own names and identities, making it a difficult task for some African-Americans today to try to
track their own heritage and the history of their ancestors.
What I enjoyed in particular about Captives as Commodities the Transatlantic Slave
Trade, is that the slow and steady end of the slave trade as well as the attempt for the end of
slaveholding altogether is explored. In the final chapter of the text, the end of the transatlantic
slave trade is evaluated and does well to prove that the question on many students’ minds, “How
Did the Slave Trade End?” is important to the history of Africa and also the birth of AfricanAmericans as a race in our nation today. But what many wonder is why, when English, French
and dominantly Portuguese and Brazilian economies profited greatly on slave trading, would
they begin to abolish it? What changed? The answer lies in a new way of thinking during 17th
century. The Enlightenment, which stressed individual freedoms and natural rights for humans
first sparked at this time and many Europeans began to question the fairness of slavery. Lindsay
describes the change in the Enlightenment on page 115. “…influential individuals began to view
slavery as a fundamental challenge to the newly emerging concept of the equality of all men”
(Lindsay). But a movement even stronger in influence in the abolition of slavery was the
American Revolution. For the first time while fighting and urging for their “freedom” from the
British, American colonists saw a contradiction in their own slave holdings. Many were faced
with the moral issue of holding people as captive workers while they themselves risked their
lives for the sake of autonomy. This sparked a rise in the amount of “free soil” in America, but
more blacks joined the Revolution on the side of the Loyalists. With news that slavery had been
outlawed in Britain, it was popular opinion for blacks to oppose the American Revolution. Lord
Dunmore, the Loyalist Governor of Virginia “sought to disrupt the American cause by promising
freedom to any slaves who would desert Patriot masters and join the Loyalist forces (Lindsay,
116). By issuing this sort of proclamation which promised freedom for slaves in 1775, over 300
blacks had joined his regiment. Also, Sir Henry Clinton of New York proposed that slaves who
joined his Loyalist regiment would be safe from re-enslavement after the war.
The Revolution was important for slavery in America because it allowed Americans to
see clearly that their document, The Declaration of Independence stood for human rights and
personal freedom, but it was written and believed in by men who had owned hundreds of slaves
who were not given freedom. The Revolution may not have sparked an end to slavery in
America, but it enlightened many people of the unfairness and harshness it stood for; a cruelty
that Americans were not able to understand until they fought for their own autonomy. Slaves did
not win their freedom with the American victory in the Revolutionary War, but they did win a
small battle that helped stopped the trade. Abolitionists began to spread their ideas and began to
educate many Americans and Europeans with real descriptions of the harsh trade. Many steps
were taken to give people an understanding of the cruelties in slavery. Many books were put into
publication in the late 18th century that served to not only educate, but to shock and horrify its
readers. For example, the books, Thoughts upon the African Save Trade and An Account of the
Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa, written by John Newton, a former slave ship Captain, and
Alexander Falconbridge, a former Doctor on a slave ship, gave a negative and open view on
what the horrors of slavery actually were (Lindsay, 119). After the American Revolution, many
steps were taken to increase the movement of the Abolitionists, and Britain proved to be a leader
in the end of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. With constant legislation to end and prevent trading,
Britain made it much tougher for other countries to make significant economic gains through the
slave trade, leading to the inevitable end of all slavery.
The book, Captives as Commodities the Transatlantic Slave Trade, is an excellent
source for anyone who is yearning for a deeper understanding of such an important historical
event. What I enjoyed most about the text is that it gave specific, logical reasons for why the
Europeans would engage in such a dangerous and morally corrupt business, as well as giving a
sufficient account of the horrors it held for those who were enslaved. Although, it is an
unfortunate piece of our worlds’ past, it is important that we as historians and students
understand the reason of our history. With a look into the past we can gain the knowledge
necessary to create a more ethical, prosperous future that avoids such mistakes that were made in
the past.
Works Cited
Lindsay, Lisa A. Captives as Commodities The Transatlantic Slave Trade. Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2008. Connections: Key Themes in World History.
Print.