Description
For political activists and policymakers, these manuscripts constitute additional supporting materials for reparations and the quest for social justice and recognition.
Paul E. Lovejoy
Distinguished Research Professor
and Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History, York University
The barbarity of the enforced migration of Africans to the Caribbean and the realities of the transatlantic slave trade are fully revealed in Letters from the Voyages of the Slave Ship PEARL. The nonchalant accounts of the awful details of suffering and death are brought into sharp relief by the editors who reconstruct four voyages of the PEARL between 1785 and 1793. The ship was owned by Bristol businessman James Rogers, and the letters in this collection are but a small sample of the 15 boxes of correspondence comprising the Rogers papers held at The National Archives at Kew in the United Kingdom. Caribbean scholars who can scarcely access the original records are provided with a closer understanding of the complexities of slave trading.
Written from several perspectives – the ship’s doctor, the captains, slave traders on the African coast and Caribbean merchants – this assemblage offers a unique glimpse into the transatlantic slave trade. The letters, however, do not cover the perspective of the enslaved – muted and reduced to cargo, mentioned and recorded by number only.
The book is divided into four parts for each of the selected voyages and each part is introduced with a short synopsis, each letter elucidated with explanatory notes. The work is enhanced by the inclusion of maps, tables and figures.
Letters from the Voyages of the Slave Ship PEARL contextualises the continuing conversation of a painful past and is both enlightening and informative for the scholar, activist and advocate alike.
Contents
List of Maps
List of Tables and Figures
Foreword by Paul E. Lovejoy
Preface
Introduction: Archives, Power & Legacy
The Voyage 1785–1786
- Campbell, Baillie & Company to James Rogers
Grenada, March 26 & April 2, 1786
- Captain Stephen Madge to James Rogers
Grenada, April 9, 1786
- Campbell, Baillie & Company to James Rogers
Grenada, April 30, 1786
- Merchant Joseph Daltera to James Rogers
Liverpool, May 5, 1786
The Voyage 1787–1788
- Captain Richard Rogers to James Rogers
Old Calabar, October 29, 1787
- Captain Richard Rogers to James Rogers
Old Calabar, March 26, 1788
- Captain Richard Rogers to James Rogers
Barbados, November 30, 1788
The Voyage 1790–1791
- J.P. Degravers to James Rogers
Bristol Channel (England), January 4, 1790
- J.P. Degravers to James Rogers
Bristol Channel (England), January 18, 1790
- Captain William Blake to James Rogers
Old Calabar, August 28, 1790
- Captain William Blake to James Rogers
Old Calabar, October 9, 1790
- Degravers to James Rogers
Old Calabar, October 10, 1790
- Captain William Blake to James Rogers
Old Calabar, December 19, 1790
- Captain William Blake to James Rogers
Old Calabar, January 11, 1791
- Merchant Samuel Richards to James Rogers
Barbados, March 11, 1791
- Captain Samuel Stribling to James Rogers
Barbados, March 12, 1791
- Merchants Baillie Fraser & Co. to James Rogers
St. Vincent, March 15, 1791
- Captain Samuel Stribling to James Rogers
Kingston (Jamaica), April 9, 1791
- Merchant Alexandre Lindo to James Rogers
Kingston (Jamaica), April 10, 1791
- Captain Samuel Stribling to James Rogers
Kingston (Jamaica), April 24, 1791
- Merchant Alexandre Lindo to James Rogers
Kingston (Jamaica), May 11, 1791
- J.P. Degravers to James Rogers
Bath (England), October 7, 1791
The Voyage 1792–1793
- Merchant Samuel Richards to James Rogers
Barbados, January 9, 1793
- Merchant Samuel Richards to James Rogers
Barbados, January 21, 1793
- Merchant Samuel Richards to James Rogers
Barbados, January 30, 1793
- Merchant Samuel Richards to James Rogers
Barbados, February 3, 1793
- Merchant William Barton to James Rogers
Barbados, March 6, 1793
- Record of Sales
Barbados, March 6, 1793
- Captains Reuben Wright & James Bachope to James Rogers
Bonny, Undated
- General Account of the Ship Pearl from Captain William Thornborrow
1793
- Ship Pearl’s Disbursements
Undated
- Unknown author to Solicitors Ward, Dennetts & Greaves
Bristol, November 15, 1793
- Solicitors Ward, Dennetts & Greaves to James Rogers
Covent Gardens, November 29, 1793
About the Author
Audra A. Diptee is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Carleton University. She is also the Managing Director of the Canadian not-for-profit the History Watch Project. Her publications include From Africa to Jamaica: The Making of an Atlantic Slave Society, 1776–1807 (2010) and Remembering Africa & Its Diasporas: Memory, Public History & Representations of the Past (2012).
David V. Trotman is a Professor of History at York University. Trotman has published on the history of crime in the Caribbean and other areas including slavery, religion, and memory. His work has been supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Rockerfeller foundation. He is a Director of the Canadian not-for-profit the History Watch Project.
