Arming the Slave Trade: Evidence on the Gun-Slave Hypothesis from Dutch Slavers

Philipp Huber

doi:10.5117/9789048560493

Arming the Slave Trade: Evidence on the Gun-Slave Hypothesis from Dutch Slavers

Philipp Huber

IISG

Onderzoeksoutput: Hoofdstuk in boek/boekdeel › Hoofdstuk › Wetenschappelijk › peer review

Samenvatting

Firearms and gunpowder were among the most important goods bartered between Europeans and Africans in the transatlantic slave trade, as highlighted in the literature on the gun-slave hypothesis. The data backing this theory to date is very limited and draws exclusively from British sources. This article uses the archives of the Middelburgsche Commercie Compagnie (MCC), a Dutch slave trading company, and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, to properly chart regional differences and changes over time in the export of military goods for the first time. The weapons export of the MCC expanded strongly throughout the eighteenth century, with gunpowder playing an especially important role. The rise in the volume of this arms trade is explained by the increase in the volume of the slave trade, not by an increasing African demand for firearms specifically.

Originele taal-2	Engels
Titel	The Dutch Transatlantic Slave Trade
Redacteuren	Ramona Negrón, Jessica den Oudsten, Camilla de Koning, Karwan Fatah-Black
Plaats van productie	Amsterdam
Uitgeverij	Amsterdam University Press
Pagina's	45-68
ISBN van geprinte versie	9789048560509, 9789048560493
DOI's	https://doi.org/10.5117/9789048560493
Status	Gepubliceerd - 06 jan. 2025

Publicatie series

Naam	Slavery and Emancipation

Toegang tot document

10.5117/9789048560493Licentie: CC BY

Andere bestanden en links

https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/94726

Citeer dit

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Arming the Slave Trade: Evidence on the Gun-Slave Hypothesis from Dutch Slavers. / Huber, Philipp.
The Dutch Transatlantic Slave Trade. redactie / Ramona Negrón; Jessica den Oudsten; Camilla de Koning; Karwan Fatah-Black. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2025. blz. 45-68 (Slavery and Emancipation).

Onderzoeksoutput: Hoofdstuk in boek/boekdeel › Hoofdstuk › Wetenschappelijk › peer review

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