The White Slave Trade of The Arabs
The White Slave Trade of The Arabs
The White Slave Trade of The Arabs
Whilst the Arabs have been acknowledged as a prime force in the early usage of slaves from Africa, very little has been written about their usage of White slaves, whether they were part of the Russian slave trade or those kidnapped by Arab pirates. However, in recent years, the research of some authors has been bringing this issue to light.[5 ! "avid #rion "avis, in The New York Review of Books, e$plains that %&he origins of African slavery in the 'ew World cannot be understood without some knowledge of the millennium of warfare between (hristians and )uslims that took place in the )editerranean and Atlantic and the piracy and kidnapping that went along with it. *n +,- pirates from the #arbary (oast of 'orth Africa raided distant *celand and enslaved nearly four hundred astonished residents. *n + - )uslim pirates, having long enslaved (hristians along the coasts of .pain, /rance, *taly, and even *reland, captured ,,00 men and women in 1ortuguese )adeira. "own to the +20s, there were many more 3nglish slaves in )uslim 'orth Africa than African slaves under 3nglish control in the (aribbean. *ndeed, a +,2 parliamentary proclamation estimated that the #arbary states held at least ,500 3nglish slaves, mostly sailors captured in the )editerranean or Atlantic.%[5,! 1rofessor Robert "avis, in his book Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and taly, !"##$!%##, estimated that million to .,5 million White people were enslaved by 'orth African pirates between 540 and -50. 'orth African pirates abducted and enslaved more 3uropeans from coastal villages and towns. *taly, .pain, 1ortugal and /rance were hardest hit but the raiders also sei6ed people in #ritain, *reland and *celand. &hey even captured 40 American seamen from ships that they boarded in the Atlantic and )editerranean between -55 and -74.[54!
&4fter lookin) at some do5ens of ,o,ulation estimates from a number of different kinds of sour-es we have an avera)e, year in year out, es,e-ially between the years !"%# and !*%# of about 6",###, 62,### slaves at any )iven time0 Well, knowin) this it then be-omes a 7uestion of estimatin) sim,ly how many slaves it would be ne-essary to be taken every year to kee, that number0 /ve have estimated overall that between !"6# and !8%#, that is about two and a half -enturies, somethin) of the order of a million to a million and 7uarter white (uro,eans were enslaved and taken to Barbary0& 1""3 &4rab ,irates ,la)ued the south west -oast of (n)land and reland throu)hout the seventeenth -entury, but the hei)ht of this a-tivity was around the !*6#s, when (n)land/s navy was at its weakest0 While anythin) of value was fair )ame, their main 7uarry was slaves0 n the be)innin) they tar)eted the -rews of West Country fishin) boats, but as the ,irates )rew bolder they -ame ashore to find vi-tims, su-h as the entire -on)re)ation of a villa)e -hur-h in Cornwall and most of the inhabitants of Baltimore in Southern reland0 4 su--essfully ransomed sailor re,orted & f the hands be smooth, they was ransomed, but if the hands be rou)h, they was sold as slaves&0 9e told that a slave would fet-h :2#, a ransomnable -a,tive :%# and a fair maiden u, to :6##0 By !*+; west -ountry mer-hants were losin) so many shi,s that <ames !st was for-ed to send a fleet to North 4fri-a to demand the return of the -a,tives0 t failed -om,letely, but 4dmiral Mansell stated on his return that he believed there were between +" and 6#,### Christian slaves in -a,tivity0&[5+!
drive to -reate the =0S0 Navy, and brou)ht on 4meri-a/s first ,ost$revolutionary war0 These tales also were used both to >ustify and to vilify slavery0&[5-!