Freedom in White and Black

Sinopse

In the early nineteenth century, both Britain and the United States had passed laws prohibiting further transatlantic slaving. Yet the trade covertly carried on. In the summer of 1813, near what is now Liberia, a compound of pens full to bursting with sick and anguished captives was guarded by other African slaves. As a British patrol swooped down on the illicit barracoon, the slavers burned the premises to the ground, hoping to destroy evidence. This story can be told because of an exceptional trove of court documents that provides unparalleled insight into one small link in the great, horrific chain of slavery. Emma Christopher follows a trail of evidence across four continents to examine the lives of this barracoon's owners, their workers, and their tragic human merchandise. She reveals how an American, Charles Mason, escaped justice; while Robert Bostock and John McQueen were taken prisoner and exiled to Australia. Later, when they appealed their arrest in court, British agents collected the testimony of five African men--Tamba, Tom Ball, Yarra, Noah, and Sessay--whose words bear witness on behalf of 233 nameless Africans liberated in the 1813 raid. These men, women, and children, who were relocated to Freetown, Sierra Leone, endured lives of "freedom" much harsher than we would like to imagine. From the fragmented facts of these lives, Christopher also sheds fascinating light on the early development of the nations of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Australia and the role of former slaves in combatting the illegal trade.