The Forgotten Slave Trade: The White European Slaves of Islam

by (Historian) Simon Webb

The history of slavery in Africa is a fascinating study in itself, for it was as firmly rooted in that continent as anywhere else in the world. Even when the British themselves renounced slavery at the beginning of the nineteenth century, many Africans were determined to continue both keeping and trading slaves. The buying and selling of slaves took place sometimes between different tribes and also with the Arabs who catered for the demand for slaves in places like Zanzibar. It is easy to forget just how established slavery was in all parts of Africa and how it proved impossible to stamp out, despite the best efforts of the British administrators. In some territories which were nominally under British control, Sierra Leone for instance, slavery was widely practised in the interior as late as 1928 and largely tolerated by the British as the natives seemed so reluctant to abandon the custom (Miers & Kopytoff, 1977).