Fittingly, slave imports reached their peak in 1790, the year before the revolt began. In all, roughly 685,000 slaves were shipped in chains to this charnel house during the eighteenth century, with a significant concentration of them coming from the general region of the Kongo. Although white planters seem not to have fully appreciated it, the inclination and willingness to put up with their exploitation of a population of slaves dominated by people brought to the island directly from Africa may have been low compared to Creoles raised in bondage. The African newcomers had a fresh, lived
...more
