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Pro-Slavery Perspectives
Nicholas Owen, from Journal
of a Slave-Dealer. A View of Some Remarkable
Axcedents in the Life of Nics. Owen on the
Coast of Africa and America from the year 1746
to the year 1757
Nicholas Owen (d. 1759) was
an impoverished Irish sailor with little
formal education. He kept a record of "remarkable
axcedents" that occurred during his
sea voyages and during his life as a slave
trader in Africa.
Owen sailed on slave ships
that ran from the western coast of Africa
to destinations including Rhode Island, Liverpool,
and Barbados. He later worked as a slave
trader from stations on Sherbro Island (off
the coast of present-day Sierra Leone) and
York Island, at first under the direction
of an agent, and then later on his own account.
This was a somewhat unusual situation; most
British trade in Africa was regulated by
a series of forts belonging to the Company
of Merchants trading to Africa. Owen does
not appear to have had contact with the Company.
As he explains in this excerpt, he could
make a much more advantageous trade for slaves
as a local trader than many ships could manage
to do. Owen is a middleman who trades European
goods including cloth, flints, and pans to
the people of Sherbro in exchange for slaves
and other goods, such as ivory, palm oil,
and rice.
Owen's perspective on the
slave trade is that of a man who handles
a valuable, but "troublesome" commodity.
Though Owen's journal does give some
details of the lives of the African peoples
amongst whom he lives, he does not spend
time reflecting on the moral questions raised
by trafficking in human beings, to whom he
refers as "dry goods". For
Nicholas Owen, slavery is merely business.
We are now to return to our history of Sherbrow
where I am now an inhabatent. Our chiefest
busness is in the purchaceing of slaves,
which is very troublesome. In the first place
you are obliged to treate them all to liquer
before you purchase anything or not; at the
same time you are liable to thier noise and
bad langague without any satisfaction. You
are obliged to take all advantages and lave
all bounds of justice when tradeing with
these creatures as they do by you, otherwise
your goods ont fetch thier starling price
at home. Some people may think a scruple
of congience in the above trade, but it's
very seldom minded by our European merchts.
Our common goods here for a prime slave is
as follows — ships' boats indeed
give more — goods for a slave up the
river Sharbrow in the year 1755 (country
money) stands thus:
| C — Bars |
|
| 4 guns |
20 |
| 2 kegs bowder |
6 |
| 1 piece blew baft |
10 |
| 1 kettle |
4 |
| 2 brass pans |
2 |
| 1 duzn. knives |
1 |
| 2 basons |
2 |
| 2 iron bars |
2 |
| 1 head beads |
1 |
| 50 flints |
1 |
| 1 silk handk. |
1 |
| Country bars |
20 |
Which changed into ship's bars stands
thus:
| |
Bars |
S |
D |
| 4 guns |
16 |
0 |
0 |
| 2 kegs powder |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| 1 baft |
6 |
0 |
0 |
| 1 kettle |
2 |
2 |
6 |
| Bs. pans |
1 |
2 |
8 |
| Dzn. knives |
0 |
4 |
6 |
| 2 basons |
1 |
2 |
66 |
| 2 iron bars |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| 5 flints |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| 1 silk handr. |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| 1 head beads |
0 |
3 |
4 |
| Ships bars |
36 |
1 |
6 |
This is general goods on the coast of Guinea
for slaves, considering your price in the
country when sould on board this pressent
year which is B.80, so that your prfits is
coniderable if the price stands with shiping.
Dye wood is much the same in trade, commonly
giveing 3 country bars pr. quentall or 112,
which will amount to 6 on board a ship; but
these proffits are brought down by the expences
of the kings and you[r] own people, which
is verey unreasonable and great: as for example,
in Sherbro there is 3 kings who divides the
country among them, vizd. K. Sherbro, King
Shefra, K. Sumana and some others of less
note; every one of these expects custum from
a white trader or ships boat, which comes
to 14 or 20 bars each at your first comeing
and after perhaps 10 or 12 bars, if you bring
a shallop or long boat. I say this takes
considerable of your proffits away.
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