The Barbary slave trade refers to the White slave markets that flourished on
the Barbary Coast of North Africa, or modern-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia,
and western Libya, between the 15th and 19th centuries. These markets prospered
while the states were nominally under Ottoman suzerainty, but in reality they
were mostly autonomous. The North African slave markets traded in European
slaves. The European slaves were acquired by Barbary pirates in slave
raids on ships and by raids on coastal towns from Italy to Spain, Portugal,
France, England, the Netherlands, and as far afield as Ireland and Iceland. Men,
women, and children were captured, to such a devastating extent that vast
numbers of sea coast towns were abandoned.
Ohio State University history Professor Robert Davis describes the White Slave
Trade as minimized by most modern historians in his book Christian Slaves,
Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and
Italy, 1500–1800. Davis estimates that 1 million to 1.25 million white Christian
Europeans were enslaved in North Africa, from the beginning of the 16th century
to the middle of the 18th, by slave traders from Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli
alone, and roughly 700 Americans were held captive in this region as slaves
between 1785 and 1815. 16th- and 17th-century customs statistics suggest
that Istanbul's additional slave import from the Black Sea may have totaled
around 2.5 million from 1450 to 1700. The markets declined after the loss of
the Barbary Wars and finally ended in the 1830s, when the region was conquered
by France. Origins
The slave trade had existed in North Africa since antiquity, with a supply of
African slaves arriving through trans-Saharan trade routes. The towns on
the North African coast were recorded in Roman times for their slave markets, and
this trend continued into the medieval age. The Barbary Coast increased in
influence in the 15th century, when the Ottoman Empire took over as rulers of
the area. Coupled with this was an influx of Moorish refugees, newly
expelled from Spain after the Reconquista. With Ottoman protection and
a host of destitute immigrants, the coastline soon became reputed for
piracy. Crews from the seized ships were either enslaved or ransomed.
Rise of the Barbary Pirates After a revolt in the mid-17th century
reduced the ruling Ottoman Pashas to little more than figureheads in the
region, the towns of Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis and others became independent in
all but name. Without a large central authority and its laws, the pirates
themselves started to gain much influence. Pirate raids for the
acquisition of slaves occurred in towns and villages on the African Atlantic
seaboard, as well as in Europe. Reports of Barbary raids and kidnappings of
those in Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, England, Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland,
and as far north as Iceland exist from between the 16th to the 19th centuries.
It is estimated that between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured
by pirates and sold as slaves in Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli during this time
period. The slave trade in Europeans in other parts of the Mediterranean is not
included in this estimation. Famous accounts of Barbary slave raids include
a mention in the diary of Samuel Pepys and a raid on the coastal village of
Baltimore, Ireland, during which pirates left with the entire populace of the
settlement. Such raids in the Mediterranean were so frequent and
devastating that the coastline between Venice to Malaga suffered widespread
depopulation, and settlement there was discouraged. In fact, it was said that
this was largely because 'there was no one left to capture any longer'. The
power and influence of these pirates during this time was such that nations
including the United States of America paid tribute in order to stave off their
attacks. Supplies from the Black Sea appears to have been even larger. A
compilation of partial statistics and patchy estimates indicates that a little
fewer than 2 million Russians, Ukrainians, and Poles were seized from
1468 to 1694. Additionally, there were slaves from the Caucasus obtained by a
mixture of raiding and trading. 16th- and 17th-century customs statistics
suggest that Istanbul's slave import from the Black Sea may have totaled
around 2.5 million from 1450 to 1700. Decline
In the first years of the 19th century, the United States of America and some
European nations fought and won the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary
War against the pirates. The Barbary Wars were a direct response of the
British, French and the Dutch states to the raids and white slave trade by the
Barbary pirates which finally ended in the 1830s when the region was conquered
by France. The white slave trade and markets in the Mediterranean declined
and eventually disappeared after the European occupations. After an
Anglo-Dutch raid in 1816 on Algiers immobilized most of the Pirate fleet,
the Dey of Algiers was forced to agree to terms which included a cessation of
the practice of enslaving Christians, although slave trading in non-Europeans
could still continue. After losing in this period of formal hostilities with
European and American powers, the Barbary states went into decline.
However, the Barbary pirates did not cease their operations, and another
British raid on Algiers took place in 1824. Finally, France invaded Algiers in
1830, placing it under colonial rule. Tunis was similarly invaded by France in
1881. Tripoli returned to direct Ottoman control in 1835, before finally falling
into Italian hands in the 1911 Italo-Turkish War. As such, the slave
traders now found that they had to work in accordance with the laws of their
governors, and could no longer look to self-regulation. The slave trade finally
ceased on the Barbary coast when European governments passed laws
granting emancipation to slaves. See also
Ottoman slave trade Arab slave trade
Barbary corsairs Barbary Wars
North African slave narratives Republic of Salé
External links When Europeans Were Slaves: Research
Suggests White Slavery Was Much More Common Than Previously Believed
British Slaves on the Barbary Coast Seabed gold 'clue to white slavers'
America and the Barbary Pirates: An International Battle Against an
Unconventional Foe Barbary Captivity Narratives
References