Overview

Slavery and the Atlantic slave trade are among the most heinous crimes against humanity committed in the modern era. Yet, to this day no former slave society in the Americas has paid reparations to former slaves or their descendants. European countries have never compensated their former colonies in the Americas, whose wealth relied on slave labor. Likewise, no African nation ever obtained any form of reparations for the Atlantic slave trade. In this book, Ana Lucia Araujo shows that these calls for reparations have persevered over a long and difficult history. She traces the ways in which enslaved and freed individuals have conceptualized the idea of reparations since the 18th century in petitions, correspondence, pamphlets, public speeches, slave narratives and judicial claims. Drawing on the voices of various peoples who have and do identify themselves as victims of the Atlantic slave trade, it illuminates the multiple dimensions of the demands of reparations. Taking the reader through the era of slavery, emancipation, post-abolition and the present day, this new edition boasts a new chapter that engages with the global impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, the seismic effect of the killing of George Floyd, calls for university reparations and the dismantling of statues. It also includes new comparisons with other calls for reparations from communities such as Native Americans and Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Updated throughout, and with new primary sources, further reading and a timeline of notable events, Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade explores how the history of slavery is as current today as it ever has been.

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9781350297678

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Reviews

This is a book I've been waiting for - a timely and overdue account of the centuries-long cry for reparations, written by a gifted historian of transatlantic slavery. * Marcus Rediker, University of Pittsburgh, USA * 'Araujo is the first scholar to examine reparations for slavery and the Atlantic slave trade comparatively and transnationally, drawing on a broad range of texts in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish ... An important book for all collections. Summing Up: Essential. All libraries.' * CHOICE * 'The trans-Atlantic debate about reparations for slavery has long needed a serious historical explanation. Now, in Ana Lucia Araujo's book, we have the answer. This original, sweeping study, grounded in meticulous research, explains how and why reparations have become so pressing a modern-day issue. It is essential reading for everyone concerned - whatever their viewpoint.' * James Walvin, Professor of History Emeritus, University of York, UK * 'Ana Lucia Araujo's book on slavery reparations movements reaches across time and space. She considers enslavement, emancipation, and the continued refusal of every single slave-owning society in the Atlantic world-the USA, Britain, France, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain, especially-to address the centuries of theft that made them wealthy and built the modern global political economy. Professor Araujo's erudition is unbounded, and her clear, readable prose will make this book an important and useful addition to the toolkits of academics, students, and activists.' * Edward E. Baptist, Professor of History, Cornell University, USA * 'Araujo's history offers a compelling review of the rationales made for reparations payments, the historical actors who made such claims, and historical events that motivated their political demands ... Reparations for Slavery and The Slave Trade is an insightful and expansive history of enslavement that reveals the interconnected nature of the Atlantic world from the origins of enslavement to the present day.' * Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective * 'This book is absolutely indispensable and makes an important contribution to what Araujo concludes is an 'unfinished struggle.' * The Americas: A Quarterly Review of Latin American History * 'What is so clear in this important and timely book is that many people keep making moral claims even as they are repeatedly, rudely, and firmly rejected by those in power ... While the focus of the book is on reparation claims, Araujo puts those claims in the context of the broader movement for economic and social empowerment of people of African descent. It is this comprehensive and broad story that makes Reparations the best book yet on reparations for slavery ... As others take up the difficult moral questions it raises, such as who should pay and why, this book will be at the center of discussions of ways in which the past burdens the present.' * New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids * 'In this insightful and compelling study, Ana Lucia Araujo shows the importance of a transnational and comparative approach to examining the ways in which slave societies throughout the Americas presented the case for reparations.' * The North Carolina Historical Review * 'Araujo has cemented herself as a senior historian thoroughly in command of her craft ... In addition to the U.S., nearly every country in Latin America and the Caribbean makes an appearance. While focused on reparations, the book also serves as a global primer on slavery and emancipation ... Overall, Araujo's book offers a valuable contribution to scholars of the African Diaspora.' * Black Perspectives * 'A wide-ranging overview of the historical and contemporary struggle for reparations ... A book that will enrich current debates surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, controversial monuments and memorials to slave holders and Con-federate heroes, and the ongoing social inequalities along racial lines ... Readers of many varieties will bene?t from Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade as a classroom text, research tool, and narrative guide to the evolution of one of the most contentious issues of our times. It will broaden the scope of intellectual discussions because of its international orientation, and it will deepen readers' appreciation for the long history of the struggle.' * The American Historical Review * Reparations for Slavery is a thorough and comprehensive history of this topic. A must read for anyone interested in the global reach of the movements for reparations. * Joan W. Scott, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton NJ, USA *

This is a book I've been waiting for - a timely and overdue account of the centuries-long cry for reparations, written by a gifted historian of transatlantic slavery. --Marcus Rediker, University of Pittsburgh, USA Araujo is the first scholar to examine reparations for slavery and the Atlantic slave trade comparatively and transnationally, drawing on a broad range of texts in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish ... An important book for all collections. Summing Up: Essential. All libraries. --CHOICE The trans-Atlantic debate about reparations for slavery has long needed a serious historical explanation. Now, in Ana Lucia Araujo's book, we have the answer. This original, sweeping study, grounded in meticulous research, explains how and why reparations have become so pressing a modern-day issue. It is essential reading for everyone concerned - whatever their viewpoint. --James Walvin, Professor of History Emeritus, University of York, UK Ana Lucia Araujo's book on slavery reparations movements reaches across time and space. She considers enslavement, emancipation, and the continued refusal of every single slave-owning society in the Atlantic world-the USA, Britain, France, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain, especially-to address the centuries of theft that made them wealthy and built the modern global political economy. Professor Araujo's erudition is unbounded, and her clear, readable prose will make this book an important and useful addition to the toolkits of academics, students, and activists. --Edward E. Baptist, Professor of History, Cornell University, USA Araujo's history offers a compelling review of the rationales made for reparations payments, the historical actors who made such claims, and historical events that motivated their political demands ... Reparations for Slavery and The Slave Trade is an insightful and expansive history of enslavement that reveals the interconnected nature of the Atlantic world from the origins of enslavement to the present day. --Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective This book is absolutely indispensable and makes an important contribution to what Araujo concludes is an 'unfinished struggle. --The Americas: A Quarterly Review of Latin American History What is so clear in this important and timely book is that many people keep making moral claims even as they are repeatedly, rudely, and firmly rejected by those in power ... While the focus of the book is on reparation claims, Araujo puts those claims in the context of the broader movement for economic and social empowerment of people of African descent. It is this comprehensive and broad story that makes Reparations the best book yet on reparations for slavery ... As others take up the difficult moral questions it raises, such as who should pay and why, this book will be at the center of discussions of ways in which the past burdens the present. --New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids In this insightful and compelling study, Ana Lucia Araujo shows the importance of a transnational and comparative approach to examining the ways in which slave societies throughout the Americas presented the case for reparations. --The North Carolina Historical Review Araujo has cemented herself as a senior historian thoroughly in command of her craft ... In addition to the U.S., nearly every country in Latin America and the Caribbean makes an appearance. While focused on reparations, the book also serves as a global primer on slavery and emancipation ... Overall, Araujo's book offers a valuable contribution to scholars of the African Diaspora. --Black Perspectives A wide-ranging overview of the historical and contemporary struggle for reparations ... A book that will enrich current debates surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, controversial monuments and memorials to slave holders and Con-federate heroes, and the ongoing social inequalities along racial lines ... Readers of many varieties will bene't from Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade as a classroom text, research tool, and narrative guide to the evolution of one of the most contentious issues of our times. It will broaden the scope of intellectual discussions because of its international orientation, and it will deepen readers' appreciation for the long history of the struggle. --The American Historical Review

This is a book I've been waiting for - a timely and overdue account of the centuries-long cry for reparations, written by a gifted historian of transatlantic slavery. * Marcus Rediker, University of Pittsburgh, USA * ‘Araujo is the first scholar to examine reparations for slavery and the Atlantic slave trade comparatively and transnationally, drawing on a broad range of texts in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish … An important book for all collections. Summing Up: Essential. All libraries.’ * CHOICE * ‘The trans-Atlantic debate about reparations for slavery has long needed a serious historical explanation. Now, in Ana Lucia Araujo’s book, we have the answer. This original, sweeping study, grounded in meticulous research, explains how and why reparations have become so pressing a modern-day issue. It is essential reading for everyone concerned – whatever their viewpoint.’ * James Walvin, Professor of History Emeritus, University of York, UK * ‘Ana Lucia Araujo’s book on slavery reparations movements reaches across time and space. She considers enslavement, emancipation, and the continued refusal of every single slave-owning society in the Atlantic world—the USA, Britain, France, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain, especially—to address the centuries of theft that made them wealthy and built the modern global political economy. Professor Araujo’s erudition is unbounded, and her clear, readable prose will make this book an important and useful addition to the toolkits of academics, students, and activists.’ * Edward E. Baptist, Professor of History, Cornell University, USA * ‘Araujo’s history offers a compelling review of the rationales made for reparations payments, the historical actors who made such claims, and historical events that motivated their political demands … Reparations for Slavery and The Slave Trade is an insightful and expansive history of enslavement that reveals the interconnected nature of the Atlantic world from the origins of enslavement to the present day.’ * Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective * ‘This book is absolutely indispensable and makes an important contribution to what Araujo concludes is an ‘unfinished struggle.’ * The Americas: A Quarterly Review of Latin American History * ‘What is so clear in this important and timely book is that many people keep making moral claims even as they are repeatedly, rudely, and firmly rejected by those in power … While the focus of the book is on reparation claims, Araujo puts those claims in the context of the broader movement for economic and social empowerment of people of African descent. It is this comprehensive and broad story that makes Reparations the best book yet on reparations for slavery … As others take up the difficult moral questions it raises, such as who should pay and why, this book will be at the center of discussions of ways in which the past burdens the present.’ * New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids * ‘In this insightful and compelling study, Ana Lucia Araujo shows the importance of a transnational and comparative approach to examining the ways in which slave societies throughout the Americas presented the case for reparations.’ * The North Carolina Historical Review * ‘Araujo has cemented herself as a senior historian thoroughly in command of her craft … In addition to the U.S., nearly every country in Latin America and the Caribbean makes an appearance. While focused on reparations, the book also serves as a global primer on slavery and emancipation … Overall, Araujo’s book offers a valuable contribution to scholars of the African Diaspora.’ * Black Perspectives * ‘A wide-ranging overview of the historical and contemporary struggle for reparations ... A book that will enrich current debates surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, controversial monuments and memorials to slave holders and Con-federate heroes, and the ongoing social inequalities along racial lines ... Readers of many varieties will bene?t from Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade as a classroom text, research tool, and narrative guide to the evolution of one of the most contentious issues of our times. It will broaden the scope of intellectual discussions because of its international orientation, and it will deepen readers’ appreciation for the long history of the struggle.’ * The American Historical Review *

Author Information

Ana Lucia Araujo is Professor of History at Howard University, USA. She is the author of Slavery in the Age of Memory (2020), Public Memory of Slavery: Victims and Perpetrators in the South Atlantic World (2010) and Shadows of the Slave Past: Memory, Heritage and Slavery (2014).

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