Memorias de un tratante de Liverpool sobre el comercio esclavista entre Canarias y Africa Occidental a finales del siglo XVIII / An anonymous account of the society and trade of the Canary Islands and West Africa, with observations on the slave trade...
Palabras clave:
esclavitud, libertos, abolición, África, Europa, Costa del Grano, Sierra Leona, Smeathman, Slavery, freed people, abolition, Europe, Africa, Spain, Grain Coast, EnglandResumen
Este trabajo se basa en el estudio de un manuscrito anónimo de 160 folios en inglés conservado en la British Library de Londres, que fué redactado a finales del siglo XVIII. El texto corresponde a las memorias de un tratante de Liverpool y relata la ruta entre Canarias y las costas del África Occidental Subsahariana. Pero, este manuscrito no es solo un diario de abordo, ya que el autor nos ofrece numerosos detalles sobre las costumbres africanas y la vida cotidiana. En definitiva, se trata de una magnífica fuente, inédita hasta el momento, que nos permite conocer numerosos aspectos de las relaciones entre el continente europeo y el africano, y del papel de las islas en el tráfico entre ambos territorios.
This work is based on the study of an English manuscript (160 pages) preserved in the British Library in London, entitled "Account of slavery and the Canary Islands and West Africa" which was written in the late eighteenth century. The manuscript corresponds to the memories of an anonymous dealer from Liverpool and tells in detail the slave route of the trade between the Canary Islands and Africa. The text is not simply a diary that recounts the events that occurred during the trip, it is much more, because the author gives us many details about the African customs and daily life. In short, it is a great source, unpublished so far, that allows us to know many aspects of the relations between Europe and Africa, and the role of the islands in in traffic between the two continents.
