At the inception of the Age of Encounters (1450-1700), slavery was normative throughout much of the globe. Over several centuries, the interpenetration of previously discrete networks of human traffickers, the regions of the world became more closely intertwined, with enslaved men, women, and children enduring forced migrations not only across oceans, but, in some cases, now into new hemispheres. The authors in this volume explore how the increasingly transoceanic character of slave trading during this period fundamentally reshaped what had previously been more culturally specific forms of slavery and human trafficking.

Over the course of the 15th and 16th centuries, the worlds of Iberian and Ottoman corsairs, Caucasus-based wakò pirates, and slavers in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas converged. Though slavery and human trafficking were not introduced by Europeans to many of these spaces, European intervention generally proved transformative, affecting the volume, dynamics, and character of the slave trading and slaveholding in these regions. While an important legacy of the Age of Encounters was the forging of interdependencies between slave systems and the development of a larger, more globalized slave trade, the emergent “Atlantic” model of slavery was not universal. In addition to fostering the spread of racialized discourse justifying the enslavement of Africans, the direct linkages being forged between the slave trades of Africa, East Asia, western Eurasia, and the burgeoning Atlantic world likewise facilitated the spread of increasingly sophisticated accounting practices and instruments for financing trade, assessing risk, and extending credit. The contributors underline divergences between these various slaving systems as well as parallels and intersections.

A Cultural History of Slavery and Human Trafficking is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available as hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a tangible reference for their shelves or as part of a fully-searchable digital library. The digital product is available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access via www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com . Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available in print or digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com.