A sweeping narrative history of the Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the Americas.
During the era of the Atlantic slave trade, more than twelve million enslaved Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas in cramped, inhumane conditions. Many of them died on the way, and those who survived had to endure further suffering in the violent conditions that met them onshore. Covering more than three hundred years, Humans in Shackles grapples with this history by foregrounding the lived experience of enslaved people in tracing the long, complex history of slavery in the Americas.
Based on twenty years of research, this book not only serves as a comprehensive history; it also expands that history by providing a truly transnational account that emphasizes the central role of Brazil in the Atlantic slave trade. Additionally, it is deeply informed by African history and shows how African practices and traditions survived and persisted in the Americas among communities of enslaved people. Drawing on primary sources including travel accounts, pamphlets, newspaper articles, slave narratives, and visual sources such as artworks and artifacts, Araujo illuminates the social, cultural, and religious lives of enslaved people working in plantations and urban areas, building families and cultivating affective ties, congregating and re-creating their cultures, and organizing rebellions.
Humans in Shackles puts the lived experiences of enslaved peoples at the center of the story and investigates the heavy impact these atrocities have had on the current wealth disparity of the Americas and rampant anti-Black racism.
Industry Reviews
"This is an ambitious and necessary retelling of the history of Atlantic slavery. Araujo sheds fascinating light on slavery as lived experience, on women and the family, and on culture and resistance. Perhaps above all, the book is a call for historians to engage and challenge the manipulation and silencing of slavery's history in the public sphere." * Ada Ferrer, author of Cuba: An American History *
"One of the most gifted historians of slavery and its afterlives offers a compelling, provocative, and original interpretation of slave life in the Atlantic world. Mobilizing an astonishing array of published and archival primary sources, Araujo brings enslaved persons to the forefront with their names and their experiences under bondage of life, death, love, spirituality, oppression, resistance, and freedom. Humans in Shackles will be the best introduction to this painful and complex history of slavery in the Atlantic." * Joao Jose Reis, coauthor of The Story of Rufino: Slavery, Freedom, and Islam in the Black Atlantic *
"In this sweeping and essential historical analysis of Atlantic slavery, Araujo shows how slavery contributed to the growth and development of the Americas while emphasizing the role that African history played in shaping the transatlantic slave trade and slave societies. Rather than seeing slavery as an aberration in the history of Western freedom, readers will come to understand slavery as a fundamental institution common to the Americas, with continuing legacies throughout that demand our attention." * Vincent Brown, author of Tacky's Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War *
"Humans in Shackles is a brilliant transnational history that will stand out as a landmark work in the field of Atlantic slavery. Araujo is uniquely positioned to produce such a comprehensive and yet human history because of the empathy and imagination she brings to her research and writing. This book is exemplary of the historical imagination in the best way." * Toby Green, author of A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution *
