Slavery in Small Things

It is now widely accepted that the eleven million African slaves who survived the Atlantic crossing helped to transform great swathes of the Americas - but less well known is just how much the African slave trade revolutionized forever the habits and tastes of the modern world. Slavery in Small Things: Slavery and Modern Cultural Habits explores the history of African slavery and its long-term cultural legacy through an analysis of a variety of commonplace objects and commodities. Topics and themes explored include: slavery and the trade of cowrie shells; the role of maps during the slave trade; tea, tobacco, and sugar in the days of the Atlantic slave trade; the human face of African slavery in portraiture; the impact of the printed word in undermining slavery; the paradox of slavery in the emergence of a vogue for expensive items such as mahogany furniture; and many more. Illuminating and thought-provoking, Slavery in Small Things: Slavery and Modern Cultural Habits reveals how slavery was an integral element in the historical development of Western life-and that its legacy still surrounds us even in the most commonplace of daily objects.