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  • Published: 20 May 2011
  • ISBN: 9781780572109
  • Imprint: Mainstream Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 320
Categories:

White Cargo

The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America



A revealing account of how thousands of Britons lived and died in bondage in Britain's American colonies

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 300,000 people or more became slaves there in all but name. Urchins were swept up from London's streets to labour in the tobacco fields, brothels were raided to provide 'breeders' for Virginia and hopeful migrants were duped into signing as indentured servants, unaware they would become chattels who could be bought, sold and gambled away.

Drawing on letters, diaries, and court and government archives, the authors demonstrate that the brutalities associated with black slavery alone were perpetrated on whites throughout British rule.

The trade ended with American independence but the British still tried to sell convicts in their former colonies, which prompted one of the most audacious plots in Anglo-American history.

This is a saga of exploitation and cruelty spanning 170 years that has been submerged under the overwhelming memory of black slavery. White Cargo brings the brutal, uncomfortable story to the surface.

  • Published: 20 May 2011
  • ISBN: 9781780572109
  • Imprint: Mainstream Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 320
Categories:

About the authors

Don Jordan

Don Jordan is a television producer and director who has worked on dozens of documentaries and dramas. He also co-produced and co-wrote Love is the Devil, a film about the life of Francis Bacon.

Michael Walsh

Michael Walsh spent twelve years as a reporter and presenter on World in Action and has won six awards for his work. He is now a producer, specialising in political and historical documentaries.

Praise for White Cargo

Briskly written . . . harrowing reading

Daily Telegraph

An eye-opening and heart-rending story

The Times

A fascinating account of Britain's troubled relationship with its biggest colony

Metro London

Will certainly make readers re-evaluate all the recent appeasement and hype about apologising for the slave trade

Daily Mail

A terrible tale, very well told

Tribune

An extraordinary book

Toni Morrison