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Inhuman Traffick: The International Struggle against the Transatlantic Slave Trade: A Graphic History
Inhuman Traffick tells for the first time a story of enslavement and freedom that spans the entire Atlantic world. Beginning in 1829 off the west coast of Africa with the recapture of the slave ship Neirsée --previously seized by the British Navy in its efforts to suppress the "inhuman traffick"--and ending with the liberation of the African passengers who had been sold into slavery in the French Caribbean, Rafe Blaufarb puts a human face on the history of the transatlantic slave trade and the efforts to suppress it. He addresses a neglected aspect of this tragic history in the wide geographical and thematic contexts in which it took place--Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Atlantic Ocean--and situates the story in familial, social, economic, diplomatic, and military spheres. Inhuman Traffick shows how history is done by explaining how the documents on which it is based moved through time and space from the ships, African outposts, colonial buildings, and ministerial offices
to the archives of present-day Britain and France.
Blaufarb follows the ship, its crew, and its captives from the slave port of Old Calabar to the Caribbean and into the courts of Britain and France, where the history of the illegal slave trade, slavery in the Caribbean, and diplomatic history all come into focus. Students will be taken in by the vivid drawings and the rich narrative, but in Blaufarb's skilled hands, they will also find themselves immersed in a unique learning experience. Blaufarb not only presents the history of the ship and its captives, he takes the reader inside the project itself. He explains how he came upon the story, how he and his editor envisioned the project, and how he worked with illustrator Liz Clarke to craft more than 300 "cells" that comprise Part II of the book. He and Clarke even take the reader inside archives in France and Britain.
This powerful combination of historical essay, graphics, primary-source documents, and discussion questions gives students insight into the Atlantic World plantation complex, the transatlantic slave trade, and the process of historical storytelling itself.
to the archives of present-day Britain and France.
Blaufarb follows the ship, its crew, and its captives from the slave port of Old Calabar to the Caribbean and into the courts of Britain and France, where the history of the illegal slave trade, slavery in the Caribbean, and diplomatic history all come into focus. Students will be taken in by the vivid drawings and the rich narrative, but in Blaufarb's skilled hands, they will also find themselves immersed in a unique learning experience. Blaufarb not only presents the history of the ship and its captives, he takes the reader inside the project itself. He explains how he came upon the story, how he and his editor envisioned the project, and how he worked with illustrator Liz Clarke to craft more than 300 "cells" that comprise Part II of the book. He and Clarke even take the reader inside archives in France and Britain.
This powerful combination of historical essay, graphics, primary-source documents, and discussion questions gives students insight into the Atlantic World plantation complex, the transatlantic slave trade, and the process of historical storytelling itself.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 27, 2016
I really enjoyed how this book mixes history with graphic novel. Not only is it fun to read about the story of the slave trade between Europe and the Americas, but they also created a very personal plot between involved officers and some of the known on-board captives.
It's a very easy read and I would recommend from anyone as small as junior high, to adults. Everyone has something to gain from reading this very informative, yet captivating book.
It's a very easy read and I would recommend from anyone as small as junior high, to adults. Everyone has something to gain from reading this very informative, yet captivating book.
April 8, 2019
Pros:
The graphic aspect is engaging, and the historical context and primary sources really round it out. The story itself is pretty interesting, I enjoyed learning about the Neirsee incident. I actually liked that Blaufarb placed himself within the narrative. I thought it was an interesting reflexivity that is often absent in history: as in, this is his perspective, not an authoritative work on ‘what really happened’.
Cons:
This plays into the trope of the white savior quite heavily. Blaufarb is definitely not critical enough of the European ‘characters’ he presents (maybe has to do with his background in French history?). Those that were “liberated” from slave ships from the British were still forcibly displaced from their families and homes and made to live in a British colony, under British rule...at one point it even seems like Blaufarb is trying to make us feel sorry for a British officer when the African colony he had “worked so hard to establish” (using African labor, even those that he supposedly liberated, without properly feeding them - literally he made them perform hard labor under a food shortage) is abandoned. There are a few similar ‘wtf’ movements throughout the book. I think it’s possible to accurately portray European actions and attitudes without necessarily condoning them or sympathizing with them.
Conclusion: Read this is if you’re interested in this particular historical event or time period, but be prepared to roll your eyes a bit.
The graphic aspect is engaging, and the historical context and primary sources really round it out. The story itself is pretty interesting, I enjoyed learning about the Neirsee incident. I actually liked that Blaufarb placed himself within the narrative. I thought it was an interesting reflexivity that is often absent in history: as in, this is his perspective, not an authoritative work on ‘what really happened’.
Cons:
This plays into the trope of the white savior quite heavily. Blaufarb is definitely not critical enough of the European ‘characters’ he presents (maybe has to do with his background in French history?). Those that were “liberated” from slave ships from the British were still forcibly displaced from their families and homes and made to live in a British colony, under British rule...at one point it even seems like Blaufarb is trying to make us feel sorry for a British officer when the African colony he had “worked so hard to establish” (using African labor, even those that he supposedly liberated, without properly feeding them - literally he made them perform hard labor under a food shortage) is abandoned. There are a few similar ‘wtf’ movements throughout the book. I think it’s possible to accurately portray European actions and attitudes without necessarily condoning them or sympathizing with them.
Conclusion: Read this is if you’re interested in this particular historical event or time period, but be prepared to roll your eyes a bit.
September 2, 2017
It is hard to say one "really liked" a book with the tale of the slave trade, that said I can't give it only 3 stars.
Was it a good book and informative and great for illustrating the challenges to ending the slave trade? Definitely. If telling students to read this book (or anyone for that matter, I might have them first start with the graphic novel, and then read the first portion which was very interesting for the students of history. The last portion with the documents gets a little repetitive so I would perhaps direct them to certain letters or missives to get various sides of the story.
Good depiction of the historical events.
Was it a good book and informative and great for illustrating the challenges to ending the slave trade? Definitely. If telling students to read this book (or anyone for that matter, I might have them first start with the graphic novel, and then read the first portion which was very interesting for the students of history. The last portion with the documents gets a little repetitive so I would perhaps direct them to certain letters or missives to get various sides of the story.
Good depiction of the historical events.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2017
Not as readable as Abina. but beautiful done.
March 9, 2015
A wonderfully creative way to teach not just about the political economy of slavery and abolitionism, but even more impressively, about historiography, through a mixed medium consisting of four distinct sections. The first is a traditional historical text that provides broad context for the human trafficking of slavery, the second is graphic novella recounting a particular episode in the history of anti-slavery, a hitherto largely forgotten episode from 1829 when an ambitious and moralizing antislaver British naval captain provoked a diplomatic incident by violating the flag sovereignty of a French vessel (the Niersee)' which he rightly suspected of carrying on an illicit cargo of slaves from west Africa to the Caribbean. The third part was the one I found most astonishing: also rendered as graphic, it provides a tour of the archives in Europe in which the papers documenting this affair can be found. It consists of a pocket history of each of the archives (including what happened to the papers during various Wars, which I myself had always wondered vaguely about), how they can be accessed today, a reference to the epistemological challenges of using such archives to reconstruct the past, and closing here with a rousing historiographical call to action to scour these same archives for more forgotten episodes like that of the Niersee -- surely the first such call rendered as a graphic novel. Fourth and finally, the book closes with transcriptions of the key documents that the authors found in the archives in order to reconstruct the story of the Niersee. The net result is not only an excellent close examination of a particular episode in the transnational antislavery movement, but even more impressively a sensitive discussion of the historian's craft in attempting to reconstruct the past using archival material. A wonderful tool to teach with, in short.
December 7, 2016
As a high school history teacher I love the multi level approach to telling a bigger story about human trafficking and slavers trying to skirt the laws prohibiting the transport of slaves while slavery was still legal for another hundred years in the Americas, by focusing on a long forgotten story of a particular incident in 1829 when the slave ship Neirsee was seized by British naval intent on stopping the sale of free people, the recapture of the ship by the slavers, and the eventual sale of the enslaved persons in the French Caribbean.
Told in four parts- an overarching narrative of the history, a graphic version of the ship's story, a fascinating graphic story about the archives in which the story was discovered and how important documents are protected and stored and most importantly - accessed by anyone!- in Europe, and finally copies of the primary documents themselves.
Unfortunately in my eyes- the graphic novel part of the story, most likely to draw high school students in, was the weakest part of the book. The historical essay describing how the author decided to study this topic, how to best portray the information, did the research, met with the graphic illustrator and quickly discovered how much of the visual story was missing because the primary documents are written by the people in power - what kind of footwear was worn by sailors, by the enslaved people, what did a palm oil house look like, etc. The drawings are fabulous but I think it is the speech bubbles that just fall flat. I have read other graphic novels about horrid things like the Holocaust or the Iranian Revolution and found the graphic format to be powerful. But it just fell flat in this case - or seemed melodramatic. Otherwise definitely worth a read- for the historiography if nothing else.
Told in four parts- an overarching narrative of the history, a graphic version of the ship's story, a fascinating graphic story about the archives in which the story was discovered and how important documents are protected and stored and most importantly - accessed by anyone!- in Europe, and finally copies of the primary documents themselves.
Unfortunately in my eyes- the graphic novel part of the story, most likely to draw high school students in, was the weakest part of the book. The historical essay describing how the author decided to study this topic, how to best portray the information, did the research, met with the graphic illustrator and quickly discovered how much of the visual story was missing because the primary documents are written by the people in power - what kind of footwear was worn by sailors, by the enslaved people, what did a palm oil house look like, etc. The drawings are fabulous but I think it is the speech bubbles that just fall flat. I have read other graphic novels about horrid things like the Holocaust or the Iranian Revolution and found the graphic format to be powerful. But it just fell flat in this case - or seemed melodramatic. Otherwise definitely worth a read- for the historiography if nothing else.
December 31, 2016
Read this for Intro to the History Major last winter. Really engaging method of learning history. Looking forward to seeing historical graphic novels as textbooks more!
May 2, 2017
This book is great from a history standpoint, in that it shows how good the graphic novel format might be for generating interest in historical subjects. The problem is how to match the academic historian to the art and English departments to create it. In the background for this novel he goes into great detail about getting the shoes correct, for example. When you reach the appropriate page, it is a small blob of ink. The story itself is well done and their collaboration will improve in future efforts.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews