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Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History
A stunning work of popular history—the story of how a single crop transformed the history of slavery.
Americans consume over 1.5 billion pounds of peanut products every year. But few of us know the peanut’s tumultuous history, or its intimate connection to slavery and freedom.
Lyrical and powerful, Slaves for Peanuts deftly weaves together the natural and human history of a crop that transformed the lives of millions. Author Jori Lewis reveals how demand for peanut oil in Europe ensured that slavery in Africa would persist well into the twentieth century, long after the European powers had official banned it in the territories they controlled.
Delving deep into West African and European archives, Lewis recreates a world on the coast of Africa that is breathtakingly real and unlike anything modern readers have experienced. Slaves for Peanuts is told through the eyes of a set of richly detailed characters—from an African-born French missionary harboring fugitive slaves, to the leader of a Wolof state navigating the politics of French imperialism—who challenge our most basic assumptions of the motives and people who supported human bondage.
At a time when Americans are grappling with the enduring consequences of slavery, here is a new and revealing chapter in its global history.
Americans consume over 1.5 billion pounds of peanut products every year. But few of us know the peanut’s tumultuous history, or its intimate connection to slavery and freedom.
Lyrical and powerful, Slaves for Peanuts deftly weaves together the natural and human history of a crop that transformed the lives of millions. Author Jori Lewis reveals how demand for peanut oil in Europe ensured that slavery in Africa would persist well into the twentieth century, long after the European powers had official banned it in the territories they controlled.
Delving deep into West African and European archives, Lewis recreates a world on the coast of Africa that is breathtakingly real and unlike anything modern readers have experienced. Slaves for Peanuts is told through the eyes of a set of richly detailed characters—from an African-born French missionary harboring fugitive slaves, to the leader of a Wolof state navigating the politics of French imperialism—who challenge our most basic assumptions of the motives and people who supported human bondage.
At a time when Americans are grappling with the enduring consequences of slavery, here is a new and revealing chapter in its global history.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published April 19, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
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August 16, 2022Read through page 114.
I wanted to like this book as it’s about a place and time I know little about: Senegal and Gambia in the 19th century, dealing with the march of French colonization from tiny coastal trading ports to presumably colonial overlords, and also the domestic institution of slavery in local kingdoms (as distinguished from the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which was basically over by the time the book focuses on).
Unfortunately, the style didn’t quite work for me. It’s very soft-focus, or maybe just unfocused: lots of short chapters which read fairly quickly but don’t seem related to each other, and I couldn’t figure out why half of it was there. I’m not opposed to reading a biography of a local man turned missionary but why exactly is so much of the book about the life of this one guy? So little of what I was reading had anything to do with either slaves or peanuts, both of which felt like an afterthought in what mostly seemed to be the history of a couple of tiny French ports and the missionary societies working in them. I guess I wanted the book to be more up-front about how this all tied together and why we should read it, and to spend less time in vague descriptions.
Nevertheless, it isn’t a long book (the text is 297 pages), it’s readable and the author appears to have done a substantial amount of research. If you’re interested in the topic, I’d recommend taking a look to see if it works better for you.
I wanted to like this book as it’s about a place and time I know little about: Senegal and Gambia in the 19th century, dealing with the march of French colonization from tiny coastal trading ports to presumably colonial overlords, and also the domestic institution of slavery in local kingdoms (as distinguished from the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which was basically over by the time the book focuses on).
Unfortunately, the style didn’t quite work for me. It’s very soft-focus, or maybe just unfocused: lots of short chapters which read fairly quickly but don’t seem related to each other, and I couldn’t figure out why half of it was there. I’m not opposed to reading a biography of a local man turned missionary but why exactly is so much of the book about the life of this one guy? So little of what I was reading had anything to do with either slaves or peanuts, both of which felt like an afterthought in what mostly seemed to be the history of a couple of tiny French ports and the missionary societies working in them. I guess I wanted the book to be more up-front about how this all tied together and why we should read it, and to spend less time in vague descriptions.
Nevertheless, it isn’t a long book (the text is 297 pages), it’s readable and the author appears to have done a substantial amount of research. If you’re interested in the topic, I’d recommend taking a look to see if it works better for you.
April 30, 2022
I requested this book from NetGalley's history section thinking it would be American history. I was completely wrong--which is totally fine. Instead, this is a fascinating look at West African (Senegal/Mali/French West Africa) history in the late 19th century. Yes, it is about peanut agriculture and the demand for peanuts from industrialized Europe--where they were used for their oil. The demand for peanuts caused farmers to grow more peanuts and need more land and more laborers--and thus more slaves. Slavery was no longer legal in French-controlled lands, and that conflict is a huge part of this story.
This book is a lot more though, and honestly my least favorite thing about it is the title. This book is about French colonization in what is now Senegal, but was then French West Africa and included many traditional states--including Kajoor/Cayor, which is discussed at length here. It is also about French Protestant missionaries and their African counterparts, especially Walter Taylor from what is now Sierra Leone. It is about the conflict between anti-slavery French laws that the missionaries wanted enforced, and the French government agents who were more interested in keeping the damels and farmers happy. It is about a railroad and yellow fever. Lewis also includes a bit at the very end, as she successfully locates an elder who points her to the town of freedmen that Taylor had established and his church supported for some time. This was only 130 or so years ago--well within the time period an elder would know. I hope she noted the location in her own research.
I went into this book knowing very little about the history of Senegal and surrounding areas. I spent a lot of time on google maps and Wikipedia reading additional background information, which made it a slow read but also made the book more interesting for me. And it was great--well written, readable, excellent citations that seem well rounded. She used missionary society archives as well as French, Senegal, Gambia, and Sierra Leone national archives. There are doctoral theses, geography journals,
history journals, and many books cited in the notes (but there were no endnote numbers in my galley! huge pet peeve!).
The one thing this book truly needs is a good map. I read a galley (on a black and white kindle) that had a couple of mediocre maps, but I really hope the final print version has a good map or three.
-----
Thanks to NetGalley and The New Press for providing me with a galley of this book.
This book is a lot more though, and honestly my least favorite thing about it is the title. This book is about French colonization in what is now Senegal, but was then French West Africa and included many traditional states--including Kajoor/Cayor, which is discussed at length here. It is also about French Protestant missionaries and their African counterparts, especially Walter Taylor from what is now Sierra Leone. It is about the conflict between anti-slavery French laws that the missionaries wanted enforced, and the French government agents who were more interested in keeping the damels and farmers happy. It is about a railroad and yellow fever. Lewis also includes a bit at the very end, as she successfully locates an elder who points her to the town of freedmen that Taylor had established and his church supported for some time. This was only 130 or so years ago--well within the time period an elder would know. I hope she noted the location in her own research.
I went into this book knowing very little about the history of Senegal and surrounding areas. I spent a lot of time on google maps and Wikipedia reading additional background information, which made it a slow read but also made the book more interesting for me. And it was great--well written, readable, excellent citations that seem well rounded. She used missionary society archives as well as French, Senegal, Gambia, and Sierra Leone national archives. There are doctoral theses, geography journals,
history journals, and many books cited in the notes (but there were no endnote numbers in my galley! huge pet peeve!).
The one thing this book truly needs is a good map. I read a galley (on a black and white kindle) that had a couple of mediocre maps, but I really hope the final print version has a good map or three.
-----
Thanks to NetGalley and The New Press for providing me with a galley of this book.
February 7, 2022
Fascinating and powerful. Incredibly well written and researched. Highly recommend.
June 23, 2022
Slaves for Peanuts takes readers to 19th century Senegal, a period when the French were meddling heavily in West Africa as supposedly benevolent civilizers and other forms of imperialist bullshit. The book follows the work of a Black, French Protestant Reverend from Sierra Leone who evangelized in Saint Louis, a port under French control. Rev. Walter Taylor not only worked tirelessly towards converting pagans of many types but also took on great works of compassion in protecting and sponsoring runaway slaves to help them gain freedom. At the time, slavery was officially outlawed on French soil (which included colonized areas), but it was inconsistently enforced and manumission was made difficult to obtain through a 90-day waiting period, during which enslaved people seeking freedom might be recaptured. The book explains the regional politics surrounding how slavery was permitted to continue by French authorities as well as Taylor's work to assist runaways and set them up for success in a French colonial system. The book also covers, as the title suggests, the economic factors that resulted in a boom in peanut production in West Africa and the consequences of the rush to produce increasing amounts for export.
This is an informative read, and I appreciate how the author identifies where evidence is available and where there are only educated guesses to be had. She comments on the types of sources and the voices that have been silenced in the historical record. I learned a lot about regional history, and it was a good opportunity to examine the impact of colonization on a local, focused scale.
The only thing that dampened my experience was the heavy focus on missionary work. To be clear, the author is thoughtful in her discussion of how missionaries furthered colonization attempts and ponders how Rev. Taylor's position as a Black African evangelist creates an interesting intersection and possible internal conflict. So there is nothing in the message or reflection that I found problematic. However, as someone who is generally wary of religious institutions, I was caught unawares by the degree of attention it receives in the narrative. So be on the lookout if that's a pro/con for you as an area of study. I will say that though it's not my favorite topic, this presents an interesting case, and the volume of sources in Taylor's own writing is beneficial and meaningful to the discussion. Thanks to New Press for my copy to read and review!
This is an informative read, and I appreciate how the author identifies where evidence is available and where there are only educated guesses to be had. She comments on the types of sources and the voices that have been silenced in the historical record. I learned a lot about regional history, and it was a good opportunity to examine the impact of colonization on a local, focused scale.
The only thing that dampened my experience was the heavy focus on missionary work. To be clear, the author is thoughtful in her discussion of how missionaries furthered colonization attempts and ponders how Rev. Taylor's position as a Black African evangelist creates an interesting intersection and possible internal conflict. So there is nothing in the message or reflection that I found problematic. However, as someone who is generally wary of religious institutions, I was caught unawares by the degree of attention it receives in the narrative. So be on the lookout if that's a pro/con for you as an area of study. I will say that though it's not my favorite topic, this presents an interesting case, and the volume of sources in Taylor's own writing is beneficial and meaningful to the discussion. Thanks to New Press for my copy to read and review!
July 29, 2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐
It took me a while to work my way through this one. It's a long book, but I found it super fascinating, disturbing, and heartbreaking. I honestly knew very little about slavery, French Colonization, and the history of West Africa. I thought it was brilliant that way this author shaped the history around the backdrop of the "peanut". Well researched. Well written. If you are a history buff (like me) this is definitely worth a read.
**ARC Via NetGalley**
It took me a while to work my way through this one. It's a long book, but I found it super fascinating, disturbing, and heartbreaking. I honestly knew very little about slavery, French Colonization, and the history of West Africa. I thought it was brilliant that way this author shaped the history around the backdrop of the "peanut". Well researched. Well written. If you are a history buff (like me) this is definitely worth a read.
**ARC Via NetGalley**
didn-t-finish
August 13, 2022Not what I was looking for. I wanted a broad outline of the French colonization in West Africa and the history of slavery there. This book discusses that, but the focus is on one single city and the people in it, described in much more detail that I wanted. It is well written and I'd recommend it to anyone who would want so much detail.
October 27, 2025
Not gonna lie, this book weaves so many threads together that it is hard to follow at times. Still, the thread weaving is a noble attempt to paint a balanced portrait of the social milieu in late 19th century Senegambia. The author dives deep to document history not just from the predominate colonial record, but from the mouths of griots, slaves, regional rulers, and black Muslim and Christian leaders. The result is a story told from competing perspectives that are often absent in colonial histories. We see the complex mixture of French and British interests, the trading of slaves for export as well as local use, the introduction of Christianity in a region dominated by Islam, and the political strategies of local rulers seeking to retain power in the face of foreign occupation. We also learn that the French were content to turn a blind eye to local slavery well into the late 19th century so long as it led to bountiful peanut harvests.
Yes, the historical glue that brings these global forces together is the lowly peanut. The Senegambia was a significant producer of peanuts (The Gambia is still the world's largest per capita producer of peanuts) and an industrializing Europe required peanut oil for the production of soap and candles as well as a lubricant for industrial machinery. Peanuts may not have the same historical geopolitical cachet as sugarcane, cotton, tea, or spices, but they still make for an interesting story of what happens when the asynchronous power dynamics of people and countries clash.
Yes, the historical glue that brings these global forces together is the lowly peanut. The Senegambia was a significant producer of peanuts (The Gambia is still the world's largest per capita producer of peanuts) and an industrializing Europe required peanut oil for the production of soap and candles as well as a lubricant for industrial machinery. Peanuts may not have the same historical geopolitical cachet as sugarcane, cotton, tea, or spices, but they still make for an interesting story of what happens when the asynchronous power dynamics of people and countries clash.
June 12, 2022
I get the sense that this book deserved a title along the lines of What the Fuck with French Colonization in Senegal: Slaves for Peanuts — but that marketing prevailed, believing (probably correctly) that a book about French colonization wouldn’t sell as well in America as a book presented as being more loosely about slavery in general.
In any event: I’m glad it got written, for a dozen reasons. The intro sets the stage: firsthand accounts of life under slavery are rare, so the chance to tell any single person’s story from this time is a jewel. The book threads missionary colonization with European colonization, and tells a bigger story not just about Africans capturing/selling enslaved Africans for export, but about enslaved Africans who remained enslaved in Africa long after abolition in Europe and North America. Had no idea. The peanut seemed like the weakest link of the story in many ways but: still learned a lot there as well.
Jori was a roommate of mine a few years before she first left for Senegal, and we haven’t been in touch in at least a decade. It was a joy to hear her voice in the story and know she’s had the chance to chase this story, explore the world, and achieved publication. No small feat— I hope she feels her ancestors’ pride shining on the effort.
In any event: I’m glad it got written, for a dozen reasons. The intro sets the stage: firsthand accounts of life under slavery are rare, so the chance to tell any single person’s story from this time is a jewel. The book threads missionary colonization with European colonization, and tells a bigger story not just about Africans capturing/selling enslaved Africans for export, but about enslaved Africans who remained enslaved in Africa long after abolition in Europe and North America. Had no idea. The peanut seemed like the weakest link of the story in many ways but: still learned a lot there as well.
Jori was a roommate of mine a few years before she first left for Senegal, and we haven’t been in touch in at least a decade. It was a joy to hear her voice in the story and know she’s had the chance to chase this story, explore the world, and achieved publication. No small feat— I hope she feels her ancestors’ pride shining on the effort.
April 26, 2022
5 stars
I am grateful to The New Books for sending me an advanced copy of this book for review.
I'm so happy that I requested this ARC because I didn’t realize that there was this entire area of interesting history that I was completely ignorant about. I enjoyed this well researched look at how slavery across West Africa that was tied to the cultivation of peanuts, really shaped the progression of these peoples during the times of colonialism and early post-colonial years. It was interesting to see exactly how the attitudes in Europe and the political structures that existed in colonial West Africa were responsible for the systematic exploitation of so many people. I love how we were presented with a cross section of society during those colonial times, and we could see how each moving part worked and how certain people were instrumental in the maintenance of slavery and the slave trade in Western Africa. Capitalism undermined any effort towards social and economic growth of these regions.
There are certain similarities that you will find in every colonial history; colonizing countries stripping resources from their colonies and upholding institutions that allow this capitalism to thrive. I like how this book offered a chronological look at the development of the peanut industry and trade and showed how the necessary infrastructure and the development of this peanut economy directly resulted in so much long-term damage that was intentional. The author cited many resources for further reading that are compiled in the indices of this book, allowing anyone interested to further their knowledge about the details of this historical time and place.
I think this was a great piece of nonfiction history and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the history of West Africa, in global economies, and in the intricacies of colonialism in Africa.
I am grateful to The New Books for sending me an advanced copy of this book for review.
I'm so happy that I requested this ARC because I didn’t realize that there was this entire area of interesting history that I was completely ignorant about. I enjoyed this well researched look at how slavery across West Africa that was tied to the cultivation of peanuts, really shaped the progression of these peoples during the times of colonialism and early post-colonial years. It was interesting to see exactly how the attitudes in Europe and the political structures that existed in colonial West Africa were responsible for the systematic exploitation of so many people. I love how we were presented with a cross section of society during those colonial times, and we could see how each moving part worked and how certain people were instrumental in the maintenance of slavery and the slave trade in Western Africa. Capitalism undermined any effort towards social and economic growth of these regions.
There are certain similarities that you will find in every colonial history; colonizing countries stripping resources from their colonies and upholding institutions that allow this capitalism to thrive. I like how this book offered a chronological look at the development of the peanut industry and trade and showed how the necessary infrastructure and the development of this peanut economy directly resulted in so much long-term damage that was intentional. The author cited many resources for further reading that are compiled in the indices of this book, allowing anyone interested to further their knowledge about the details of this historical time and place.
I think this was a great piece of nonfiction history and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the history of West Africa, in global economies, and in the intricacies of colonialism in Africa.
February 26, 2023
3.5/5
I wanted more peanuts! I was expecting a bit more…peanuts and conquest and other things mentioned in the title.
The author did a great job researching and telling a story, but it was not what I was expecting. It was much more focused on missionary work, particularly of Walter Taylor. While I found Taylor’s story somewhat interesting, and I applaud the author for uncovering people in history who are often overlooked, none of it was quite interesting enough to draw me in and I found myself reading just to get through. I also found some of the cutting between the missionaries and Lat Joor/Kajoor disjointed - I can see loosely how these were stories of slavery and peanuts but it was a stretch.
I learned a lot about Senegambia in the nineteenth century, and the writing was easily digestible, although there were quite a few characters to keep track of.
I wanted more peanuts! I was expecting a bit more…peanuts and conquest and other things mentioned in the title.
The author did a great job researching and telling a story, but it was not what I was expecting. It was much more focused on missionary work, particularly of Walter Taylor. While I found Taylor’s story somewhat interesting, and I applaud the author for uncovering people in history who are often overlooked, none of it was quite interesting enough to draw me in and I found myself reading just to get through. I also found some of the cutting between the missionaries and Lat Joor/Kajoor disjointed - I can see loosely how these were stories of slavery and peanuts but it was a stretch.
I learned a lot about Senegambia in the nineteenth century, and the writing was easily digestible, although there were quite a few characters to keep track of.
April 2, 2023
The genius of Jori Lewis's book is the authors ability to draw connections. In the first 15 pages, we learn about how the plague, the Spanish Inquisition, the Industrial Revolution, oil, peanuts, and slavery are all interconnected. After this broad sweeping discussion of historical trends, the remainder of the book explores trends by switching from the general to the particular, interpreting what one might read in a textbook through the life of a former slave turned minister, all against the backdrop of the region's peanut trade.
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April 25, 2022Here’s my review of this book for NPR Books. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/109459...
September 10, 2025
girl if you wanted to write a biography ab walter taylor you should’ve just done that. i don’t think im insane in wanting more peanut history in this book that is branded as a book ab peanut history. it felt like every few chapters she would remember she’s supposed to be talking ab peanuts and mention something and then just go write back to telling the entire history is colonialism in senegal. which is interesting!! but dont say the book is ab peanuts when it’s really just ab colonialism in senegal!!! “the crop that changed history” but the only thing you told me is that bc of peanuts there was slavery in africa. it’s not new information that there was slavery in africa and all over the world!!!! how did the peanut actually change history!!!!
additionally. i hate the “maybe they did this” “maybe they did that” “we don’t know but we can imagine” tell me facts!!!! i dont want to imagine what they did after this man died!! if theres no record of it then just tell me that!!! god. i did not like this book. sorry girl but your writing style is so aggressively not for me.
and the thing is it’s so totally fine if there’s not enough peanut info to write a book ab peanuts. but this book isn’t that old and you easily could’ve talked ab the implications of peanut farming in other parts of the world instead of, once again, writing a biography ab walter taylor. i just don’t really know what her goal was w this book. anyway. personally would not recommend
additionally. i hate the “maybe they did this” “maybe they did that” “we don’t know but we can imagine” tell me facts!!!! i dont want to imagine what they did after this man died!! if theres no record of it then just tell me that!!! god. i did not like this book. sorry girl but your writing style is so aggressively not for me.
and the thing is it’s so totally fine if there’s not enough peanut info to write a book ab peanuts. but this book isn’t that old and you easily could’ve talked ab the implications of peanut farming in other parts of the world instead of, once again, writing a biography ab walter taylor. i just don’t really know what her goal was w this book. anyway. personally would not recommend
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May 10, 2022Read 4.21 - 5.5.2022
NetGalley ARC
Kindle
Nonfiction
DNF @50%
*NO RATING*
I tried. I really tried. I so wanted to love this book, but wow. I started this book on 4.21 and stopped today [5.5] and only got to 50%. I am not uneducated; I have an average or a little above I.Q. and this book often felt W A Y above my pay-grade. The author loves a big word and I spent much of the 50% read looking up words I have never heard of and will never, ever use in my daily life. E V E R. And that isn't even going in to how much French is used [with no translations] that one has to look up [I have an extremely basic knowledge of some of the language; thankfully I have both a translator on my phone for when my Kindle couldn't handle the translation].
I felt that the title was a little misleading; there were slaves [and that was the part of the story that was intriguing and some of the incidents just broke my heart AND blew my mind] and there were peanuts, but not very much in regards to the history of the former and I was still waiting to see how they really played into this book. There WAS a lot of religion, politics and people who show up briefly and then never again [which is just confusing]. It ends up being a hot mess; chaotic and confusing and disjointed and I finally just had to give up. I was dreading having to read it every day and to be honest, I remember little of what I did read - a sign that I was just not into this book.
I am really disappointed; I was hoping for so much more [and from the reviews, kept thinking this book would get better - apparently they were the correct pay-grade to read and love this book] and it just wasn't for me. I feel like I gave so much time for no return at all.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author and publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
NetGalley ARC
Kindle
Nonfiction
DNF @50%
*NO RATING*
I tried. I really tried. I so wanted to love this book, but wow. I started this book on 4.21 and stopped today [5.5] and only got to 50%. I am not uneducated; I have an average or a little above I.Q. and this book often felt W A Y above my pay-grade. The author loves a big word and I spent much of the 50% read looking up words I have never heard of and will never, ever use in my daily life. E V E R. And that isn't even going in to how much French is used [with no translations] that one has to look up [I have an extremely basic knowledge of some of the language; thankfully I have both a translator on my phone for when my Kindle couldn't handle the translation].
I felt that the title was a little misleading; there were slaves [and that was the part of the story that was intriguing and some of the incidents just broke my heart AND blew my mind] and there were peanuts, but not very much in regards to the history of the former and I was still waiting to see how they really played into this book. There WAS a lot of religion, politics and people who show up briefly and then never again [which is just confusing]. It ends up being a hot mess; chaotic and confusing and disjointed and I finally just had to give up. I was dreading having to read it every day and to be honest, I remember little of what I did read - a sign that I was just not into this book.
I am really disappointed; I was hoping for so much more [and from the reviews, kept thinking this book would get better - apparently they were the correct pay-grade to read and love this book] and it just wasn't for me. I feel like I gave so much time for no return at all.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author and publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 13, 2022
Loved this book. Very interesting characters and history.
March 24, 2022
Books like this one leave me in awe of what can be learned from archives (even when the recorded history is barely available), and thankful for those who pour through it to tell stories like these.
This book explores how the growing demand for peanut oil in Europe led to lasting slavery in Africa—seen as a “delicate” issue for the French that had officially banned it in its territories.
Lewis’ writing gives a fascinating glimpse at both the history of the peanut and how it was tied so closely to those living in West Africa in the late 1800s, including Walter Taylor, a Protestant missionary who helped shelter runaway slaves, and the damels (kings) of Kajoor who were confronted with colonial expansion.
She pulls the story together using a variety of sources, such as letters from Taylor to the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, old songs, and even a newspaper’s listing for the lost and found contents from train stations along the railroad built to assist with transporting peanuts. All of these together gave me a greater sense of this time and place in history.
Thank you to The New Press and Edelweiss+ for an e-galley of this work in exchange for an honest review. It was a pleasure to read.
This book explores how the growing demand for peanut oil in Europe led to lasting slavery in Africa—seen as a “delicate” issue for the French that had officially banned it in its territories.
Lewis’ writing gives a fascinating glimpse at both the history of the peanut and how it was tied so closely to those living in West Africa in the late 1800s, including Walter Taylor, a Protestant missionary who helped shelter runaway slaves, and the damels (kings) of Kajoor who were confronted with colonial expansion.
She pulls the story together using a variety of sources, such as letters from Taylor to the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, old songs, and even a newspaper’s listing for the lost and found contents from train stations along the railroad built to assist with transporting peanuts. All of these together gave me a greater sense of this time and place in history.
Thank you to The New Press and Edelweiss+ for an e-galley of this work in exchange for an honest review. It was a pleasure to read.
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April 24, 2023Jori Lewis, AB’00, AM’00
Author
From our pages, Fall/22: Long after European nations officially banned slavery in the territories they colonized, the continent’s demand for peanut oil—used to lubricate machinery during the Industrial Revolution—ensured that slavery and indentured servitude would endure in West Africa well into the 20th century. In Slaves for Peanuts, journalist Jori Lewis taps archival sources from two continents to chronicle a little-known chapter in African history, including stories of enslaved people who took back their freedom.
https://mag.uchicago.edu/university-n...
Author
From our pages, Fall/22: Long after European nations officially banned slavery in the territories they colonized, the continent’s demand for peanut oil—used to lubricate machinery during the Industrial Revolution—ensured that slavery and indentured servitude would endure in West Africa well into the 20th century. In Slaves for Peanuts, journalist Jori Lewis taps archival sources from two continents to chronicle a little-known chapter in African history, including stories of enslaved people who took back their freedom.
https://mag.uchicago.edu/university-n...
June 7, 2022
This is such a beautiful book. The author literally delved into archives around the world to unearth information about the cultivation of the peanut in West Africa, the slave trade around the time, and the influence and colonization of the French and missionaries. It is a very rich book that requires your undivided attention but it is so worth it and you will leave with so much new information. I also love that this book includes photos of many of the historical figures and documents mentioned.
November 26, 2022
Read this review on my blog: https://abbyeppletthistorian.blogspot...
Disclaimer: I received this book from Goodreads to review.
I recently finished reading Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History, the debut book of journalist Jori Lewis published by The New Press, a nonprofit publisher with a focus on social justice. Slaves for Peanuts fits the bill, describing the role that peanuts have in slavery, colonialistion, and evangelism in Western Africa — especially modern Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Gambia — during the mid to late 19th century.
The book follows the lives of multiple figures important to the area while tracking local events, along with those in France and its other colonies. Reverend Walter Samuel Taylor, a missionary with the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, appears throughout the book as a brave but chronically ill man who hid former slaves in his home until their could receive freedom papers, all while fighting the racism and anti-Protestantism of the French government. Lat Joor Ngoone Latyr Joob, the damel or military leader of the kingdom of Kajoor in modern Senegal, attempted to bargain with the French while maintaining the rigid hierarchy and legalized slavery in his country. Nyara Bely Lightborn, a multilingual peanut plantation owner called “the Zenobia of West Africa”, terrorized both enslaved and free locals until converting to Christianity near the end of her life. Amid this large cast of real-life characters was the peanut, with information about its growth, harvest, and products woven through the story.
The book had many strong points. The information presented was thoroughly research, with an easy to track notes section in the back of the book, along with an index. The number of resources gathered across three continents and in multiple languages was truly staggering. Lewis has set herself apart as a researcher. Beyond figures and names, the storylines were emotionally gripping, a difficult accomplishment for a nonfiction book. The maps in the front of the book were helpful when locating villages or kingdoms mentioned in the text. And while we should not judge a book by its cover, the bright orange front jacket with a saturated vintage drawing of peanuts intertwined with a title set in a beautiful serif font made the book all the more intriguing.
I did experience some struggles while reading the book. Although I am more familiar with French colonial history and Wolof culture than the average reader, the barrage of names and locations from multiple languages sometime became overwhelming. With fifty-five chapters divided into eight parts, the sections tended to be short, which was convenient when I had only a brief time to read in a sitting. However, the topics tended to change from chapter to chapter. In a section, I might read about how to harvest peanuts, Taylor’s trip to Paris, the conversion of Nyara Bely, a transcription on the fate of enslaved people from Saint Louis in Senegal, the problems faced by La Joor in his kingdom, abolition in France, and reprinted photographs.
Overall, this was a comprehensive read on a subject that I knew about tangentially through my own research on slavery and transatlantic trade but now have significantly more knowledge. A timeline accompanying the maps would make a great addition to the book. At about 300 pages of writing, the book is the perfect length for its subject matter. The book is suitable for historians and would make a great supplemental book for a college level course or an advanced high school class.
Disclaimer: I received this book from Goodreads to review.
I recently finished reading Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History, the debut book of journalist Jori Lewis published by The New Press, a nonprofit publisher with a focus on social justice. Slaves for Peanuts fits the bill, describing the role that peanuts have in slavery, colonialistion, and evangelism in Western Africa — especially modern Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Gambia — during the mid to late 19th century.
The book follows the lives of multiple figures important to the area while tracking local events, along with those in France and its other colonies. Reverend Walter Samuel Taylor, a missionary with the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, appears throughout the book as a brave but chronically ill man who hid former slaves in his home until their could receive freedom papers, all while fighting the racism and anti-Protestantism of the French government. Lat Joor Ngoone Latyr Joob, the damel or military leader of the kingdom of Kajoor in modern Senegal, attempted to bargain with the French while maintaining the rigid hierarchy and legalized slavery in his country. Nyara Bely Lightborn, a multilingual peanut plantation owner called “the Zenobia of West Africa”, terrorized both enslaved and free locals until converting to Christianity near the end of her life. Amid this large cast of real-life characters was the peanut, with information about its growth, harvest, and products woven through the story.
The book had many strong points. The information presented was thoroughly research, with an easy to track notes section in the back of the book, along with an index. The number of resources gathered across three continents and in multiple languages was truly staggering. Lewis has set herself apart as a researcher. Beyond figures and names, the storylines were emotionally gripping, a difficult accomplishment for a nonfiction book. The maps in the front of the book were helpful when locating villages or kingdoms mentioned in the text. And while we should not judge a book by its cover, the bright orange front jacket with a saturated vintage drawing of peanuts intertwined with a title set in a beautiful serif font made the book all the more intriguing.
I did experience some struggles while reading the book. Although I am more familiar with French colonial history and Wolof culture than the average reader, the barrage of names and locations from multiple languages sometime became overwhelming. With fifty-five chapters divided into eight parts, the sections tended to be short, which was convenient when I had only a brief time to read in a sitting. However, the topics tended to change from chapter to chapter. In a section, I might read about how to harvest peanuts, Taylor’s trip to Paris, the conversion of Nyara Bely, a transcription on the fate of enslaved people from Saint Louis in Senegal, the problems faced by La Joor in his kingdom, abolition in France, and reprinted photographs.
Overall, this was a comprehensive read on a subject that I knew about tangentially through my own research on slavery and transatlantic trade but now have significantly more knowledge. A timeline accompanying the maps would make a great addition to the book. At about 300 pages of writing, the book is the perfect length for its subject matter. The book is suitable for historians and would make a great supplemental book for a college level course or an advanced high school class.
July 1, 2022
Borrowed this on a whim. I had never heard of the author or the book and saw it on display at the library. I am not passionate about peanuts (but do eat peanut butter, do know that peanuts are a popular snack, etc.). So I was curious to read this specific history.
The author weaves human history, politics, how it spread through the region and eventually became the crop and food we eat today at baseball games, as peanut butter, etc. But as other reviews note, what the book is really about is French colonialization and how peanuts were a product of that, including the missionary work that occurred there, how slavery remained despite it's abolish elsewhere, etc.
It's informative, but as others note, the book is essentially mismarketed and that disappointed me. I found it very hard to get into, and discussions about religion and religious work tend to bore me (even though I'm aware of its huge impacts in history). And while I appreciated that the author did acknowledge there were gaps in knowledge due to lost records, it was never recorded, etc., it just came across as a tough read.
Overall, I'd say it's still useful, but it really depends on your purposes for reading it. If it's about peanuts, I'm not sure if it's a book for you if you're just a layperson and casual reader like me. But if you have a particular interest in its history, the history of slavery in a part of the world and its relationship to peanuts, etc. this might be a good reference.
Library borrow was best for me.
The author weaves human history, politics, how it spread through the region and eventually became the crop and food we eat today at baseball games, as peanut butter, etc. But as other reviews note, what the book is really about is French colonialization and how peanuts were a product of that, including the missionary work that occurred there, how slavery remained despite it's abolish elsewhere, etc.
It's informative, but as others note, the book is essentially mismarketed and that disappointed me. I found it very hard to get into, and discussions about religion and religious work tend to bore me (even though I'm aware of its huge impacts in history). And while I appreciated that the author did acknowledge there were gaps in knowledge due to lost records, it was never recorded, etc., it just came across as a tough read.
Overall, I'd say it's still useful, but it really depends on your purposes for reading it. If it's about peanuts, I'm not sure if it's a book for you if you're just a layperson and casual reader like me. But if you have a particular interest in its history, the history of slavery in a part of the world and its relationship to peanuts, etc. this might be a good reference.
Library borrow was best for me.
July 29, 2022
Although I was previously aware that slavery persisted long after it was abolished by the U.S, the U.K., France and most other nations, this book illuminated the on-going practice of slavery well into the 20th century in West Africa. It seems to have been widely tolerated in French colonial dominions in spite of official denials. I have a high level of interest in West Africa, having lived in Liberia from 1978 to 1980 and traveled to Sierra Leone, Senegal and Guinea. This book chronicles the life of a Protestant preacher native to Sierra Leone serving a French missionary society in Senegal, most specifically his efforts in sheltering escaped slaves from recapture amid the hypocrisy of French colonial administrators and Catholic institutions. It was in French interests to support practices of slave labor in agricultural production of peanuts and other commodities for export to Europe. To do otherwise would enrage traditional African elites and the French commercials interests dependent of the status quo. Practices of forced labor have faded; however, continue in several areas of west and north Africa such as in cocoa production in Ivory Coast. This book is an easy quick read and highlights the exploitation and hypocrisy in European colonial empires of the late 19th and early 20th century.
June 10, 2023
On peanuts, one thinks of Tuskegee, Booker T and the American South but Jori Lewis writes of a parallel history on the West Coast of Africa in Senegal and Gambia. There's hardly a mention of America. Slavery, emancipation, mono-crops and missions played out on Africa's western coast to a later date even than in the US, and in French controlled territory that ostensibly had legislated against slavery a century earlier. The story of Walter Taylor's lifelong work to bring some sense of European autonomy and personal authority to his people within a culture of enslavement forms the narrative. Lewis draws on what must be an extensive archive of Taylor's correspondence and reports and draws out the details of daily life as a nation and people are transformed. Really I had so little knowledge of all this.
Jori Lewis brings it all together with a line on the last page of her book: "In a way, I wondered, by what twist of fate were my ancestors sold across the great ocean and theirs across the savanna?"
Reading Slaves for Peanuts as an ARC, a year after its release, and for that I apologize to the publisher for my late review. I only hope that the final work includes a map to better follow the terrain and travails of this unusual history.
Jori Lewis brings it all together with a line on the last page of her book: "In a way, I wondered, by what twist of fate were my ancestors sold across the great ocean and theirs across the savanna?"
Reading Slaves for Peanuts as an ARC, a year after its release, and for that I apologize to the publisher for my late review. I only hope that the final work includes a map to better follow the terrain and travails of this unusual history.
August 6, 2023
Drawing on a wealth of research, “Slaves for Peanuts” takes us on a journey to trace how the bounty of a novel crop that many Americans today associate with baseball games, the circus or a PB&J once intertwined with war, colonialism, religion, politics and the evils of forced labor to shape countless lives in and around Senegal. The tale the journalist and historian Jori Lewis unravels is both captivating and harrowing. For me, it also was eye-opening—despite having visited Dakar some years ago, I had been ignorant of this confluence of events before Lewis’ book. I also found impressive her work contextualizing the ways in which the pernicious expansion of human bondage and the fitful transformation of peanuts into a major commodity evolved across geography, cultures and time. Indeed, much how Mark Kurlansky’s “A Basque History of the World” is a global study as much an Iberian one, Lewis’ powerful new volume grants readers a fuller understanding of West Africa, but also the Americas, Europe and beyond. Perhaps what I enjoyed most, however, was the frequency in which the author forced me to interrupt my learning to pause and admire her richly novelistic descriptions of past and present.
September 14, 2022
For readers with an interest in West African history this book does an interesting job of interweaving the rise and fall of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the cultivation of peanuts, the tension between the economic importance of West African practices of slavery and "humanitarian" impulses in France, the expansion of Christian missions, European culture and European engineered railways and the appeal of Islam that is more seamlessly Africanized. It follows the story of a Black Sierra Leonean missionary who rises above the racist attitudes of the C19th and who builds the Protestant mission in Senegal and effectively reminds the reader that history is the culmination of the lives and interactions of individual human beings.
August 25, 2023
The author is Senegalese and weaves a poignant tale of peanuts, colonialism, the industrial age, traditions, Protestantism, and slavery.
Slavery existed much much later in Africa than in North America and Europe, but it still was never raced- based chattel slavery. There were plantations, but they functioned more like sharecropping. (They did transition between freedom by fully sharecropping.) It's always interesting to read about slavery in Africa, because that was the argument used to justify it in the American South.
Every American school child learns about how former slave George Washington Carver invented peanut butter and rescued Southern soil. Presented in this book is a darker side; all of history is never as it seems, and Lewis reveals it without turning it seedy and lurid.
Slavery existed much much later in Africa than in North America and Europe, but it still was never raced- based chattel slavery. There were plantations, but they functioned more like sharecropping. (They did transition between freedom by fully sharecropping.) It's always interesting to read about slavery in Africa, because that was the argument used to justify it in the American South.
Every American school child learns about how former slave George Washington Carver invented peanut butter and rescued Southern soil. Presented in this book is a darker side; all of history is never as it seems, and Lewis reveals it without turning it seedy and lurid.
March 13, 2022
(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this work courtesy of NetGalley)
Until now, I was completely unaware that the humble peanut’s spread and popularity to Western Africa led to it being tightly tied up with slavery in the region. So to say the least, I greatly appreciate all of the work that Jori Lewis has put in to shining light on what appears to be an oft-overlooked chapter in slavery’s history. Slaves for Peanuts proved to be a solid, eye-opening read for me, and I am sure that it will do the same for many others, not to mention make quite a few people probably think quite differently about one of their favorite snack foods.
Until now, I was completely unaware that the humble peanut’s spread and popularity to Western Africa led to it being tightly tied up with slavery in the region. So to say the least, I greatly appreciate all of the work that Jori Lewis has put in to shining light on what appears to be an oft-overlooked chapter in slavery’s history. Slaves for Peanuts proved to be a solid, eye-opening read for me, and I am sure that it will do the same for many others, not to mention make quite a few people probably think quite differently about one of their favorite snack foods.
November 12, 2023
Jori Lewis traveled to Senegal to learn how the French enslaved locals rather than shipping them back to France. The French outlawed slavery but maintained 'servants' in Africa and threw their weight around... the European explorers in the 19th century brought with them, "the twin gospels of commerce and Christianity." They also cultivated some powerful racism that allowed them to use local labor to fill the French need for peanut oil (for soap and lubricants): "Nothing is simpler and more appropriate for the indolent ways of the natives than this crop," according to one Frenchman of that era. This was a detailed, thorough, challenging, and rewarding read.
April 20, 2022
Slavery was sadly so fundamental to many industries and economies that it’s truth has been swept aside in many histories. This book thoroughly and respectfully insists that we acknowledge its reality and how the suffering of so many shaped the industry and society which have influenced our modern experience. Well researched and well written, the book focuses on facts and sources to paint a clear picture which cannot be ignored.
November 2, 2022
Not an easy read because it does not follow a ‘traditional’ storyline. However, stories like this must be told. The book talks about the struggles in different villages where people were sold into slavery for the Americas but also other parts of Africa. The amount of research was very persistent. The French colonizers are considered some of the most evil of all and some of the stories captured in this book demonstrate that.
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