The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670-1717 [Hardcover]

Professor Alan Gallay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2002

This study focuses on the traffic in Indian slaves during the early years of the American South. The Indian slave trade was of central importance from the Carolina coast to the Mississippi Valley for nearly 50 years, linking southern lives and creating a whirlwind of violence and profit-making, argues Alan Gallay. He documents in detail how the trade operated, the processes by which Europeans and Native Americans became participants, and the profound consequences for the South and its peoples. The author places Native Americans at the centre of the story of European colonization and the evolution of plantation slavery in America. He explores the impact of such contemporary forces as the African slave trade, the unification of England and Scotland, and the competition among European empires as well as political and religious divisions in England and in South Carolina. Gallay also analyzes how Native American societies approached warfare, diplomacy and decisions about allying and trading with Europeans. His wide-ranging research should not only illuminate a crucial crossroad of European and Native American history but also establish a context in which to understand racism, colonialism, and the meaning of ethnicity in early America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . essential reading for American and Native American history. Gallay’s work is an important and exciting contribution to the field. -- History: Reviews of New Books

Powerfully argued and densely detailed. . . . seems to spur a renewed debate on the origins and meaning of racial slavery. -- Choice

From the Publisher

Winner of the 2003 Bancroft Prize
Selected by Choice as a 2003 Outstanding Academic Title

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300087543
• ISBN-13: 978-0300087543
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,601,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Careful Analysis - 3.5 to 4 Rating, August 2, 2005

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R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670-1717 (Paperback)

The second part of the title, The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, is a more accurate description of what this good book describes. Gallay presents a detailed description and analysis of the interaction between European colonists, particularly the English in what we now call South Carolina, and the native peoples of the Southeast at the end of the 17th and the early 18th centuries. Gallay is primarily concerned with 2 issues. First, how did the native peoples respond to European colonization? Second, what led to the British gaining the upper hand over the French and Spanish? According to Gallay, the key feature that addresses both these questions is the Indian slave trade. While the French and Spanish pursued colonization for essentially strategic reasons with very limited resources, the British Carolina colony originated as a commercial enterprise originally supporting Caribbean sugar plantations. The British colonists became enmeshed in relatively large scale commerce involving virtually the whole Southeast while the French pursued diplomacy with commercial elements in a more limited area and the Spanish attempted to use a mission system in the Florida region. Gallay presents the Indian slave trade as the key feature of the English trade system. The British colonists used European goods to barter for slaves and other products, particularly hides, from native groups. The slave trade connects the Carolina colony to the larger Atlantic plantation economy and drives development of the colony. This led to an increase in warfare between Indian communities as warfare became commerce driven. The British colonists were then able to exploit their commercial leverage and the increase in turmoil to establish a preeminent position in the South. Gallay is careful to point out that the South was anarchic and conflict ridden prior to European intervention and that slavery was a traditional institution, though expanded greatly with commercial slaving. While Gallay does not say so, this is essentialy an extension of the model of slaving developed to describe the African end of the great Atlantic slave trade. In both the case of Africa and Gallay's discussion of the American South, the model points up the key roles of, and the power of the indigenous communities, which were actually more powerful than the European communities.
This is a creditable interpretation but the data that Gallay actually presents about Indian slaving is relatively modest. There is some anecdotal information and he does make an estimate of the number of slaves taken, arguing that more slaves were shipped out of Charles Town (modern Charleston) than came in. Gallay is clearly limited by his documentary material, most of which does not address directly the issue of the Indian slave trade. Most of the book, however, is not directly about the Indian slave trade but a detailed account of 2 related topics. The first, and best documented, is about the struggles between colonists, the colonial government, and the governing investors in England to regulate the colony, particularly trade with the Indians. The second is an effort to reconstruct the diplomacy and warfare between the different European groups and Indian communities in this period. This is arguably the best part of the book; an effort to describe realistically the independent roles of native communities. Again, though Gallay does not mention this but pioneering work by Francis Jennings and others have demonstrated the powerful and independent role played by North American native communities, particularly the Iroquois, in this period.
Overall, this is a valuable and clearly written book.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on the subject, March 24, 2004

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C. Krakower (Sea Girt, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670-1717 (Hardcover)

I have been doing research on the Indian slave trade and this book is a gem! It explains the political and social climate so to explain the "whys" of something that is difficult for 21st century minds to comprehend.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Portents and Premonitions, May 30, 2008

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Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670-1717 (Paperback)

Focusing on the early decades of South Carolina, Alan Gallay places English colonization in the context of the French and Spanish presence in North America, and of the immensely disrupted "first nation" cultures struggling to recreate stability in the face of European intrusions. Since the book won the 2003 Bancroft Prize, it shouldn't be necessary to praise it excessively or to call it to the attention of serious students of American history. For more casual readers, let me flag a few surprises:

* First, the mere idea of Indian slaves! Yes, the colonists enslaved Indians more often than they converted them to Christianity, and lured the young men of some tribes into warfare aginst other tribes for the purpose of capturing slaves to sell to the English.
* South Carolina exported more slaves in its first fifty years than it imported, most of them captured Indians sent to New England, the Bahamas, and other English sugar islands which were already more populous and more economically important than the mainland.
* The rapid expansion of cultural mayhem from the spottily settled English colonies to the whole of North America east of the Mississippi.
* The culture of slavery and the perception of racial identities that so quickly emerged in the American South! Was the Civil War inevitable from the onset?
* The immediate emergence of conflict between the interest groups of the English, that is, the proprieters vs. the settlers, the local authorities of government vs. the ungovernable colonists, the rivalry between colonies, etc.
* The challenge to the dominant historical hypothesis that Virginia was the model and seedbed of later Southern colonies and states; Prof. Gallay suggests that South Carolina may have disseminated its values and habits rather more widely than many have supposed.

Some readers may find this book overly detailed and laborsome. Fair warning, okay? But those who are seriously interested in American history, of any era, should be advised that "The Indian Slave Trade" is required reading.