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Abstract
The transatlantic slave trade, c.1500–1866, was carried out by the largest maritime nations in Europe. From the 1660s to 1802 such triangular route expeditions were also carried out under the Danish flag, making up almost 1% of the total trade. Thanks to well preserved archival sources many Danish triangular voyages can be described in detail. This article discusses the Danish voyages and compares them to those of other nations, with regard to number of voyages, sailing routes, duration of voyages, vessels and crews, cargoes, nutrition and mortality. From this new research, it turns out that in these respects, the Danish voyages closely resemble those of the other nations. The transatlantic slave trade was a truly international business where all participants were subject to the same economic, technological, mercantile and natural conditions.
Acknowledgements
An earlier version of this article was presented at the Fifth International Congress of Maritime History in Greenwich, 26 June 2008. I am grateful to the Carlsberg Foundation for sponsoring my participation. I also wish to thank Professor David Richardson, University of Hull, and Professor Daniel P. Hopkins, University of Missouri, Kansas City, for useful comments to an earlier version of this article. The article also profited from some very useful referee comments. I also wish to thank Editor Cathy O'Gara, Saint Thomas, for correcting my English.
Notes
1 A general survey of the transatlantic slave voyages can be found in the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database at www.slavevoyages.com. The estimated number of slaves embarked on Danish ships here is 99,000; cf. Eltis and Richardson, ‘New Assessment’.
2 Degn and Gøbel, Skuder og kompagnier; Feldbæk, Storhandelens tid.
3 Gøbel, ‘Volume and Structure’; Gøbel, ‘Danish Trade’.
4 Hernæs, Slaves.
5 Green-Pedersen, ‘Om forholdene’.
6 Gøbel, ‘Dansk sejlads’; Gøbel, ‘Den danske besejling’.
7 Gøbel, Guide to Sources; cf. www.virgin-islands-history.dk/eng
8 Svalesen, Fredensborg.
9 Volume of Danish slave trade is discussed in Hernæs, Slaves, 180–227.
10 Activities of this company are well documented; cf. Justesen, Danish Sources.
11 Shipping activities of this company are very well documented.
12 Gøbel, ‘Danish Edict’; Gøbel, Danske slavehandelsforbud.
13 Slightly different numbers can be found in Green-Pedersen, ‘Scope and Structure’ and Green-Pedersen, ‘Danish Negro Slave Trade’.
14 The sailing routes are discussed in Gøbel, ‘Dansk sejlads’, 8–26.
15 DNA, GC, box 88, Ship's log Fredensborg, 12 June 1767.
16 DNA, WIGC, box 226, Annotations to ships’ accounts, Account of powder used on Grevinden af Laurvigen 1730–1732. One rix-dollar equalled 0.2 pound sterling, according to Friis and Glamann, History of Prices and Wages, 67.
17 E.g. DNA, WIGC, box 23, Instructions, 8 June 1719, §2 of Captain Moth's instructions; DNA, WIGC, box 24, Instructions, 5 April 1730, §2 of Captain Reichardt's instructions.
18 DNA, WIGC, box 29, Instructions, 31 October 1682, §1 of Captain Bloem's instructions.
19 DNA, WIGC, box 27, Instructions, 31 October 1682, §2 of Captain Bloem's instructions; Unger, ‘Bijdragen I’, 153–5; cf. instructions in Donnan, Documents, 366–71; Rinchon, Pierre-Ignace-Liévin, 239–46; Unger, ‘Bijdragen II’, 119–26; Hudig, Scheepvaart, 18–22.
20 DNA, WIGC, boxes 21–29, Instructions, passim; DNA, GC, box 6, Instructions, 5 June 1771 and 20 November 1771; DNA, Trade and Canal Company, Copenhagen office, Trade assistant Hansen's instructions, 30 November 1782.
21 DNA, GC, box 99, Ship's log Eleonora, 23–27 April 1773.
22 E.g. DNA, GC, box 92, Ship's log Christiansborg, 21 October–29 March 1772.
23 DNA, GC, box 134, Trading protocol Eleonora, 17 December 1769–24 January 1772.
24 Gøbel, Danske slavehandelsforbud, 65 and 249–56.
25 Curtin, Atlantic Slave Trade, 278–9.
26 DNA, GC, boxes 104, 105, and 121, Ship's logs and ship's ledger Ada.
27 DNA, GC, box 115, Ship's ledger Eleonora, 16–17 February 1774.
28 E.g. DNA, Royal Danish Navy's ships’ logs, box 348.b, Haabet Galley, 21 November 1724; DNA, Royal Danish Navy's ships’ logs, box 547, Lærcken, 2 May 1780; cf. Everaert, Franse slavenhandel, 76–8.
29 Today called Saint Kitts.
30 Løwenørn, Beretning, 57–8; e.g. DNA, Royal Greenland Trade, Ship's log General Eickstedt, 26–29 May 1782; e.g. DNA, West India Trading Company, box 422, Ship's log Friderica Louise, 24–26 April 1785.
31 Horsfall, ‘West Indian Trade’, 185–6.
32 Ibid., Royal Danish Navy's Library, Ship's log Christiansborg, 4 March 1756; Winterfeldt's diary, 288–99.
33 Nørregård, ‘Forliset ved Nicaragua’.
34 Horsfall, ‘West Indian Trade’, 186–7.
35 E.g. DNA, WIGC, box 208, Ships’ voyages, Letter from Captain Prat, Mandal in Norway 16 February 1745.
36 Svalesen, Fredensborg, 152–3.
37 DNA, GC, box 112, Ship's ledger Christiansborg, 6 September 1772; cf. DNA, WIGC, box 204, Ships’ voyages, Report concerning Grevinden af Laurvigen, 3 September 1734.
38 Hernæs, Slaves, 269–92.
39 Lauring, Rejsen til Madagascar.
40 Cf. Struwe, Dansk Ostindien, 59–64.
41 Duration of voyages is discussed in Gøbel, ‘Dansk sejlads’, 26–39.
42 DNA, WIGC, box 187, Forts and trade in Guinea, 16 October 1727.
43 Feldbæk, Danske Handelskompagnier, 401, WIGC's by-laws, 1733, §16.
44 Postma, The Dutch, 158–9; Drake, ‘Liverpool-African Voyage’, 131.
45 DNA, WIGC, box 22, Instructions, 1 August 1702, §15 of Captain Resen's instructions.
46 DNA, WIGC, box 20, Proposals and vota, Brandorph's pro memoria, 19 December 1749.
47 Unger, ‘Bijdragen II’, 36–8; Postma, The Dutch, 151–2; Klein and Engerman, ‘Slave Mortality’, 116–7; Klein, Middle Passage, 156–7; Stein, French Slave Trade, 74; Martin, Nantes, 65; cf. Klein, Atlantic Slave Trade, 89.
48 DNA, WIGC, box 8, General meeting minutes 8 April 1744; DNA, WIGC, box 207, Correspondence concerning Grevinden af Laurvigen.
49 DNA, WIGC, boxes 207–8, Records concerning shipping voyages.
50 DNA, Sound Toll Registers, 25 December 1741 and 6 November 1742; Justesen, Danish Sources, 567 and 571; Hernæs, Slaves, 256.
51 Gøbel, ‘Dansk sejlads’, 50.
52 DNA, GC, box 96, Ship's log Eleonora.
53 DNA, GC, box 116, Ship's ledger Eleonora.
54 DNA, WIGC, box 26, Instructions, 4 November 1747, §§9–10 of Captain Gude's instructions; cf. DNA, WIGC, box 22, Instructions, 9 July 1717, §3; DNA, WIGC, box 24, Instructions, 24 May 1732, §10; DNA, GC, box 6, Instructions, 5 June 1771, §15.
55 Klein, Atlantic Slave Trade, 91–2; Klein, Middle Passage, 156–7; Unger, ‘Bijdragen II’, 39; Postma, The Dutch, 152; Hudig, Scheepvaart, 31–43; Drake, ‘Liverpool-African Voyage’, 146; Klein and Engerman, ‘Slave Mortality’, 116; Martin, Nantes, 65.
56 Thomas, Slave Trade, 362.
57 DNA, WIGC, box 26, Instructions, 4 November 1747, §9 of Captain Gude's instructions; cf. DNA, WIGC, box 22, Instructions, 1 August 1702, §39 of Captain Resen's instructions; cf. Justesen, Danish Sources, 116.
58 DNA, WIGC, box 22, Instructions, §15 of Captain Resen's instructions; DNA, WIGC, box 20, Proposals and vota, Brandorph's pro memoria, 19 December 1749; DNA, J. G. Moltke's private archives, box 5, Records concerning Royal Guinea Trade 1777–1779, §§41 and 44 of printed captain's instructions, n.d.
59 Nørregård, ‘Slaveoprøret’.
60 Gøbel, ‘Dansk sejlads’, 50.
61 Klein and Engerman, ‘Slave Mortality’, 116; Postma, The Dutch, 152; Klein, Atlantic Slave Trade, 130; Klein, Middle Passage, 156–7; cf. www.slavevoyages.com
62 Gøbel, ‘Dansk sejlads’, 32 and 50.
63 Postma, The Dutch, 151–2.
64 DNA, GC, box 107, Ship's log Fortuna.
65 DNA, GC, box 103, Ship's log Ada, 2 June – 16 July 1775; DNA, GC, box 104, Ship's log Ada, 1 June – 14 July 1777.
66 Postma, The Dutch, 151–2; Unger, ‘Bijdragen II’, 85; Dardel, Navires et marchandises, 419; Butel, Négociants bordelais, 225–6.
67 Klein, Atlantic Slave Trade, 96.
68 Emmer, ‘Vaart buiten Europa’, 314–17; Hudig, Scheepvaart, 21; Davies, Royal African Company, 189–90; Drake, ‘Liverpool-African Voyage’, 133–4; Behrendt, ‘Crew Mortality’, 51 and 55; Mettas, Répertoire, passim.
69 E.g. Klein, Atlantic Slave Trade, 97 and 144; Klein, Middle Passage, 163–4.
70 Gøbel, ‘Volume and Structure’, 114–17.
71 Cf. Postma, The Dutch, 142–4.
72 Burden was measured in Danish commercial lasts, of which one roughly equalled 2.6 tons. According to the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database (see note 1), which contains only tonnage data of a small and perhaps not representative sample of Danish ships, these were smaller than British, Dutch and French vessels.
73 Svalesen, Fredensborg, 33–7.
74 DNA, GC, boxes 104 and 105, Ships’ logs Ada.
75 Calculated on the basis of DNA, Board of Commerce, boxes 195–202, Algerian sea pass protocol-books 1747–1771, and boxes 1186–1190, Protocol-books 1778–1796, and boxes 1850–1854, Protocol-books 1797–1814.
76 Postma, The Dutch, 156; Klein, Atlantic Slave Trade, 83.
77 Gøbel, ‘Volume and Structure’, 118–22.
78 Gøbel, ‘Danish Trade’, 28–30; cf. Hernæs, Slaves, 351–67; Nørregård, ‘Varer til Guinea’, 56–66.
79 Gøbel, Danske slavehandelsforbud, 65–8 and 257–60; cf. Klein, Atlantic Slave Trade, 86–9.
80 One lod equalled 14.6 grammes.
81 Elephant tusks were divided into two groups: large tusks, weighing more than 20 pounds, and crevels weighing less; cf. Justesen, Danish Sources, xxvi and 917.
82 Justesen, Danish Sources, 918–22.
83 Sveistrup, Bidrag, 96–7.
84 Green-Pedersen, ‘Scope and Structure’, 158–65; Green-Pedersen, ‘Danish Negro Slave Trade’, 203–8.
85 DNA, GC, box 111, Ship's records Christiansborg, 1770.
86 DNA, GC, box 117, Ship's records Ada, 1769; cf. Svalesen, Fredensborg, 145.
87 Provisioning of slavers is briefly treated in Green-Pedersen, ‘Forholdene’, 47–50.
88 E.g. DNA, WIGC, boxes 191–216, Records concerning shipping, passim; e.g. Svalesen, Fredensborg, 111–13; cf. Thomas, Slave Trade, 416–19.
89 DNA, WIGC, box 195, Shipping concerning Christianus Quintus 1708.
90 One ottingkar equals 2.2 litres.
91 One pægl equals 1.1 litre.
92 Six bushels, equalling 17.4 litres each.
93 See note 89; cf. Svalesen, Fredensborg, 111–14.
94 An example is described in Nørregård, ‘Vandmangelen’.
95 E.g. Svalesen, Fredensborg, 37–8.
96 E.g. Postma, The Dutch, 150 and 158.
97 E.g. Svalesen, Fredensborg, 111–12.
98 DNA, GC, box 6, Instruction 5 June 1771 for Captain Birk, §17.
99 Rediker, Slave Ship, 275; Thomas, Slave Trade, 245; Postma, The Dutch, 168 and 245–6; Manen, ‘Preventive Medicine’, 139–46.
100 DNA, GC, box 6, Instruction 5 June 1771 for Captain Birk, §24.
101 DNA, GC, box 118, Ship's log Ada, 20 November 1770.
102 Mortality is calculated as loss of life in transit, no matter how long the middle passage took.
103 Hernæs, Slaves, 251–5. Mortality in general is treated in Green-Pedersen, ‘Forholdene’.
104 Justesen, Danish Sources, 199; Nørregård, Danish Settlements, 89.
105 Svalesen, Fredensborg, 101–24 and 166–7.
106 Gøbel, Danske slavehandelsforbud, 53–64, 185–9, and 249–53.
107 Calculated on the basis of Behrendt, ‘Crew Mortality’, 51 and 55.
108 Gøbel, ‘Sygdom og død’, 87 and 126–127.
109 Bierlich, ‘Danish Slave Trade’.
110 Green-Pedersen, ‘Forholdene’, 72–3.
111 Gøbel, Danske slavehandelsforbud, 64–5.
112 Hernæs, Slaves, 215–16 and 280.
113 E.g. Klein, Middle Passage, 55 and 66; Rediker, Slave Ship, 347 and 364; Klein, Atlantic Slave Trade, 136–7; Stein, ‘Mortality’, 36; Pritchard and Eltis and Richardson, ‘Significance of the French Slave Trade’, 217–18; Postma, The Dutch, 248–52.
