Overview
Instructions
Using a captivity narrative written by a white slave, analyse “white slavery” in the Muslim world. What can it tell us about the differences between a ‘slave society’, such as in the antebellum US south, and a ‘society with slaves’?* On that basis, would you classify the Barbary States a 'slave society' or a 'society with slaves'?
A series of captivity narratives is contained in Daniel J. Viktus, ed., Piracy, Slavery, and Redemption: Barbary Captivity Narratives from Early Modern England (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001). The book is available to read on-line
* In his book, Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America (Harvard University Press, 1998), historian Ira Berlin made a now-famous distinction between “societies with slaves” — where slavery was just one form of labour — and more brutal “slave societies,” where “slavery stood at the centre of economic production, and the master-slave relationship provided the model for all social relations: husband and wife, parent and child, employer and employee, teacher and student.” p.8
and consider the following:
1. Question
What, for you, are the key words, and what do you think the question is asking? How do you intend to address it?
Describe your primary source. How will it relate to/ allow you to consider your question?
3. Research