Description
Book SynopsisThis groundbreaking study tells the story of the highly organised, international legal court case for the abolition of slavery spearheaded by Prince Lourenço da Silva Mendonça in the seventeenth century. The case, presented before the Vatican, called for the freedom of all enslaved people and other oppressed groups. This included New Christians (Jews converted to Christianity) and Indigenous Americans in the Atlantic World, and Black Christians from confraternities in Angola, Brazil, Portugal and Spain. Abolition debate is generally believed to have been dominated by white Europeans in the eighteenth century. By centring African agency, José Lingna Nafafé offers a new perspective on the abolition movement, showing, for the first time, how the legal debate was begun not by Europeans, but by Africans. In the first book of its kind, Lingna Nafafé underscores the exceptionally complex nature of the African liberation struggle, and demystifies the common knowledge and accepted wisdom surrou
Trade Review'By following Lourenço da Silva Mendonça in Angola, Brazil, Portugal and Spain and unveiling the criminal court case he presented before the Pope in 1684, José Lingna Nafafé reveals a universal message of freedom that in the 17th century crossed the Atlantic and reached the Vatican, doing justice to the African contribution to the abolitionist movement.' Giorgio de Marchis, Roma Tre University
'This is a groundbreaking study on the slave trade and its abolition. Nafafé privileges African perspectives on the debates regarding the legality of enslavement, combining a wide range of sources. The result is an engaging book, reconstructing the experiences of a 17th century Kongolese nobleman turned into an abolitionist. This is a crucial study problematizing the history of the slave trade and of the abolitionist movement, stressing the role of Africans as intellectuals debating rights in European courts. A must read.' Mariana P. Candido, Emory University
'In his extraordinarily well researched and carefully argued book, José Lingna Nafafé reveals the important role of Lourenço da Silva Mendonça in the lead-up to the abolition of slavery. Spending years combing through archives, Nafafé not only uncovered that Africans did indeed support the abolition of the slave trade, but that some were remarkably well placed to make a case for it. This is a substantial contribution to our understanding of African intellectual life and moral reasoning.' John Thornton, Boston University
Table of ContentsList of Tables; List of Figures; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. The Municipal Council of Luanda and the Politics of the Portuguese Governors in Angola; 2. Ndongo's Political and Cultural Environment: Alliance, Internal Struggle, Puppeteering and Decline; 3. The Journey of Mendonça: Princes of Pungo Andongo in Brazil; 4. Mendonça's Journey to Portugal and Spain, and the Network of the Hebrew Nation and Native Americans; 5. Mendonça's Discourse in the Vatican: Liberation as a Wider Atlantic Question; 6. Mendonça's Quest for Abolition and the Tussle between Portuguese Overseas Council and the House of Ndongo; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.
