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A review by ajmarquis
Pirates of the Slave Trade: The Battle of Cape Lopez and the Birth of an American Institution by Angela C. Sutton
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Boudica's failed revolt against the Roman was mostly a success, until it wasn't. She sacked Camulodunam, Verulamium, and Londinium. She was then defeated once and died. When you go against empire, against a war machine, you have to win every single time.
Pirate Black Bart knew this; just as the Romans could always muster another legion, the British Empire could always send more ships. "A short life, but a merry one," he said. His hunter, Chaloner Ogle, racked up an astounding over 100% casualty count, replacing dead sailors stop after stop - always more ships and always more men.
On land, trader John Conny understood these power relationships and expertly leveraged them to keep European factions at bay... until in the end he lost as well. There's always another West African faction to arm and point after the enemies of empire.
This is all very exciting and full of thrills and I bet it would make a great pulp/pop history book but what elevates Pirates of the Slave trade is Dr. Sutton's ability to contextualize all this action within the changing structures that surrounded these men. Black Bart and John Conny kept their heads above water by being cosmopolitan, by understanding the factions and the incentives that motivated them. The ages of piracy and free West African traders were closing, and it is fascinating to learn how these men leveraged everything imaginable to keep going - every scrap of intel and rumor, every banked favor and trust from allies, and brutal displays of force.
How brutal were the European factions that one finds themselves rooting for these doomed pirates and warlords? Black Bart and John Conny were, forgive me this, problematic faves. Conny was a warlord, but hadn't the Europeans annihilated, directly and indirectly, non-martial factions in the region? Black Bart was a pirate, but hadn't the brutality of the slave trade produced the maltreated, prospectless sailors that crewed his fleet? As slave traders calcified the anti-Blackness that kept their engine running, their enemies look angelic just by comparison.
In the end, when one compares this very well sourced and grounded text with both fictionalized depictions of the golden age of piracy and very embellished contemporary account it's hard to not think to modern day. Today, employer wage theft outclasses retail theft significantly, just as the crimes of the slave trade were many orders of magnitude worse than those of the pirates. But just as empire had its Nathaniel Mists to record the real and imagined evils of their enemies, capital produces piles of journalism on shoplifting gangs and ignores its own crimes. The victors write history but thanks to books like Pirates of the Slave Trade we can enjoy a more objective view which I greatly appreciate.
Pirate Black Bart knew this; just as the Romans could always muster another legion, the British Empire could always send more ships. "A short life, but a merry one," he said. His hunter, Chaloner Ogle, racked up an astounding over 100% casualty count, replacing dead sailors stop after stop - always more ships and always more men.
On land, trader John Conny understood these power relationships and expertly leveraged them to keep European factions at bay... until in the end he lost as well. There's always another West African faction to arm and point after the enemies of empire.
This is all very exciting and full of thrills and I bet it would make a great pulp/pop history book but what elevates Pirates of the Slave trade is Dr. Sutton's ability to contextualize all this action within the changing structures that surrounded these men. Black Bart and John Conny kept their heads above water by being cosmopolitan, by understanding the factions and the incentives that motivated them. The ages of piracy and free West African traders were closing, and it is fascinating to learn how these men leveraged everything imaginable to keep going - every scrap of intel and rumor, every banked favor and trust from allies, and brutal displays of force.
How brutal were the European factions that one finds themselves rooting for these doomed pirates and warlords? Black Bart and John Conny were, forgive me this, problematic faves. Conny was a warlord, but hadn't the Europeans annihilated, directly and indirectly, non-martial factions in the region? Black Bart was a pirate, but hadn't the brutality of the slave trade produced the maltreated, prospectless sailors that crewed his fleet? As slave traders calcified the anti-Blackness that kept their engine running, their enemies look angelic just by comparison.
In the end, when one compares this very well sourced and grounded text with both fictionalized depictions of the golden age of piracy and very embellished contemporary account it's hard to not think to modern day. Today, employer wage theft outclasses retail theft significantly, just as the crimes of the slave trade were many orders of magnitude worse than those of the pirates. But just as empire had its Nathaniel Mists to record the real and imagined evils of their enemies, capital produces piles of journalism on shoplifting gangs and ignores its own crimes. The victors write history but thanks to books like Pirates of the Slave Trade we can enjoy a more objective view which I greatly appreciate.