Work

Cross-Cultural Trade and the Slave Ship the Bonne Société: Baskets of Goods, Diverse Sellers, and Time Pressure on the African Coast

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The eighteenth-century French slave ship the Bonne Société traded bundles of goods in exchange for slaves in Loango. We present detailed evidence from the ship’s trading log that decomposes the goods in the bundle and identifies the European and African merchants selling captives to the ship. Prices steadily increased throughout the captain’s stay in port, and the captain increased the bundle’s price by adding more goods and adding high-priced goods. Sellers participated both as one-shot traders and as repeat traders. These results add a nuanced picture of how this destructive trade worked in practice.

Source: The Journal of Economic History

DOI: 10.1017/s0022050725100880

Authors: Amanda Gregg, Anne Ruderman

Institutions: Middlebury College, London School of Economics and Political Science

Language: English

Topic: Colonialism, slavery, and trade

Subfield: Anthropology

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,550

OpenAlex ID: W3208726988