Select Bibliography on the Transatlantic Slave Trade

To mark the 200th anniversary of the passing of a law in the UK Parliament that banned the transatlantic slave trade, the National Library of Jamaica has published a select bibliography on the topic:

"The bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade (2007), in the British West Indies is being recognized in Jamaica and other regions. In acknowledgment of this year as an important historical event, the National Library of Jamaica has compiled a select bibliography of materials available on this subject in its collections. The National Library of Jamaica holds a number of materials on the slave trade, dating as far back as 1671 and publications from each century thereafter".

"The slave trade has been the subject of extensive scholarship; confronting issues such as the number of Africans transported to the Americas and the social, economic and political effects of the trade. These studies are available in a variety of formats such as manuscripts, books, newspaper articles and CD-ROMs. In addition to analytical studies of the slave trade, there are also descriptive materials including narratives by those directly involved such as freed persons, slave traders and observers".

The bibliography includes sections on books and abolitionist pamphlets; periodical articles; newspaper references; illustrations; manuscripts; prints; and audio-visual materials.

Other Library Boy posts on the topic include:

• UK Bicentennial of Abolition of the Slave Trade - But Canada Was First! (March 20, 2007): "The year 2007 marks the 200th anniversary of the British legislation that banned the transatlantic trade in slaves. The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed in the Westminster Parliament on 25 March 1807 (...) What is not well known, even in Canada, is that one of the first moves towards the abolition of the slave trade took place right here. The colony of Upper Canada, now the province of Ontario, was the pioneer in this movement. In 1793, colonial Governor John Graves Simcoe, the founder of York (later to become Toronto), passed An Act to prevent the further introduction of slaves, and to limit the Term of Contracts for servitude within this Province (...) The law freed slaves aged 25 and over and made it illegal to bring slaves into Upper Canada, which became a safe haven for runaway slaves. Simcoe’s law also made Upper Canada the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to move toward the abolition of slavery."
• More on Bicentennial of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (March 26, 2007): "The OpenDemocracy website has an interesting commentary on the history of the abolition struggle and on the repercussions of the transatlantic slave trade. It is entitled Slaves and slavery, 1807-2007: the past in the present, by Marika Sherwood, researcher at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies."
• Quiz on History of Slavery (March 30, 2007): "This week's Friday Brain-teaser from Xrefer on Peter Scott's Library Blog is about the history of slavery (...) Xrefer is a major provider of online reference resources."