Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora

Stephanie E. Smallwood is an associate professor of History and Comparative History of Ideas at the University of Washington. Smallwood received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University and her doctorate from Duke University. Published in 2007, Saltwater Slavery was adapted from Smallwood’s 1999 dissertation “Saltwater Slavery” to coincide with the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act’s anniversary, first passed in 1807. This act saw the end of slave trade between British colonies, although the practice continued throughout the Caribbean islands. With this full text, Smallwood aims to “bring[] the people aboard slave ships to life as subjects in American social history” (3).