Atlantic Slave Trade in the Colonial American South and the British West Indies

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K01731
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 07070:Economic history-related
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: YAGYU Tomoko 慶應義塾大学, 経済学部(日吉), 教授 (40306866)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 奴隷貿易 / アメリカ南部 / 西インド諸島 / 環大西洋経済

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research focused on the Atlantic slave trade in the colonial period and how　the mechanisms and networks associated with the Atlantic trade continued into the early republic era of the new nation. The ultimate aim was to point out that the basis of the domestic slave trade that developed in the early 19th century American South had its origins in the colonial period and its Atlantic trading structure. Funding from this grant allowed research on merchant records and public treasury data from colonial South Carolina, and its findings were presented at domestic conferences as well as global ones, such as the World Economic History Congress in 2018. In addition, with the collaborative work with scholars in the US, several journal articles were published based on the founding from these sources, specifically on mercantile networks of colonial merchants in Charleston, South Carolina.

Free Research Field

アメリカ経済史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

植民地時代の貿易構造や大西洋奴隷貿易との関わり、特に同じくイギリス植民地であった西インド諸島と北アメリカ南部の植民地の関係性についての研究はこれまで十分行われておらず、本研究がサウス・カロライナ植民地の商人資料を通してその性質や特徴を解明できた成果は大きい。植民地奴隷貿易と商人のネットワークの分析は商人層の成熟度や他の植民地とのつながりを把握できたという点でこの分野の研究を前進させた。奴隷に限らず多くの商品を取引した記録から、鹿皮や軍需品用木材などの大西洋貿易の実態も明らかになり、植民地時代の貿易が建国後に持ち越される経緯の解明につながった。