Bondage Dictionary (Part 3)

In this Part 3 of my “Bondage Dictionary” I continue with terms which I consider important in understanding the concept of people in bondage.

Saint Domingue: Now Haiti.

Santo Domingo: Now the Dominican Republic.

Seasoning: People “seasoned” to new climates, disease environments and work routines. Captains preferred to hire “seasoned sailors,” those men with experience in the slave trade and who had survived the “seasoning period.” Similarly, enslaved Africans and whites who survived their first few years in the Americas were “seasoned” to the new disease environment and had learned work routines.

Senegambia: Slaving region defined as covering the modern day countries of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Senegal.

Servant: A term meaning any person who serves a master or an immigrant servant.

Seven Year Servant: A contemporary term for a transported convict servant.

Sierra Leone (region): Slaving region covering the African coastline and offshore islands of Rio Nunez including the modern day countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and western Liberia. Sometimes included as part of the Windward Coast.

Skilled Slaves: A slave identified as possessing or practicing a particular skill.

Slave: Bondage which applied to kidnapped African, European immigrant servants and Indian servants. Slaves were the property of another person whether by capture, purchase or birth.

Slave Auctions: Public selling of slaves to the highest bidder. Common terms were “cried off,” “vendue” and “public outcry.”

Slave Hunter: A person who made a living capturing runaway slaves and returning them to their masters for a bounty; also termed a “Bounty Hunter.”

Slave Purchase: Captains often purchased more slaves than they later transported from the African coast. In some cases, they transshipped slaves to auxiliary vessels; in other cases they re-landed slaves whom they believed would not survive the Middle Passage. Some captains advanced trading goods on credit to African merchants, receiving “pawns” (human collateral or commercial hostages) in return. Captains redeemed pawns once slave deliveries were made.

Slave Ship: A sailing ship refitted for the slave trade. Most slaving ships were second hand vessels that frequented other trades. Owners sought to purchase fast sailing vessels and/or ones which could be retooled below the main deck to maximize the number of Africans who would be imprisoned. A common term was Guineaman.

Slavers: Individuals who earned their living by capturing, trading and transporting slaves. The term is also applied to the ships engaged in the transporting of the slaves.

Soul Driver: A common term for an individual who purchased white immigrant servants in bulk and transported them inland in chains to be sold in frontier settlements.

Southeast Africa: Slaving region defined as the islands of Madagascar and Zanzibar, and Mozambique.

Spirit(s): An individual who kidnapped white men, women and children and forced them onto slave ships bound for the colonies where they would work as servants.

Spirit(ed) Away: A common term for kidnapping used commonly in the British Isles in the white slavery rings.

Swapping Slaves: The trading of one slave for one or more slaves in lieu of money.

Term Slaves: Slaves who will become free after serving a specified term of servitude, on a set date or at a certain age.

Trafficking: The illegal or improper transport of slaves. Trafficking and smuggling of slaves existed throughout the legal and illegal periods of the slave trade.

Transportation: A British person was carried away involuntarily to another country by order of the government. Often termed transported.

Virtually Free Slaves: Slaves who are openly living as if they were free and engaging in the activities of free people.

Warranty on Slaves: The act by a seller to assure the buyer that there is a valid title to the slave, and the slave is free from physical, mental and moral defects.

West Central Africa: Slaving region covering modern day Gabon, Congo, Zaire and Angola. It was often referred to by Europeans as Angola.

West Indies: Islands in the Caribbean Sea.

White Slave: Another term for an Immigrant Servant.

Windward Coast: Slaving region covering modern day Liberia and the Ivory Coast. It was often referred to by Europeans as the Gold Coast or Windward Coast.

Windward Islands: The Caribbean Islands of Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, the Grenadines and Grenada. Barbados is sometimes included.

Women: Adult female African slaves defined as taller than four feet four inches or older than 13-14 years of age.