The Indian Slave Trade

This study focuses on the traffic in Indian slaves during the early years of the American South. The Indian slave trade was of central importance from the Carolina coast to the Mississippi Valley for nearly 50 years, linking southern lives and creating a whirlwind of violence and profit-making, argues Alan Gallay. He documents in detail how the trade operated, the processes by which Europeans and Native Americans became participants, and the profound consequences for the South and its peoples. The author places Native Americans at the centre of the story of European colonization and the evolution of plantation slavery in America. He explores the impact of such contemporary forces as the African slave trade, the unification of England and Scotland, and the competition among European empires as well as political and religious divisions in England and in South Carolina. Gallay also analyzes how Native American societies approached warfare, diplomacy and decisions about allying and trading with Europeans.
His wide-ranging research should not only illuminate a crucial crossroad of European and Native American history but also establish a context in which to understand racism, colonialism, and the meaning of ethnicity in early America.