Deb,

You are correct that the nomenclature for history changes according to the
current modern sensibilities. In the 18th century African-Americans were usually
called "Negroes". But there is a distinction because rapidly during the 1700s
and into the 1800s the native born population soon far exceeded the imported
Africans (called "guineas" in the 18th century).

There is a long history of slave trading in Africa and the Middle East long
before the exploration and colonization of Africa by various European
countries. But the economics of the slave trade hugely magnified the volume which had
been limited to tribal raiding into a huge Diaspora that shattered whole
societies in Africa while creating new ones in the Americas.

One of the best books that I have seen on the history of the slave trade from
Africa is, "Spirits of the Passage" that uses the excavation of the English
slave ship The Henrietta Marie (ca 1700) to present a compelling view of the
Middle Passage and the complex web of the history of the slave trade.
(http://www.melfisher.org/)

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Artifacts
2930 South Birch Street
Denver, CO  80222
303-300-5257
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