We know a great deal about the history of slavery and its abolition in Europe and the Americas. But what does this history look like in Africa? What forms of slavery existed on the continent in the nineteenth century? How did African anti-slavery strategies contribute to the abolition of slavery in different African regions and localities, and to international abolitionism? Through illuminating case studies from across the continent, Benedetta Rossi traces the history of slavery in Africa from the age of global abolition through to the colonial period and up to the present day. In doing so, Rossi demonstrates that abolition in Africa was never simply a foreign agenda. This book makes a compelling argument for the re-centring of the history of slavery and abolition around African ideas, institutions and actors, and for acknowledging the integral role of Africans in global abolitionist movements. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
