Slavery
Subtitle: Malta at the crossroads : transhipment of slaves in a British colony during the Nineteenth century
By: Michael Refalo
Publisher: BDL Publishing
Published: 2015
Place of publication: San Ġwann
Language: eng
Number of pages: 284
ISBN-13: 9789995746650
Subjects: Slavery; History; Slave trade
Description: "On 28 September 1871 an anonymous letter in a local newspaper complained that slaves from North Africa were being landed in Malta for later transfer to the Levant. That letter led to a parliamentary question in the House of Commons and opened a can of worms for the British administration in Malta. Both the Foreign and Colonial Offices in London and the Malta governors had to seek a solution to the thorny problem. All efforts to stamp the practice, however, proved frustrating for the local administration; the only consequence being accusations of negligence or connivance from British consuls in the Levant. Furthermore, such incidents provided the French-born American consul in Tripoli with ammunition to attack the British authorities in the attempt to push the interests of his adoptive nation. Additionally, the book deals extensively with the plight of the slaves landed in Malta, and the interests and ambitions of their owners."--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 257-273) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: The Mediterranean, Malta and the Maltese, and slavery : 1800-1870; title: The blame game; title: The problem and attempts to solve it; title: The United States connection; title: Departure, crossing, arrival; title: The slaves and their masters.