22 - The Ordeals of Slaves’ Flight in Tunisia

Summary

A large body of Tunisian state correspondence with European consuls, some of which is discussed in this chapter, reveals slaves' ordeals. These ordeals are a macrocosm of untold stories and experiences of enslaved Africans in the Muslim world. Although much of the literature on slavery during the modern period tends to focus on Africa and the Americas, millions of sub-Saharan Africans were enslaved in various lands of the Muslim world, including North Africa, which had been a regular destination of slave influx from several states in present-day West Africa. The chapter describes certain documents, which explain the struggles of enslaved black Africans in the Muslim context. Both the Society and European diplomats' push for abolition and sympathy for runaway slaves encouraged fugitive slaves to target European institutions such as the British consulate; however procuring one's freedom was not always easy.