Summary

Operating from their central base in Guinea, Europeans destabilized tribal life in order to collect slaves. Slaves were brought under brutal conditions from the interior to the coast. They were then loaded onto ships, where they died “not only from the regime but from grief and rage and despair” (9). When they reached America and the West Indies, the slaves were inspected and branded.

James describes a typical San Domingo slave’s long workday, shabby quarters, and meager diet. James notes that the “difficulty” was the fact that these slaves remained “invincibly human beings” with “the intelligence and resentments of human beings” (11). According to the Negro Code, issued by France, they were harshly disciplined, tortured, and whipped for the smallest infraction. While slavery was a system of “unceasing brutality” (15), James notes that countless French officials and others have tried to show that...