This is a study of a unique slave colony and of antislavery conflicts prior to the Emancipation Act of 1833. In their hostility to a booming slave-based sugar economy, abolitionists produced dubious propaganda and quarrelled bitterly, without moderating the cruelty of the slave regime. Nevertheless the reforming impulse demanded documentation which illuminates the working lives and social interactions of a slave population - drawn from Africa, India, Madagascar and numerous smaller Indian Ocean islands - much more diverse than any in the Americas.

Inhalt

Preface - Abbreviations in the Notes - Map of Administrative Districts of Mauritius - Introduction: History and Historiography - The Abolitionists Discover the Mauritius Question - Corruption Concealed: The Farquhar Era 1810-1822 - Reform Pretended: Cole and Telfair - Slavery in 1826: A Demographic Survey - Upheaval and the Failure of Protection - The Trauma of Slavery - Resistance and Other Responses to Slavery - Slavery and Freedom in Port Louis - Slaves as Antislavery Property - Conclusion - Appendices - Endnotes - Bibliography - Index