The Asiento: Britain's License to Traffic in Human Beings

The Asiento: Britain's License to Traffic in Human Beings

In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht granted Britain the asiento — a monopoly contract to supply enslaved Africans to Spain's American colonies. This episode dives into how the South Sea Company, a financial corporation, became the world's largest slave trading enterprise, shipping tens of thousands of captives to Veracruz, Cartagena, and Buenos Aires. Lucas and Luna explore the political machinations behind the asiento, the brutal realities of the trade, and how this contract sparked the War of Jenkins' Ear. They discuss key figures like Queen Anne, Philip V, and the Duke of Manchester, and the role of the Casa de Contratación. A lesser-known chapter of the Atlantic slave trade, revealing how corporate greed and imperial ambition fueled human suffering. #Asiento #TreatyOfUtrecht #SouthSeaCompany #SlaveTrade #AtlanticHistory #QueenAnne #PhilipV #Veracruz #Cartagena #BuenosAires #WarOfJenkinsEar #CasaDeContratacion #RoyalAfricanCompany #ColonialSpain #BritishEmpire #18thCentury #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1713 Asiento: Britain's License to Traffic in Human Beings

In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht ended the War of the Spanish Succession and granted Britain a unique prize: the asiento, a monopoly contract to supply enslaved Africans to Spain's American colonies. This episode follows the asiento's journey from a Portuguese monopoly through Genoese, Dutch, and French hands to its final, most lucrative incarnation under the British South Sea Company. We trace the political maneuverings in Madrid and London, the staggering profits that fueled the South Sea Bubble, and the human cost calculated in the 144,000 enslaved people delivered over three decades. Meet the key figures: King Philip V, Queen Anne, the Duke of Manchester, and the company directors who turned human misery into shareholder dividends. We explore how the asiento reshaped Atlantic trade routes, entrenched slavery in Spanish America, and provided a legal cover for British smuggling. A story of imperial ambition, financial speculation, and the commodification of human life that defined the early 18th-century Atlantic world. #Asiento #TreatyOfUtrecht #SouthSeaCompany #TransatlanticSlaveTrade #BritishEmpire #SpanishEmpire #PhilipV #QueenAnne #DukeOfManchester #SlaveTradeMonopoly #1713 #WarOfSpanishSuccession #Veracruz #Cartagena #BuenosAires #AtlanticHistory #ColonialSlavery #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean: Forgotten Captivity

While the Atlantic slave trade dominates popular memory, the Indian Ocean slave trade transported millions of Africans across the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean for over a millennium. This episode explores the little-known networks that funneled captives from East Africa to the Middle East, India, and the islands of the Indian Ocean. We discuss the Swahili city-states as trading hubs, the Portuguese and Omani incursions, the role of the Mascarene Islands, and the brutal sugar plantations of Réunion and Mauritius. Learn about the dhow ships, the monsoon winds that dictated voyages, and the lived experience of enslaved people who toiled in clove plantations, pearl fisheries, and domestic servitude. We also examine the Zanzibar slave market, the British abolition efforts in the East, and the lasting legacy of this trade in the diaspora of the Siddi and Sheedi communities in South Asia. #IndianOceanSlaveTrade #EastAfrica #Zanzibar #SwahiliCoast #Dhow #Monsoon #MascareneIslands #Siddi #Sheedi #OmaniEmpire #PortugueseEmpire #Abolition #SlaveTrade #History #WorldHistory #FexingoHistory #Réunion #Mauritius Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1696 Portuguese Slave Ship 'Santo António' and Its Captives' Revolt

In 1696, the Portuguese slave ship Santo António left Luanda, Angola, bound for Brazil with over 400 enslaved Africans. But days into the Middle Passage, a coordinated uprising among the captives—many of them from the Kongo kingdom—swept the deck, killing half the crew. Lucas and Luna explore this little-known revolt, the ship's brutal aftermath, and the wider network of Portuguese slaving that linked Angola to the Brazilian gold mines. They discuss the role of Kongo Christian identity in organizing resistance, the legal aftermath in Salvador, and how this rebellion fits into a pattern of African agency at sea. A vivid, specific look at one desperate fight for freedom. #SantoAntónio #SlaveShipRevolt #PortugueseSlaveTrade #Luanda #Angola #KongoKingdom #MiddlePassage #BrazilColonial #1696 #SlaveResistance #Aguada #SailorsRevolt #Jesuits #Salvador #GoldMines #AfricanAgency #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The 1794 Capture of the Vengeance: French Slave Ship Rebellion

In 1794, the French slave ship Vengeance set sail from Ouidah, carrying over 300 enslaved Africans. But off the coast of Saint-Domingue, the captives rose up, killing the captain and most of the crew. Lucas and Luna explore this remarkable rebellion, set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, the National Convention's abolition of slavery, and the chaos of the Haitian Revolution. They discuss the ship's journey from Nantes, the role of the Société des Amis des Noirs, and the tragic irony that the Vengeance's revolt occurred just as France was outlawing the slave trade. What happened to the rebels? How did the news reach Abbé Grégoire and the revolutionaries in Paris? This episode uncovers a little-known story of resistance at sea. #Vengeance #FrenchSlaveTrade #SlaveRebellion #Ouidah #SaintDomingue #HaitianRevolution #AbbéGrégoire #NationalConvention #Nantes #SociétédesAmisdesNoirs #CodeNoir #1794 #MiddlePassage #AtlanticSlaveTrade #Resistance #History #FexingoHistory #WorldHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]