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White Cargo

The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America

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White Cargo

By: Don Jordan, Michael Walsh
Narrated by: Roger Clark
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White Cargo is the forgotten story of the thousands of Britons who lived and died in bondage in Britain’s American colonies.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, more than 300,000 white people were shipped to America as slaves. Urchins were swept up from London’s streets to labor in the tobacco fields, where life expectancy was no more than two years. Brothels were raided to provide “breeders” for Virginia. Hopeful migrants were duped into signing as indentured servants, unaware they would become personal property who could be bought, sold, and even gambled away. Transported convicts were paraded for sale like livestock.

Drawing on letters crying for help, diaries, and court and government archives, Don Jordan and Michael Walsh demonstrate that the brutalities usually associated with black slavery alone were perpetrated on whites throughout British rule. The trade ended with American independence, but the British still tried to sell convicts in their former colonies, which prompted one of the most audacious plots in Anglo-American history.

This is a saga of exploration and cruelty spanning 170 years that has been submerged under the overwhelming memory of black slavery. White Cargo brings the brutal, uncomfortable story to the surface.©2007 Don Jordan and Michael Walsh (P)2019 Tantor Media Inc Europe Great Britain World England
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Totally absorbing! Written with great clarity, and backed up with facts, it's one of those books that opens one's eyes instantly to the concealed cruelties and wicked barbarities of the British aristocracy and their equally heinous accomplices. The narrating was also great. Highly recommend both, and thanks for bringing the book out.

A must-read!

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