Global Survey of "Liberated African" Cases during the Suppression of the Slave Trade from Africa, 1800-1920 (V1)

This dataset involves over 5,500 cases related to the capture of upwards of 700,000 enslaved people from Africa by eighteen governments during the suppression of the slave trade from Africa between 1800 and 1920. The data follows events in the experiences of "Liberated Africans," from their regional departure in Africa and trials resulting in involuntary indentures. In legal terms, “Liberated African” referred to an enslaved person captured from a slave ship at sea or seized on land, condemned as property by a government, and declared free under any of the decrees, acts, treaties, or conventions for the abolition or suppression of the slave trade. Under the control of a state, the “freed” person was then subject to a period of indenture, and to a lesser extent conscription, lasting several years. By extension, other state-run schemes adopted and adapted this model to involve situations in which enslaved people were purchased or sought asylum from enslavement in colonial offices and consulates. After, the people were emancipated through state intervention and subjected to comparable indentures. These data relate to the relaunch of https://liberatedafricans.org/ on 1 June 2023.