Rediker's Summary

509 Words2 Pages

These four dramas did not operate in isolation, of course, but understanding the dynamics of each paints a more complete picture of how the trade was able to flourish for almost 400 years and how it finally was able to be stopped. Rediker's thesis spoke about the four dramas that were played out on the ships by “the ship captain, the motley crew, the multi-ethnic enslaved, and towards the end of the period, middle-class abolitionists” (6). These smaller stories within one set setting is what makes this book and its intent so brilliant. We hear tragic incidents such as “they died from starvation” or “they got separated from their family” and that’s it; that’s where most people stop at. Rediker forces the reader to acknowledge the depth in these

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