The Slave Ship Manuelita and the Story of a Yoruba Community, 1833-1834

O Navio Negreiro Manuelita e a Estória de Uma Comunidade Iorubá, 1833-1834

In 1833, a Cuban slave ship, the Manuelita, which embarked over 500 slaves in Lagos was seized and condemned by the Anglo-Spanish slave court. After the personal details of the Africans ‘liberated’ from the ship had been collected by court officials some of them were transported aboard the same ship to Trinidad as indentured workers and apprentices. Drawing on materials from the African Origins Database this paper investigates who these Africans were, where they came from, and what their stories highlight about slaving operations in the Lagos hinterland and the Americas in the age of abolition.

Keywords:
slave trade; Cuba; Yoruba.