Slavery in the digital age: a groundbreaking project for historical understanding

Thanks to the Enslaved.org site today we can rediscover the dramatic lives of African slaves, through stories, biographies and historical testimonies on transatlantic slavery

Slavery remains a difficult, painful reality deeply engraved in history and persisting at the present time. In this digital era, scholars created new tools for delving into and making sense of harrowing experiences that were imposed upon enslaved Africans.

Enslaved.org is an innovative, open-source data collection project born from the interdisciplinary collaboration between major U.S. academic institutions such as the University of Michigan, the University of Maryland, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This database is the result of collaborative work between researchers, historians, archivists, experts in genealogy, and computer engineers.

Launched on December 1, 2020, the website allows free access and opens up new opportunities for every user who wishes to explore historical documents in detail and piece together the personal history of slaves who took part in the transatlantic slave trade. Through archival fragments, tabular data, and historical references, Enslaved.org allows detailed analysis of the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants-the victims of the brutal trade networks that stretched from Africa into the Americas, the Indian Ocean, and Europe between the late 16th century and the mid-19th century.

A people-centered approach to the history of slavery
As central to this project is not only the enslaved peoples themselves but also slave holders and traders alike-all who profited, such as merchants, trading companies, and traffickers-in and those who made a distinction through efforts to save enslaved individuals and liberate them.

Enslaved.org is an exceptional repository of large databases comprising stories, oral histories, testimonies, historical documents, and other elements-including ethnic origin, country of origin, locations involved in the slave trade, etc.-related to more than 600,000 people. The site contains 5 million records with references to places-for example, plantations where slaves worked-and events, all of which contribute to increasing and deepening our general understanding of the endemic and unjust phenomenon of slavery.

a treasure trove of previously inaccessible historical data The platform represents an enormous amount of information gathered on local, regional, and national levels-data that one previously could not imagine existed. In the United States, African Americans had to deal with what was called the “1870 wall“.  Prior to 1870, the U.S. Census did not record the personal information of slaves or former slaves. Instead, they were listed as part of their owners’ property, with only gender and approximate age serving as the identifying markers for potential identification.

Today, thanks in part to Enslaved.org, the ability to retrace such dramatic lives is both emotional and overwhelming. The new generations of descendants of African slaves can at least say that a step forward has been taken toward understanding and enlightenment regarding the serious historical injustices that were committed as a consequence of the enslavement of Africans.

Sources: Enslaved.org/Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation/National Geographic