Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. and the Atlantic World

Slave Trader, Plantation Owner, Emancipator

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Discrimination & Race Relations, History, Americas, United States, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Zephaniah Kingsley Jr. and the Atlantic World by Daniel L. Schafer, University Press of Florida
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Daniel L. Schafer ISBN: 9780813047799
Publisher: University Press of Florida Publication: November 12, 2013
Imprint: University Press of Florida Language: English
Author: Daniel L. Schafer
ISBN: 9780813047799
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Publication: November 12, 2013
Imprint: University Press of Florida
Language: English

Zephaniah Kingsley is best known for his Fort George Island plantation in Duval County, Florida, now a National Park Service site, and for his 1828 pamphlet, A Treatise on the Patriarchal System of Society, that advocated just and human treatment of slaves, liberal emancipation policies, and granting rights to free persons of color. Paradoxically, his fortune came from the purchase, sale, and labor of enslaved Africans.

In this penetrating biography, Daniel Schafer vividly chronicles Kingsley's evolving thoughts on race and slavery, exploring his business practices and his private life. Kingsley fathered children by several enslaved women, then freed and lived with them in a unique mixed-race family. One of the women--the only one he acknowledged as his "wife" though they were never formally married--was Anta Madgigine Ndiaye (Anna Kingsley), a member of the Senegalese royal family, who was captured in a slave raid and purchased by Kingsley in Havana, Cuba.

A ship captain, Caribbean merchant, and Atlantic slave trader during the perilous years of international warfare following the French Revolution, Kingsley sought protection under neutral flags, changing allegiance from Britain to the United States, Denmark, and Spain. Later, when the American acquisition of Florida brought rigid race and slavery policies that endangered the freedom of Kingsley's mixed-race family, he responded by moving his "wives" and children to a settlement in Haiti he established for free persons of color.

Kingsley's assertion that color should not be a "badge of degradation" made him unusual in the early Republic; his unique life is revealed in this fascinating reminder of the deep connections between Europe, the Caribbean, and the young United States.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Zephaniah Kingsley is best known for his Fort George Island plantation in Duval County, Florida, now a National Park Service site, and for his 1828 pamphlet, A Treatise on the Patriarchal System of Society, that advocated just and human treatment of slaves, liberal emancipation policies, and granting rights to free persons of color. Paradoxically, his fortune came from the purchase, sale, and labor of enslaved Africans.

In this penetrating biography, Daniel Schafer vividly chronicles Kingsley's evolving thoughts on race and slavery, exploring his business practices and his private life. Kingsley fathered children by several enslaved women, then freed and lived with them in a unique mixed-race family. One of the women--the only one he acknowledged as his "wife" though they were never formally married--was Anta Madgigine Ndiaye (Anna Kingsley), a member of the Senegalese royal family, who was captured in a slave raid and purchased by Kingsley in Havana, Cuba.

A ship captain, Caribbean merchant, and Atlantic slave trader during the perilous years of international warfare following the French Revolution, Kingsley sought protection under neutral flags, changing allegiance from Britain to the United States, Denmark, and Spain. Later, when the American acquisition of Florida brought rigid race and slavery policies that endangered the freedom of Kingsley's mixed-race family, he responded by moving his "wives" and children to a settlement in Haiti he established for free persons of color.

Kingsley's assertion that color should not be a "badge of degradation" made him unusual in the early Republic; his unique life is revealed in this fascinating reminder of the deep connections between Europe, the Caribbean, and the young United States.

More books from University Press of Florida

Cover of the book Come Across by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book The Disease Detectives by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book Victims of Ireland's Great Famine by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book The Democracy Machine by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book Fringe Florida by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book Slavery behind the Wall by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book The Gesture by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book State of Defiance by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book Losing It All to Sprawl by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book The Cubalogues by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book Florida Soul by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book Bootstrap Geologist by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book American Alligator by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book The Odyssey of an African Slave by Daniel L. Schafer
Cover of the book Spies and Shuttles by Daniel L. Schafer
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy