Danish slave trade

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Danish slave trade occurred separately in two different periods, the trade in enslaved European people during the Viking Age from the 8th to 10th century and the Danish role in trading enslaved African people during the Atlantic slave trade from the 1600s until a 1792 law to abolish the trade came into effect on 1 January 1803. Slavery continued in the Danish West Indies until July 1848 when all unfree people were emancipated.

Danish slave trade during the Viking Age

During the Viking Age, thralls (Norse slaves) were an important part of the economy and one of the main reasons for the raids on England where slaves were captured. This practice was abolished once Denmark became Christian in the 10th century.

Danish transatlantic slave trade

Trading enslaved Africans was part of the transatlantic slave trade by Denmark-Norway around 1671, when the Danish West India Company was chartered until 1 January 1803 when the 1792 law to abolish the slave trade came into effect.^[1] However, an illegal trade in enslaved Africans continued.

Slavery in the Danish West Indies continued until 3 July 1848 when an enslaved people gathered at Frederiksted and demanded their freedom. Fearing a revolt Danish Governor Peter von Scholten issued a proclamation that "all unfree in the Danish West Indies are from today emancipated."^[2][3]

As of 1778, it was estimated annually Dano-Norwegians shipped approximately 3,000 enslaved Africans to the Danish West Indies.^[4] During the 1720s, many of these enslaved Africans were sourced the Akan-region Akwamu, in present-day Ghana, with a large number taken to the island of St Jan (now Saint John in the U.S. Virgin Islands) promptly rebelling and attempting to found an Akwamu-led nation, including one of its leaders Breffu.^[5] The country's ships transported approximately 100,000 enslaved Africans, about 2% of the total number in the early 19th century.^[1]

See also

• Danish West Indies slavery
• Danish Africa Company
• Danish West India Company
• Danish Gold Coast
• Dane gun
• Fort Christiansborg

References

Further reading

• Jensen, Niklas Thode; Simonsen, Gunvor. "Introduction: The historiography of slavery in the Danish-Norwegian West Indies, c. 1950-2016." Scandinavian Journal of History Sep-Dec2016, Vol. 41 Issue 4/5, p475-494.