1998 (Jerome Handler) “Life Histories of Enslaved Africans in Barbados.” Slavery & Abolition 19: 129-41.
Scholars of New World slavery and the transatlantic slave trade are well aware that there are very few first-hand accounts by enslaved Africans of their experiences prior to being landed in the Caribbean or North America. This article gives a brief overview of some accounts that relate to Barbados and then focuses on two hitherto unpublished autobiographical narratives by Africans who lived on the island in the late eighteenth century. The main purpose of this note is to make available to a wider audience what is currently known about first-hand accounts by Africans who had some connection with the Caribbean island of Barbados.