Oluale Kossola, the Last Survivor of the Atlantic Slave Trade

[David Lockmiller]

“Sea Captains Carousing in Surinam,” painted by John Greenwood, circa 1752-58.

The slave trade provided political power, social standing and wealth for the church, European nation-states, New World colonies and individuals. This portrait by John Greenwood connects slavery and privilege through the image of a group of Rhode Island sea captains and merchants drinking at a tavern in the Dutch colony of Surinam, a hub of trade. These men made money by trading the commodities produced by slavery globally — among the North American colonies, the Caribbean and South America — allowing them to secure political positions and determine the fate of the nation. The men depicted here include the future governors Nicholas Cooke and Joseph Wanton; Esek Hopkins, a future commander in chief of the Continental Navy; and Stephen Hopkins, who would eventually become one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

(Source: NYTimes Magazine and Sunday Newspaper 8/25/2019 - MAGAZINE
A Brief History of Slavery That You Didn't Learn in School
By MARY ELLIOTT and JAZMINE HUGHES)