To this day, the West still feels ashamed of its history of trading and abusing African slaves. From the 15th to the 19th century, they forced 12.8 million black individuals into a living nightmare across Europe and America.
However, during this period, 1.25 million white individuals were also captured by Barbary pirates and sold throughout the African continent. Their fates were no less unfortunate than those of enslaved people of color.
The buyers of white female slaves were the nobility of Africa and the Middle East.
Kidnapping Entire Villages
At 2 AM on June 20, 1631, Baltimore, a coastal village in Ireland (a country in Europe), was peacefully asleep when it was suddenly raided.
Under the coastline, over 200 Barbary pirate ships quietly anchored side by side. The group of pirates, armed with flintlock guns, iron clubs, and torches, rushed ashore. They brazenly broke down doors and stormed into homes.
All 20 men, 33 women, and 54 children of Baltimore were forced onto ships, never to return.
Barbary pirates were those who operated along the coast and offshore of North Africa. Their primary hunting grounds included the ports of Salé, Rabat (Morocco), Algiers (Algeria), Tunis (Tunisia), and Tripoli (Libya). All these ports are located on the Barbary Coast, hence the groups of pirates here are collectively known as Barbary pirates.
Barbary pirate ships used white male slaves as ‘living oars’.
According to North African history, Barbary pirates emerged around the year 710. Before the 14th century, they roamed the waters off the Barbary Coast, attacking and plundering merchant ships.
In the 15th century, Europe discovered Africa. The culture of the African continent during the medieval period thrived on slavery. Many communities here punished wrongdoers by depriving them of freedom and human rights. Greedy Western merchants immediately saw a great opportunity. They purchased enslaved individuals of color and loaded them onto ships bound for Europe, marking the beginning of the African slave trade.
Originally, the shipbuilding techniques of the Barbary pirates were quite primitive. Therefore, they could only linger along the coast and offshore of Barbary.
Europe brought advancements and improved the pirate ships of North Africa. Beginning in the 16th century, Barbary pirates easily conquered the Atlantic Ocean, reaching the shores of the Mediterranean (Europe).
Unfortunate Fates
White male slaves were sold to the Ottoman Empire, becoming soldiers.
In reality, Barbary pirates attacked any victim within sight. They spared neither the elderly nor children, black nor white, Christians nor Muslims…
The Barbary pirates themselves were not solely composed of black individuals; they were a mixed, multi-ethnic, and multi-national group with various religions. Their only common trait was being based in Barbary.
The goal of the Barbary pirates was plunder. Whenever they attacked ships, ports, or villages, they looted everything. During the slave trade era, humans were also a commodity. Barbary pirates captured anyone they could and brought them to the Barbary Coast to sell for money. Their victims were referred to as Barbary slaves.
White individuals were just a part of the Barbary slaves. However, they were still referred to as white slaves because they stood out in the world of black individuals.
Moreover, this term also corresponds and expresses a contrast to black slaves in the world of white individuals.
The white victims of Barbary pirates included merchants, tourists (arriving in Africa by sea, docking at North Africa), and residents living in coastal villages and towns around the Mediterranean.
From the moment they were forced onto the pirate ships, the fate of their Barbary slavery began. For the 107 residents of the village of Baltimore, Ireland, in 1631, their new destination was the port of Algiers.
On the journey to Barbary, the white slaves were given only minimal food and water. After being chained, imprisoned, starved, and adrift at sea for a long time, most became emaciated and weak. Some did not survive the journey and were thrown overboard by the pirates.
Upon arriving at Barbary, they were immediately dragged ashore, stripped of their clothing, shackled, and taken to the slave market.
At the slave market, white male slaves were sold for labor. Their fate was to endure forced labor for life. The most tragic were those turned into “living oars.” The ships of pirates at that time relied on sails (to catch the wind) and oars (powered by human strength). These “living oars” were chained to the bottom of the ship and had to pull and push the oars tirelessly and continuously. Furthermore, they had to eat, sleep, and relieve themselves on the spot.
White female slaves were sold to nobility in Africa and the Middle East as maids, concubines, or tools for entertainment. Children were not spared, conscripted into “youth legions,” enduring brutal military training to become soldiers for the Ottoman Empire (Middle East).
A 400-Year Journey
As the number of European tourists to Africa dwindled due to fears of Barbary pirates, these pirates frantically attacked the coastal villages of the Mediterranean. The coastline from Spain to Italy was repeatedly raided. It is estimated that in the Iberian Peninsula (Southwest Europe), between 100,000 to 250,000 white individuals were kidnapped by them.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Barbary pirates roamed freely along the coasts of Europe. By 1780, it is estimated that they had kidnapped and enslaved 1.25 million white individuals. Compared to the pirates from North Africa, the European naval forces were superior in both numbers and weaponry.
However, when it came to actual naval combat, they suffered more defeats than victories. Barbary pirates were skilled at naval warfare and very agile. They executed quick attacks and rapidly retreated, leaving European fleets powerless.
By the end of the 17th century, Mediterranean coastal nations had to cooperate to combat the Barbary pirates. They tightly protected merchant ships, preventing pirates from getting close. Thanks to this, trade between Europe and Africa became safer.
The number of black individuals being traded to Europe and America also skyrocketed. In contrast, villages along the Mediterranean remained neglected, allowing Barbary pirates to wreak havoc. In many places in Europe, coastal populations had to abandon fishing villages and retreat inland to escape.
By the early 19th century, the European navy finally collaborated with the American navy to drive out the Barbary pirates. A series of North African pirate groups were dismantled and eradicated. However, those who survived continued to loot and capture white individuals for sale.
It was not until the abolition of slavery worldwide (1911) that this human trafficking ceased. Across Africa and the Middle East, surviving Barbary slaves were freed. The era of white slavery ended simultaneously with the era of black slavery.
