REPLANTING the SEEDS of HOME: SLAVERY, KING JAJA, and IGBO CONNECTIONS in the NIGER DELTA, 1821-1891 by Joseph Miles Davey A
REPLANTING THE SEEDS OF HOME: SLAVERY, KING JAJA, AND IGBO CONNECTIONS IN THE NIGER DELTA, 1821-1891 By Joseph Miles Davey A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of History- Doctor of Philosophy 2015 ABSTRACT REPLANTING THE SEEDS OF HOME: SLAVERY, KING JAJA, AND IGBO CONNECTIONS IN THE NIGER DELTA, 1821-1891 By Joseph Miles Davey My dissertation argues that past examinations of West African slave systems have over- emphasized the importance of social, linguistic and cultural marginalization, highlighted by a lack of access to the enslaving society's kinship networks, as the defining factors of slavery in West Africa. By centering the narrative of renown nineteenth century slave-turned-king, Jaja of Opobo, my work argues that, as abolition took effect in the Atlantic world, Igbo slaves amassing in Niger Delta trading state of Bonny were increasingly able to maintain elements of their natal identities and, in cases like Jaja's, were able to reconnect with their natal kinship network in the Igbo interior. Furthermore, my dissertation argues that the slavery-to-kinship continuum model, first put forth by Miers and Kopytoff in 1977, is inherently flawed, inasmuch as it only accounts for the ability of the enslaved to be absorbed into the kinship networks of the slave-holding society, ignoring completely their ability to reconnect with their natal kinship groups in this increasingly turbulent period of West Africa's history. Copyright by JOSEPH MILES DAVEY 2015 This work is dedicated to my collaborators, my friends and all of the citizens of Umuduruoha.
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