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James Chen
Hmr 001
Dr. Watenpaugh
16 October 2015
The Neirsee Affair
When you talk about a persecuted group in history, do you think of them as victims put
into a bad situation or as agents taking action to change the situation that they are in? In the book
Inhuman Traffick by Rafe Blaufarb and Liz Clark, the problem of the transatlantic slave trade
through the Neirsee Affair. The humans taken captive from the Neirsee Affair were just victims
put into a bad situation, but also agents taking action to free the lives of themselves and those
close to them. It is important to emphasize the fact these people are agents taking action to make
a change, but even more important to talk about how their background and what put them into
their situation, giving a bigger view rather than a two-dimensional view of them.
In the case of the Neirsee Affair, the men taken captive were just part of an even bigger
problem that was going on in Africa. In Africa, the political system was corrupted. African
merchants supplied African slaves to many different countries, who were valuable commodities
in places such as America and the West Indies which depended heavily on enslaved labor to
profit from agriculture (p. 21). Britain had imposed many treaties and tried to enforce the end of
the slave trade, but were unsuccessful. They first banned slave trade throughout the British
empire in 1807, and then at the Congress of Vienna. They condemned slave trade and because
they were a great power at the time, other countries followed (p. 24). However, slaves were still
being transported because of the high demand for them.

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Of the men that were taken captive in the Neirsee Affair, some were even free English
citizens and paid workers. There were Africans skilled in craftsmanship who spoke English
wanting to get back to their homeland and enslaved men who were being taken to Sierra Leone
to gain their freedom. The men were so close to freedom just to be enslaved again on a
plantation. These men in captivity experienced hardships of the Middle Passage themselves.
Common problems that were faced going through was the one to three month passage, the dirty
and crowded boat, long terms of confinement with poor food and water, and different diseases (p.
14). Of the 309 captives, only 280 of them ended up surviving the harsh journey (p. 81). After
they were sold to slave owners to work on the plantation, they had to deal with hard labor early
in the morning from 5 am until 8 pm with few breaks, not having much food or rest (p. 90). The
treatment took a huge toll on them physically and mentally.
The captives of the Neirsee Affair were also agents, doing their best to fix the bad
situation they were in. On the ship ride to Sierra Leone when the slavers were taking control, the
other men on the ship tried to fight back. On the ship, they did all they could to survive the ride
to the West Indies. When they were being sold to the slavers, they spoke up in English. claiming
to be English citizens saying Were free men, subjects of the king of England and sailors in his
navy knowing they would be punished for speaking out (p. 87) . Some of the captives even
made it back to the Dominica to report all of the bad things that had happened to them and get
help from the British such as Lieutenant Davies, who got the news out to people higher up in
authority like the governor of Dominicas capital Roseau (p. 94). He traveled back to the island
he was enslaved on to find the other captives and fight for the freedom of these people. The
slaves who were not in captivity took actions of their own too. There were always work
slowdowns, tool-breaking, poisoning, and whatever else possible to resist their enslavement (p.

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117). The armed rebellions did not always work but it brought up the issue to the world and they
were not just accepting all the harsh treatment that was given to them willingly. Showing that
these captives were not only victims but agents gives a different side to them, as they were
fighting for their freedom rather than accepting a poor fate.
Mixing in the aspects of both victimhood and agency, one gets a fuller view of the people
of the Neirsee Affair. The worldwide problem of the transatlantic slave trade turned these free
British men and other Africans of the Neirsee Affair into slaves. The captives are given a
background. They were not only men suffering from how the world was unfair to them, but also
active agents trying to change and undo the problems they are faced with. They were fighting for
a reason, which was how they felt from being a victim. They were not just brainlessly fighting
and have more depth. If one only talks about one as victims, only see a weak and vulnerable side
is seen. If one only talks about one as an agent, they are just fighting for a cause or reason.
The Neirsee Affair showed a clear example of people who were both victims and agents.
It is important to emphasize how these people were victims to show how these people had been
oppressed by their society. There were enslaved human beings, some who were free before, and
forced back into plantation work. The victimhood gives a background of these people and the
agency gives more information to make them more than just a victim. These people actively
resisted, even though at times they failed, and stood up for themselves. The two aspects of
agency and victimhood give one a better picture of the historical experience that took place, as
their victimhood led to them becoming agents. Without one, only see one side of the story and
miss out on the other which is just as important.