The Two Princes of Mpfumo - (Early Modern Americas) by Lindsay O'Neill (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In 1716 two princes of Mpfumo embarked on a voyage that transformed and, for one, destroyed their lives. They would travel from their homeland, where Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, now stands, to Madagascar, St. Helena, Jamaica, and London. They would go from honored guests to enslaved property and back again. In The Two Princes of Mpfumo, Lindsay O'Neill follows the journey of Prince James Maffoom and Prince John Maffoom through an empire in flux, one where the Atlantic world's focus on chattel slavery and the plantation system threatened to seep into the Indian Ocean and East Africa. Prince James and Prince John would claw their way out of slavery in Jamaica and arrive in England in 1720. There the princes and their patrons negotiated with the East India Company and the Royal African Company for a voyage home. Both companies were in crisis and investigating new possibilities in south eastern Africa. For both, the possibility of gold beckoned, while the East India Company also wished to become involved in the transatlantic slave trade, and the Royal African Company was in search of new trading routes. The princes' journey home, however, turned tragic when James ended his own life. John, however, made it home and turned his back on the British. The travels of James and John and their engagement with imperial officials changes our perception of the British Empire in the early eighteenth century. Their story blurs the boundaries between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and expands our view of British involvement in the slave trade. It lays bare the intertwined networks, powerful individuals, and unstable knowledge that guided British attempts at imperial expansion. And it shows us the power of African polities, who decided who lived and who died on their coast"--Publisher's description.

Book Synopsis

A fascinating account of two eighteenth-century princes from East Africa, their travels, and their encounters with the British Empire and slavery

In 1716 two princes from Mpfumo--what is today Maputo, the capital of Mozambique--boarded a ship licensed by the East India Company bound for England. Instead, their perfidious captain sold them into slavery in Jamaica. After two years of pleading their case, the princes--known in the historical record as Prince James and Prince John--convinced a lawyer to purchase them, free them, and travel with them to London. The lawyer perished when a hurricane wrecked their ship, but the princes survived and arrived in England in 1720. Even though the East India Company had initially thought that the princes might assist in their aspirations to develop a trade for gold in East Africa and for enslaved labor in Madagascar, its interest waned. The princes would need to look elsewhere to return home. It was at this point that members of the Royal African Company and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge took up their cause, in the hope that profit and perhaps Christian souls would follow. John would make it home, but tragically, James would end his own life just before the ship sailed for Africa.

In The Two Princes of Mpfumo, Lindsay O'Neill brings to life individuals caught up in the eighteenth-century slave trade. O'Neill also shows how the princes' experiences reflect the fragmented, chaotic, and often deadly realities of the early British empire. A fascinating and deeply researched historical narrative, The Two Princes of Mpfumo blurs the boundaries between the Atlantic and Indian ocean worlds; reveals the intertwined networks, powerful individuals, and unstable knowledge that guided British attempts at imperial expansion; and illuminates the power of African polities, which decided who lived and who died on their coasts.

Review Quotes

"Beautifully written and superbly researched, Lindsay O'Neill's brilliant book thrives on a winning combination of vivid story-telling and a deep, expansive appreciation of the settings her actors operated in. Most important, she skillfully handles the evidence to allow 'the two princes of Mpfumo' some control over their lives."-- "William Pettigrew, author of Freedom's Debt: The Royal African Company and the Politics of the Atlantic Slave Trade, 1672-1752"

"O'Neill excavates the story of two East African princes who boarded a British ship with the intent of traveling to London only to be sold into slavery in Jamaica...As O'Neill follows the two men, she shines a light on the lesser-known British slave trade in East Africa and Madagascar and the troubling, naïve, and conflicting interests of the British East India Company, Royal African Company, and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. O'Neill's thoughtful and extensive research is apparent...Readers will better understand the complex moral, racial, and trade networks the princes traversed.""-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"Any book that can bring to life individual victims of the eighteenth-century slave trade is significant. That the princes come from East Africa is even more so. Through Lindsay O'Neill's sophisticated work, we gain insight into the many and various schemes the European powers had in East Africa and even in remote islands in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, all important to understanding those rivalries and ambitions. The Two Princes of Mpfumo is required reading for scholars and students interested in the slave trade."-- "Randy Sparks, author of The Two Princes of Calabar: An Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Odyssey"

About the Author

Lindsay O'Neill is Associate Professor (Teaching) of History at the University of Southern California and author of The Opened Letter: Networking in the Early Modern British World, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.