All Outputs (5)

Voluntary Slavery and the Meaning of Slavery (2024)
Journal Article
Spicksley, J. M. (2024). Voluntary Slavery and the Meaning of Slavery. Journal of global slavery, 9(3), 336-371. https://doi.org/10.1163/2405836X-00903012

For most scholars of slavery, the pairing of the terms ‘voluntary’ and ‘slavery’ remains problematic. The dominant model of slavery defines it as an involuntary status, in which people—according to the liberal model of ownership—were reduced to ‘thin... Read More about Voluntary Slavery and the Meaning of Slavery.

Contested enslavement: The Portuguese in Angola and the problem of debt, c. 1600-1800 (2015)
Journal Article
Spicksley, J. (2015). Contested enslavement: The Portuguese in Angola and the problem of debt, c. 1600-1800. Itinerario, 39(2), 247-275. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0165115315000467

The Portuguese were keen slave traders on the west central coast of Africa in the early modern period, but governors in Angola appear to have been increasingly unhappy about certain aspects of enslavement in relation to debt, and in particular that o... Read More about Contested enslavement: The Portuguese in Angola and the problem of debt, c. 1600-1800.

Women, ‘usury’ and credit in early modern England: the case of the maiden investor (2015)
Journal Article
Spicksley, J. M. (2015). Women, ‘usury’ and credit in early modern England: the case of the maiden investor. Gender and history, 27(2), 263-292. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0424.12125

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. In the transition from medieval notions of usury to modern notions of interest, single women appear to have enjoyed a special role.While probate documents confirm that an increasing number were engaged in interest-bear... Read More about Women, ‘usury’ and credit in early modern England: the case of the maiden investor.

Pawns on the Gold Coast: the rise of Asante and shifts in security for debt, 1680-1750 (2013)
Journal Article
Spicksley, J. (2013). Pawns on the Gold Coast: the rise of Asante and shifts in security for debt, 1680-1750. Journal of African history, 54(2), 147-175. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853713000297

In the seventeenth century, Europeans on the Gold Coast took gold pawns as security for debt, but from the early eighteenth century, they turned increasingly toward the use of human pawns. This shift was the result of a transformation in levels of de... Read More about Pawns on the Gold Coast: the rise of Asante and shifts in security for debt, 1680-1750.

Worth, age, and social status in early modern England (2010)
Journal Article
Spicksley, J., & Shepard, A. (2011). Worth, age, and social status in early modern England. The Economic history review, 64(2), 493-530. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0289.2010.00533.x

This article introduces a new source for assessing the distribution of wealth in early modern England derived from witness depositions taken by the church courts. It discusses the accuracy of statements of ‘worth’ provided by thousands of witnesses b... Read More about Worth, age, and social status in early modern England.