What happens when the end of the slave trade doesn't lead to freedom, but to a new form of bondage?
In our next lecture with Jake Subryan Richards, he will explore the findings of The Bonds of Freedom: Liberated Africans and the End of the Slave Trade (Yale University Press, 2025). Based on a decade of research across four continents, this study uncovers the "forgotten" history of individuals intercepted by maritime patrols and “liberated”, only to be coerced into years of forced labor to "repay" the costs of their own rescue.

By examining archival records from Sierra Leone to Brazil and the United States, he analyzes the tension between imperial authoritarianism and the lived experiences of the African diaspora. A challenge to our understanding of emancipation that will examine how empires redefined "freedom" to suit their own economic and political needs.