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Abstract

This presentation will explore the social history of emancipated African slaves in Ottoman Izmir, a large port on the coast of Anatolia, at the turn of the last century. While methods of enslavement, the routes on which they came to Izmir, and the process of abolition are coming to light, the history of Africans beyond emancipation in Izmir and throughout the Ottoman Empire is largely unknown. Drawing on both local and central government archival documents, this paper will focus on instances where emancipated Africans appear as criminals. Four cases will be presented, situating each in the social and economic context of late Ottoman Izmir.

These documents will also shed light on the historiographical and archival challenges of studying the social history of emancipated slaves in the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. Specifically, the effect of marginality in representations of emancipated Africans in the documents will be examined. The presenter will also problematize the terms used to describe emancipated Africans and evaluate their importance to the study of the social history of the late Ottoman Empire.

About the Speaker

Michael Ferguson is a PhD candidate in the Department of History and Classical Studies at 麻豆传媒网站.