Atlas on slavery in French and Spanish territories of Santo Domingo from the 16th century to the end of the 18th century

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Michael Max Paul Zeuske
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History ; African, American and Oceania Studies ; Early Modern History
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 428803504

The creation of an atlas on slavery in Santo Domingo to gather information on historical facts occurring within its French and Spanish territories, from the 16th century to the end of the 18th century, meets a need to further investigate the subject of slavery. Since 1994, a project designated ¨The Slave Route¨ has been established by UNESCO with the purpose of studying the causes of the transatlantic slave trade and its dynamics. Within this context, the Caribbean countries have been actively evaluating their respective slavery relics and, it is now necessary to assemble the results, especially in regard to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which for political and idiosyncratic reasons pose many difficulties for cooperation. The atlas also extends the scope of the subject matter by showing the runaway slaves hidden areas which were the places where the maroons took refuge, fulfilling this way a wish to study the tracks left by the slaves themselves since the vast majority of the remains that have been studied so far pertain to the dominant class. By relating the runaway slaves hidden areas to the colonial official installations and showing their respective spatiotemporal developments on the maps contained in the atlas it will be possible to visualize the known and unknown communication networks that existed between both countries. The results will be available on an internet website. This will introduce a new basis to continue future research on slavery in the Caribbean.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants