Matthew S Hopper
Biographic Data
| ID | 86193 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matthew S Hopper |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matthew S |
| FAMILY NAME | Hopper |
| SIGNATURE | HOPPER M S |
| AFFILIATIONS | California Polytechnic State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9374-7829 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 25 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Reflections on the Ethics of Research with the Registers of Liberated Africans in the Indian Ocean
This paper examines ethical issues related to the use of the registers of liberated Africans in the Indian Ocean for historical research. The registers provide rich details about the physical appearance (height, age, facial scarification, brands, tattoos) and origins (language, ethnicity or caste, mother's name, father's name) of liberated Africans. They also reveal aspects about their treatment at the hands of colonial officials, including the i…
Defining Regions of Pre-Colonial Africa
Regionalizing pre-colonial Africa aids in the collection and interpretation of primary sources as data for further analysis. This article includes a map with six broad regions and 34 sub-regions, which form a controlled vocabulary within which researchers may geographically organize and classify disparate pieces of information related to Africa’s past. In computational terms, the proposed African regions serve as data containers in order to conso…
Liberated Africans in the Indian Ocean World
Liberated Africans and the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807–1896
Interrogates the development of the world's first international courts of humanitarian justice and the subsequent "liberation" of nearly two hundred thousand Africans in the nineteenth century
Liberated Africans and the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807-1896
The Globalization of Dried Fruit
Redefining African Regions for Linking Open-Source Data
In recent years, an increasing number of online archival databases of primary sources related to the history of the African diaspora and slavery have become freely and readily accessible for scholarly and public consumption. This proliferation of digital projects and databases presents a number of challenges related to aggregating data geographically according to the movement of people in and out of Africa across time and space. As a requirement …
Was Nineteenth-Century Eastern Arabia a “Slave Society”?
A summary is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Slaves of One Master
Slaves of One Master
In this wide-ranging history of the African diaspora and slavery in Arabia in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Matthew S. Hopper examines the interconnected themes of enslavement, globalization, and empire and challenges previously held conventions regarding Middle Eastern slavery and British imperialism. Whereas conventional historiography regards the Indian Ocean slave trade as fundamentally different from its Atlantic counterpart,…
Speaking for Themselves? Understanding African Freed Slave Testimonies from the Western Indian Ocean, 1850s-1930s
In this article we mine an array of British anti-slavery materials seeking the voices of enslaved East Africans in the western Indian Ocean. We draw attention to the numerous problems of translation involved in this kind of basic research and to the critical role played by both indigenous and British interpreters in the process of enabling captive Africans to “speak for themselves.” The lesson here is that historians must exercise particular care…
Cyclones, Drought, and Slavery
This chapter explores how severe climatic events in the Western Indian Ocean influenced both the demand for slave labor in eastern Arabia and the supply of enslaved Africans in East Africa in the late nineteenth century. In particular, two cyclonic storms that hit the coast of Oman in 1885 and 1890 appear to have influenced demand for labor to revive Oman’s date industry, which was severely affected by both storms. The cyclones coincided with cli…
The East African Slave Trade and the Making of the African Diaspora in Arabia
This chapter places the history of the East African slave trade and the growth of the African diaspora in eastern Arabia in global context. By following the lives of enslaved Africans from the moment of their capture in East Africa through their passage across the Indian Ocean to destinations in Arabia, the chapter challenges some myths about the East African slave trade preserved in colonial literature.
Slavery, Dates, and Globalization
This chapter addresses the development of two forms of dependence in nineteenth-century Arabia: dependence on global markets and dependence on slave labor. The chapter tells the story of how dates, a sticky, sweet fruit, became a delicacy in the United States and how the United States became the Gulf’s biggest foreign customer. Producers in the Gulf expanded their date output to meet growing American demand, which further drove a demand for slave…
The African Presence in Eastern Arabia
Slaves of One Master
This history of the African diaspora and slavery in Arabia in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries examines the interconnected themes of enslavement, globalization, and empire and challenges previously held conventions regarding Middle Eastern slavery and British imperialism. Whereas conventional historiography regards the Indian Ocean slave trade as fundamentally different from its Atlantic counterpart, this study argues that both system…
The African Presence in Eastern Arabia
For four decades, football teams representing each of the Arab Gulf states have competed for the coveted regional football championship title in the Arabian Gulf Cup of Nations (Kass al-Khalij), the Gulf's premier athletic contest. Each fall, thousands of spectators in national dress crowd stadiums to cheer on their national teams. Foreign observers of the competition frequently express surprise at the notable African appearance of a large number…
Slaves of One Master
This chapter chronicles the early twentieth-century demand for slave labor in the Persian Gulf, created by the rapidly expanding date and pearl industries in the region. It argues that the slave trade between East Africa and Arabia must not be seen as part of an “Islamic slave trade,” but rather as part of a labor system driven by global economic forces. The chapter recounts the number of East Africans captured in the Indian Ocean slave trade and…
East Africa and the End of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade
The conventional historiography claims that the East African slave trade came to an end in the 1880s as a result of the British Royal Navy's diligent patrols in the Indian Ocean. This paper argues instead that the slave trade from East Africa to Eastern Arabia endured long after the 1880s, in part because sustained demand for slave labor in Arabia and the Gulf–particularly in the lucrative pearl and date industries–remained high through the early…
Globalization and the Economics of African Slavery in Arabia in the Age of Empire
This paper examines the economic conditions that generated demand for slave labor in Arabia in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The existing historiography has tended to emphasize a cultural or religious basis for slavery in the region, ignoring the expanding global markets for Arabian commodities that fueled demand for slave labor. This paper argues that growing markets for Arabian pearls and dates in Europe and North America h…
Parler en son nom ? Comprendre les témoignages d'esclaves africains originaires de l'océan Indien (1850-1930)
Cet article examine des témoignages d'esclaves affranchis retrouvés dans les archives de l'amirauté britannique, dans celles des consulats ou des cours de justice de l'océan Indien occidental. À la différence des récits mieux connus concernant la traite atlantique, ces documents sont généralement brefs et ne sont pas directement produits par les esclaves africains eux-mêmes. Bien que difficiles à analyser, en raison de multiples strates de transc…
Imperialism and the Dilemma of Slavery in Eastern Arabia and the Gulf, 1873–1939
An Ethiopian man named Surūr appeared before the British Consul at Addis Ababa in December 1933 and told a remarkable story. He had just returned to Ethiopia after enduring more than five years of slavery in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf where he had been forced to work as a pearl diver. When he was eleven years old and out tending cattle in the Wallamo region of Ethiopia around 1925, he was seized by kidnappers who took him to Tajura on the Somali …
The Fisheries of an Ojibwa Community in Northern Ontario
Subsistence fishing provides an important source of food for the remote Ojibwa community of Webequie, located along the Winisk River in northern Ontario. Field observations during the summer of 1988 were combined with a recall survey to estimate catches from October 1987 through September 1988. Of 133 potential fishermen, 90 were surveyed. The total community harvest was estimated to be 83,810 fish, round weight 108,210 kg. After adjustments, thi…
Globalization and the Economics of African Slavery in Arabia in the Age of Empire
This paper examines the economic conditions that generated demand for slave labor in Arabia in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The existing historiography has tended to emphasize a cultural or religious basis for slavery in the region, ignoring the expanding global markets for Arabian commodities that fueled demand for slave labor. This paper argues that growing markets for Arabian pearls and dates in Europe and North America h…
Speaking for Themselves? Understanding African Freed Slave Testimonies from the Western Indian Ocean, 1850s-1930s
In this article we mine an array of British anti-slavery materials seeking the voices of enslaved East Africans in the western Indian Ocean. We draw attention to the numerous problems of translation involved in this kind of basic research and to the critical role played by both indigenous and British interpreters in the process of enabling captive Africans to “speak for themselves.” The lesson here is that historians must exercise particular care…
Parler en son nom ? Comprendre les témoignages d'esclaves africains originaires de l'océan Indien (1850-1930)
Cet article examine des témoignages d'esclaves affranchis retrouvés dans les archives de l'amirauté britannique, dans celles des consulats ou des cours de justice de l'océan Indien occidental. À la différence des récits mieux connus concernant la traite atlantique, ces documents sont généralement brefs et ne sont pas directement produits par les esclaves africains eux-mêmes. Bien que difficiles à analyser, en raison de multiples strates de transc…
Imperialism and the Dilemma of Slavery in Eastern Arabia and the Gulf, 1873–1939
An Ethiopian man named Surūr appeared before the British Consul at Addis Ababa in December 1933 and told a remarkable story. He had just returned to Ethiopia after enduring more than five years of slavery in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf where he had been forced to work as a pearl diver. When he was eleven years old and out tending cattle in the Wallamo region of Ethiopia around 1925, he was seized by kidnappers who took him to Tajura on the Somali …
Redefining African Regions for Linking Open-Source Data
In recent years, an increasing number of online archival databases of primary sources related to the history of the African diaspora and slavery have become freely and readily accessible for scholarly and public consumption. This proliferation of digital projects and databases presents a number of challenges related to aggregating data geographically according to the movement of people in and out of Africa across time and space. As a requirement …
East Africa and the End of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade
The conventional historiography claims that the East African slave trade came to an end in the 1880s as a result of the British Royal Navy's diligent patrols in the Indian Ocean. This paper argues instead that the slave trade from East Africa to Eastern Arabia endured long after the 1880s, in part because sustained demand for slave labor in Arabia and the Gulf–particularly in the lucrative pearl and date industries–remained high through the early…
Defining Regions of Pre-Colonial Africa
Regionalizing pre-colonial Africa aids in the collection and interpretation of primary sources as data for further analysis. This article includes a map with six broad regions and 34 sub-regions, which form a controlled vocabulary within which researchers may geographically organize and classify disparate pieces of information related to Africa’s past. In computational terms, the proposed African regions serve as data containers in order to conso…
The Fisheries of an Ojibwa Community in Northern Ontario
Subsistence fishing provides an important source of food for the remote Ojibwa community of Webequie, located along the Winisk River in northern Ontario. Field observations during the summer of 1988 were combined with a recall survey to estimate catches from October 1987 through September 1988. Of 133 potential fishermen, 90 were surveyed. The total community harvest was estimated to be 83,810 fish, round weight 108,210 kg. After adjustments, thi…
Imperialism and the Dilemma of Slavery in Eastern Arabia and the Gulf, 1873–1939
An Ethiopian man named Surūr appeared before the British Consul at Addis Ababa in December 1933 and told a remarkable story. He had just returned to Ethiopia after enduring more than five years of slavery in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf where he had been forced to work as a pearl diver. When he was eleven years old and out tending cattle in the Wallamo region of Ethiopia around 1925, he was seized by kidnappers who took him to Tajura on the Somali …
Parler en son nom ? Comprendre les témoignages d'esclaves africains originaires de l'océan Indien (1850-1930)
Cet article examine des témoignages d'esclaves affranchis retrouvés dans les archives de l'amirauté britannique, dans celles des consulats ou des cours de justice de l'océan Indien occidental. À la différence des récits mieux connus concernant la traite atlantique, ces documents sont généralement brefs et ne sont pas directement produits par les esclaves africains eux-mêmes. Bien que difficiles à analyser, en raison de multiples strates de transc…
Globalization and the Economics of African Slavery in Arabia in the Age of Empire
This paper examines the economic conditions that generated demand for slave labor in Arabia in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The existing historiography has tended to emphasize a cultural or religious basis for slavery in the region, ignoring the expanding global markets for Arabian commodities that fueled demand for slave labor. This paper argues that growing markets for Arabian pearls and dates in Europe and North America h…
East Africa and the End of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade
The conventional historiography claims that the East African slave trade came to an end in the 1880s as a result of the British Royal Navy's diligent patrols in the Indian Ocean. This paper argues instead that the slave trade from East Africa to Eastern Arabia endured long after the 1880s, in part because sustained demand for slave labor in Arabia and the Gulf–particularly in the lucrative pearl and date industries–remained high through the early…
Slaves of One Master
This chapter chronicles the early twentieth-century demand for slave labor in the Persian Gulf, created by the rapidly expanding date and pearl industries in the region. It argues that the slave trade between East Africa and Arabia must not be seen as part of an “Islamic slave trade,” but rather as part of a labor system driven by global economic forces. The chapter recounts the number of East Africans captured in the Indian Ocean slave trade and…
The African Presence in Eastern Arabia
For four decades, football teams representing each of the Arab Gulf states have competed for the coveted regional football championship title in the Arabian Gulf Cup of Nations (Kass al-Khalij), the Gulf's premier athletic contest. Each fall, thousands of spectators in national dress crowd stadiums to cheer on their national teams. Foreign observers of the competition frequently express surprise at the notable African appearance of a large number…
The East African Slave Trade and the Making of the African Diaspora in Arabia
This chapter places the history of the East African slave trade and the growth of the African diaspora in eastern Arabia in global context. By following the lives of enslaved Africans from the moment of their capture in East Africa through their passage across the Indian Ocean to destinations in Arabia, the chapter challenges some myths about the East African slave trade preserved in colonial literature.
Slavery, Dates, and Globalization
This chapter addresses the development of two forms of dependence in nineteenth-century Arabia: dependence on global markets and dependence on slave labor. The chapter tells the story of how dates, a sticky, sweet fruit, became a delicacy in the United States and how the United States became the Gulf’s biggest foreign customer. Producers in the Gulf expanded their date output to meet growing American demand, which further drove a demand for slave…
The African Presence in Eastern Arabia
Slaves of One Master
This history of the African diaspora and slavery in Arabia in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries examines the interconnected themes of enslavement, globalization, and empire and challenges previously held conventions regarding Middle Eastern slavery and British imperialism. Whereas conventional historiography regards the Indian Ocean slave trade as fundamentally different from its Atlantic counterpart, this study argues that both system…
Cyclones, Drought, and Slavery
This chapter explores how severe climatic events in the Western Indian Ocean influenced both the demand for slave labor in eastern Arabia and the supply of enslaved Africans in East Africa in the late nineteenth century. In particular, two cyclonic storms that hit the coast of Oman in 1885 and 1890 appear to have influenced demand for labor to revive Oman’s date industry, which was severely affected by both storms. The cyclones coincided with cli…
Slaves of One Master
Slaves of One Master
In this wide-ranging history of the African diaspora and slavery in Arabia in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Matthew S. Hopper examines the interconnected themes of enslavement, globalization, and empire and challenges previously held conventions regarding Middle Eastern slavery and British imperialism. Whereas conventional historiography regards the Indian Ocean slave trade as fundamentally different from its Atlantic counterpart,…
Speaking for Themselves? Understanding African Freed Slave Testimonies from the Western Indian Ocean, 1850s-1930s
In this article we mine an array of British anti-slavery materials seeking the voices of enslaved East Africans in the western Indian Ocean. We draw attention to the numerous problems of translation involved in this kind of basic research and to the critical role played by both indigenous and British interpreters in the process of enabling captive Africans to “speak for themselves.” The lesson here is that historians must exercise particular care…
Was Nineteenth-Century Eastern Arabia a “Slave Society”?
A summary is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
The Globalization of Dried Fruit
Redefining African Regions for Linking Open-Source Data
In recent years, an increasing number of online archival databases of primary sources related to the history of the African diaspora and slavery have become freely and readily accessible for scholarly and public consumption. This proliferation of digital projects and databases presents a number of challenges related to aggregating data geographically according to the movement of people in and out of Africa across time and space. As a requirement …
Liberated Africans in the Indian Ocean World
Liberated Africans and the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807–1896
Interrogates the development of the world's first international courts of humanitarian justice and the subsequent "liberation" of nearly two hundred thousand Africans in the nineteenth century
Liberated Africans and the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807-1896
Defining Regions of Pre-Colonial Africa
Regionalizing pre-colonial Africa aids in the collection and interpretation of primary sources as data for further analysis. This article includes a map with six broad regions and 34 sub-regions, which form a controlled vocabulary within which researchers may geographically organize and classify disparate pieces of information related to Africa’s past. In computational terms, the proposed African regions serve as data containers in order to conso…
Reflections on the Ethics of Research with the Registers of Liberated Africans in the Indian Ocean
This paper examines ethical issues related to the use of the registers of liberated Africans in the Indian Ocean for historical research. The registers provide rich details about the physical appearance (height, age, facial scarification, brands, tattoos) and origins (language, ethnicity or caste, mother's name, father's name) of liberated Africans. They also reveal aspects about their treatment at the hands of colonial officials, including the i…
Global Maritime and Colonial Histories (21 works) · History (18 works) · Colonialism, slavery, and trade (16 works) · Geography (16 works) · Ancient history (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Archaeology (10 works) · Economics (9 works) · Law (9 works) · African history and culture studies (8 works)