Cosmopolitas del Atlántico esclavista

los “africanos” Daniel Botefeur y su esclavo de confianza Robin Botefeur en Cuba

Abstract

The article deals with the microstory of two men between Africa and
the Americas (Cuba): a doctor and captain/ slaver born in Germany and
his slave born in the region or the hinterland of the Gambia river. Both
have extraordinary knowledge of the slave Atlantic (hidden Atlantic) “from
below”, especially on Africa. The doctor becomes a rich merchant with this
knowledge and marries within the framework of an old elite of Cuba (not
without conflicts). His slave and African cosmopolite is trying to acquire
his freedom (against his cosmopolitan master). The article shows the agency
of both by three legal cases.