White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America

Don Jordan · Michael Walsh

Feb 2019 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Roger Clark

About this audiobook

White Cargo is the forgotten story of the thousands of Britons who lived and died in bondage in Britain's American colonies. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, more than 300,000 white people were shipped to America as slaves. Urchins were swept up from London's streets to labor in the tobacco fields, where life expectancy was no more than two years. Brothels were raided to provide "breeders" for Virginia. Hopeful migrants were duped into signing as indentured servants, unaware they would become personal property who could be bought, sold, and even gambled away. Transported convicts were paraded for sale like livestock. Drawing on letters crying for help, diaries, and court and government archives, Don Jordan and Michael Walsh demonstrate that the brutalities usually associated with black slavery alone were perpetrated on whites throughout British rule. The trade ended with American independence, but the British still tried to sell convicts in their former colonies, which prompted one of the most audacious plots in Anglo-American history.

Ratings and reviews

Exceptionally informative regarding early Englanders

About the author

Don Jordan is an award-winning television director and writer who has worked on dozens of documentaries and dramas. He lives in London.

Michael Walsh was an award-winning reporter. He wrote four books with Don Jordan, including White Cargo, acclaimed by Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison as an "extraordinary book." He died in 2017.

Roger Clark is a professional actor and voice-over artist who lives in New York City. He has performed in over forty-five countries.