Managing the Slave Trade: the Accounts of the Angola Contract between 1597-1600

Abstract

This article analyses the management of the 1594-1600 Angola Contract signed by the Portuguese merchants João Nunes Correia, Manuel Fernandes Anjo, and André Lopes Pinto, which regulated the extraction of slaves to America and the taxation system applied. Our current knowledge of such contracts is superficial, particularly for the 16th century, and even more so is our understanding of the management and the accounts of these agreements, which have not been preserved. The documents pertaining to litigation between the contractors and their handler in Angola, the accounts of which are partially preserved for the years between 1597 and 1600 in the Historical Protocols Archive in Madrid, enable us to gain a better understanding of the working of the Contract.