Records of Slave Ship Movement Between Africa and the Americas

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Records of Slave Ship Movement Between Africa and the Americas, 1817-1843
A User's Guide to the Machine Readable Data File
Study Description

Bibliographic Information

Cataloging-During-Production
- Summary
DPLS Acknowledgment
Acknowledgement of Assistance

File Inventory

Bibliographic Identity
Subject Contents
File History
Methodology
File Processing History
Availability

Records of slave ship movement between Africa and the Americas, 1817-1843 [machine-readable data file] / compiled by Philip D. Curtin. -- 2nd. DPLS ed. / edited by Herbert S. Klein. -- New York : Herbert S. Klein [producer], 1973 ; Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Data and Program Library Service [distributor].

1 data file (2,313 logical records) + accompanying documentation.

These data were compiled from the Parliamentary papers, XLIX (73), 593-633 of the Foreign Office (1845).

Herbert S. Klein edited the original file and replaced missing values, originally coded as 'not ascertained' and 'no data,' with actual data.

Summary: These data were compiled in an effort to examine the dimensions of nineteenth century slave trade (including its legal abolition).

The data file contains information on ship's port of arrival, date of arrival, type of vessel, tonnage, master's name, number of guns, number of crew, national flag, number of slaves, port of departure, number of days of voyage, mortality.

ISBN 0-89605-037-8

I. Curtin, Philip D. II. Kein, Herbert S.

DPLS Acknowledgement

These data have been deposited at DPLS for public distribution by Philip D. Curtin and Herbert S. Klein, Departments of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Columbia University, respectively.

Acknowledgement of Assistance

All manuscripts utilizing data made available through the Data and Program Library Service should acknowledge that fact as well as cite the title of the study as indicated on the title page and sample catalog statement and identify the original compiler(s) of the data. DPLS urges all users of these data to follow some adaptation of this statement with the parentheses indicating items to be completed or deleted appropriately by the individual analyst.

The data (and tabulations) utilized in this (publication) were made available (in part) by the Data and Program Library Service at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The data for Records of Slave Ship Movement Between Africa and the Americas, 1817-1843 were compiled by Philip D. Curtin and edited by Herbert S. Klein from selected Parliamentary Papers of the British Foreign Office (1845). Mr. Curtin, Mr. Klein, or DPLS bear no responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.

In order to provide funding agencies with essential information about use of archival resources and to facilitate the exchange of information about DPLS participants' research activities, each user of the DPLS facilities is expected to send two copies of each completed manuscript, thesis abstract or reprint to DPLS.

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File Inventory

Bibliographic Identity:

Unique File Inventory Identification Number: 091278-000
Bibliographic Reference: Records of Slave Ship Movement Between Africa and the Americas, 1817-1843 [machine readable data file]. Compiled by Philip D. Curtin. DPLS ed. Edited by Herbert S. Klein. New York: Herbert S. Klein [producer], 197-. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Data and Program Library Service [distributor]. 1 data file (2,313 logical records), plus accompanying documentation. The data were compiled from selected Parliamentary Papers of the British Foreign Office (1845).
Unique Identification Codes for the MRDF: CB-505-001-INT-DPLS-1817-1; ISBN 0-89605-037-8
Type of File: numeric

Subject Contents:

Abstract: These data were compiled as part of a quantitative analysis of the slave trade from Africa to the Americas during the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
Universe to Which the Data Pertain: slave ships arriving in the Americas from Africa 1817-1843, as recorded in selected Parliamentary Papers
Geographic Focus: ports in Great Britain to various ports in the Americas
Descriptors: slave trade, economic history, Great Britain, migration, mortality
Demographic Variables: ship's port of arrival, date of arrival, type of vessel, tonnage, master's name, number of guns, number of crew, national flag, number of slaves, port of departure, number of days of voyage, mortality

File History:

Sponsor or Funding Agency: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Program in Comparative Tropical History, through funds made available by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Graduate Research Committee, Madison, Wisconsin; Columbia University, New York USA
Project Responsibility: Philip D. Curtin, Department of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wis.; edition responsibility, Herbert S. Klein, Columbia University, New York USA
Data Gathering Responsibility: Philip D. Curtin; edition, Herbert S. Klein
Data Processing Responsibility: Philip D. Curtin, Social Science Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Herbert S. Klein
Time Coverage (Date of Data Coverage): 1817-1843
Date of Data Collection: 1968, 1973
Source(s) of Data (Input): Parliamentary Papers XLIX (73) 593-633, British Foreign Office, 1845

Methodology:

Description of Sampling Design/Selection: all information provided by the records for the period 1817-1843 (sample of more than 2,000 slave ships) known to the Foreign Office
Instrumentation: Parliamentary Papers
Data Quality: Curtin deems these data a 'full sample' and thus providing excellent estimates
Unit of Analysis/Record Type: 2,313 slave ships
Number of Variables: 16
Analytic Comparability or Linkage with Other MRDF: Philip D. Curtin (edited by Herbert S. Klein), Records of Slave Ship Movement Between Africa and the Americas, 1817-1843; Herbert S. Klein, Internal Slave Trade to Rio de Janeiro, 1852; Slave Trade to Rio de Janeiro, 1825-1830; Slave Trade to Rio de Janeiro, 1795-1811; Angola Slave Trade in the Eighteenth Century, 1723-1771; English Slave Trade, 1791-1799 (House of Lords Survey); Slave Trade to Havana, Cuba, 1790-1820; Virginia Slave Trade in the Eighteenth Century, 1727-1769; Nantes Slave Trade in the Eighteenth Century, 1711-1791; Philip D. Curtin, Slave Ships of Eighteenth Century France, 1748-1756, 1763-1792; Klein, Herbert S. and Stanley L. Engerman, Slave Trade to Jamaica, 1782-1805-1808; Fogel, Robert W. and Stanley L. Engerman, Time on the Cross [machine readable data file].

File Processing History:

Edits, Corrections, and Cleaning: cleaned by Herbert S. Klein; original Curtin data file contained 'not ascertained' and missing data values; Klein returned to the original sources and replaced the 'na' and 'missing data' with actual data
File Structure: rectangular
Record Structure: fixed length

Availability:

As a reminder, all of this information is from the original codebook and some sections may now be obsolete.

Location of the MRDF: Data and Program Library Service, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 3313 Social Science Building, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706 USA
Location of the Documentation: Data and Program Library Service
Access Restrictions: none
Type of Access: batch
Retention Status: indefinitely
Costs: direct, plus DPLS overhead
Recording Information: The archival file consists of one file stored on CD-ROM. All information is in character format. Logical Record Size: 80 characters; Block Size: 3200 characters. Data is disseminated in zipped ASCII format.
Data Management Software Requirements: none
Computer or Hardware Requirements: none
Data Disclaimer: distributor distributes MRDF but takes no responsibility for its condition
Reference Materials: codebook
Publications: Philip D. Curtain, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (Madison: WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969)