Fwd: America at 250: Re-centering the Atlantic economy behind the Treaty of Paris (1783)

[Amadu Massally]

America at 250: Re-centering the Atlantic economy behind the Treaty of Paris (1783) 

Gambozo

In this short essay, I argue that U.S. “independence” anniversaries remain incomplete without naming the Atlantic system that financed influence and diplomacy. Specifically: the Treaty of Paris (1783) was negotiated in Europe, but it was underwritten by rice wealth, credit networks, and the forced capture of Africans—linked to Bunce Island (Bance Island) off Sierra Leone and to Lowcountry plantation economies.]

Core claims (for discussion):

• Richard Oswald, Britain’s lead negotiator, was also tied to Bunce Island’s slave-trading economy.
• Henry Laurens’ political stature cannot be separated from his role as a major slave trader and rice planter.
• “America at 250” should be treated as a historiographical moment: expanding the circle of witnesses (Sierra Leone, Gullah Geechee communities, and the wider African diaspora) clarifies the cost of freedom rather than diminishing it.

Questions for you:

• What are the strongest primary-source pathways for linking treaty-era diplomatic power to specific slave-trade assets and plantation finance?
• How should public history mark 1776/1783 in a way that is accurate, teachable, and ethically serious—without collapsing into performance?
  

Link: https://gambozo.substack.com/p/america-at-250?r=1nvyc

Regards,

Amadu Massally Executive Director, Fambul Tik m: (212) 710-2911 w: fambultik.com  e: amadu.m...@fambultik.com

            Gullah Roots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwi3iimgSWc