Portuguese research on the slave trade 251Areas of research and gaps to be filledIn our view, a major research project should be set up to study records and
accounts connected with the slave trade. Such a project would also involve an
overall survey of the economics of the slave trade: vessels used, products and
goods transported, origins and destinations, costs at the places of origin and
selling prices on the consumer markets, the purchase and selling prices of slaves
and, lastly, all the factors that would facilitate an appraisal of the significance
of this movement of goods and persons and its repercussions on the economic,
social and political lives of the nations which benefited from it.
This is a difficult and exacting task, but it could be accomplished by a
number of research teams if the necessary funds were made available.
In our view, this is the only way to fill the large gaps in practically all
the data available for each area, particularly in regard to the number of slaves
shipped from each sector (and, where possible, the various ethnic divisions),
and mortality at the ports of embarkation, during the voyage and at desti-
nations. With such information (if obtained) we could attempt more accurate
estimates of the numbers of slaves shipped and correct points of view expounded
in the existing literature.
Portuguese research specialists working on questions
connected with the slave tradeAs we have already mentioned, Portugal's contribution to the study of the slave
trade has been fairly negligible. The studies carried out are quite fragmentary
and tend to concentrate on specific areas, without the overall approach which
is to be desired in this type of research. The most significant study of the slave
trade is the work by Correia Lopes, to which we have already referred. Various
research specialists in history, economics, sociology and other fields can also
make a valid and significant contribution to the clarification of questions
associated with the slave trade.
In this connection, we would like to mention the following research
specialists : Professor Dr Vitorino Magalhäes Godinho, Professor Dr A. H. de
Oliveira Marques, both at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Faculdade de
Ciencias Humanas e Sociais, Avenida de Berna, Lisboa) and Comandante
Avelino Teixeira da Mota, Avenida do Réstelo, 46 Lisboa 3.
Statistics on the slave trade (Portuguese)Our studies over the past ten years would suggest that the biggest gaps in our
knowledge relate to the seventeenth century. Until now, the figures for this
period have been no more than estimates—at times of a dubious nature. The