The Rush for Black Diamonds, Volume One: From John Locke to Thomas Jefferson—The Transatlantic Slave Trade to Chattel Slavery in the UK and the US

by Jr. John Witte; George Walters-Sleyon

Publisher:

Cascade Books

, 2024

Overview

The Rush for Black Diamonds, Volume One is the first of two volumes. It explores the Transatlantic slave trade and its mutation into chattel slavery. Volume One focuses on the involvement of two prominent Enlightenment philosophers as the architects of the political, legal, economic, and philosophical justifications for the human trade in the United Kingdom and the United States: John Locke (1632-1704), a British philosopher and "Father of Liberalism"; and Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the third president of the United States. Both men, Locke and Jefferson, were also slave traders and slave masters. Referring to Lockean Slavery and Jeffersonian Slavery, The Rush for Black Diamonds, Volume One contends that Locke and Jefferson are responsible for the justification and sustainability of chattel slavery and its post-slavery racial perceptions and marginalization of Black people in the West. Used as a metaphor, Black Diamonds captures the exploration of Western nations’ rush for Black people across the Atlantic Ocean to be used as economic units and chattel property. With impunity, it was the most disruptive act of human institutions, cultures, and socioeconomic and political stability, with substantial financial, social, political, and racial implications for centuries in human history.

Praise for The Rush for Black Diamonds, Volume One

In The Rush for Black Diamonds, George Walters-Sleyon anatomizes the legal and philosophical alibis that enabled slavery. In so doing, he casts new light on this crucial story, with scholarship, verve, and a passion for justice.

——Richard Sparks, professor of criminology, University of Edinburgh

In The Rush for Black Diamonds, the Rev. Dr. Walters-Sleyon presents a compelling narrative that connects several durable and decisive threads within America’s philosophical, economic, and legal foundations to the persistence of white supremacy. An important and timely read.

——Whittney Barth, executive director, Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University

Product Details

• Title: The Rush for Black Diamonds, Volume One: From John Locke to Thomas Jefferson—The Transatlantic Slave Trade to Chattel Slavery in the UK and the US
• Authors: Jr. John Witte, George Walters-Sleyon
• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Print Publication Date: 2024
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 260
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9798385201389, 9798385201365, 9798385201372
• Resource ID: LLS:9798385201389
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-23T00:18:02Z

About the Authors

George Walters-Sleyon earned his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland/UK, where he studied Comparative Criminal Justice/Criminology, Practical Theology, and Ethics. He has a Master of Divinity (M.Div.); and S.T.M. from Boston University in Philosophy, Social Ethics, and Religion/Theology. He has earned a teaching certificate as an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) of the United Kingdom. George is a McDonald Distinguished Fellow at Emory University’s Center for the Study of Law and Religion and an Associate Fellow at the Scottish Center for Crime and Justice Research in Glasgow/Scotland. He teaches Applied Ethics, Introduction to Philosophy, and World Religions at Bunker Hill Community College and other universities in Boston. He is the author of several articles and books including: Locked Up and Locked Down: Multitude Lingers in Limbo Revised Edition (2017); Nuggets from the Night: An Anthology of Poetic Expressions (2020); Prison Chaplains on the Beat in US and UK Prisons (2021); and God in the Name of God Jesus Christ (2022). George is also an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He lives in Boston with his family and is available for speaking engagements.