“La Vergognosa Piaga”: Atlantic Slavery and Race from/in the Italian States, 1815–61

In 1853, while the Piedmontese Parliament passed the first Italian law against the illegal slave trade, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala premiered Bianchi e neri, an adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by the star choreographer Giuseppe Rota. As the American civil war was approaching, Atlantic slavery came to be a relevant topic not only for political thinkers (Carlo Cattaneo and Antonio Rosmini among others) and academic audiences, but also for segments of the public opinion. At the same time, the British-based campaign for the suppression of the slave trade, which shed light on the lingering involvement of Italians in it, became a litmus test for the admission of the Italian states in the international system. While consensus against what came to be commonly referred to as the “shameful plague” of slavery was widespread, opinions about what had to be done to end slavery and “emancipate” former slaves varied significantly. In fact, the mid-19^th century Italian debate over slavery and abolition reveals a complex web of natural and cultural arguments over racial alterity. Such a debate is tackled as a chapter of both history of ideas and history of transnational/international relations in the Atlantic context. Consequently, the array of sources includes historical writings and political treaties touching upon the Americas and especially the United States (eg. Carlo Botta, Giuseppe Compagnoni); newspapers and periodicals (eg. the Jesuit Civiltà Cattolica) covering international developments; diplomatic and private correspondence concerning abolition as a matter of domestic and foreign policy. The aim is unpacking how racial categories were challenged and at the same time reinforced at a time when the debate over Atlantic slavery and abolition reached Italian shores.