Mary Faber (slave trader) facts for kids

Mary Faber, also known as Mary Faber de Sanger, was an important African slave trader. She was born around 1798 in Freetown, which is now in Guinea. She passed away sometime after 1857. From the 1830s until 1852, she was a very powerful person in the Atlantic slave trade from Guinea. She was also known for her conflicts with the British Royal Navy Anti-Slave Squadron. This group worked to stop the slave trade.

Her Life Story

Mary Faber was born in Freetown. Her parents were settlers from Nova Scotia. In 1816, she married Paul Faber, an American shipowner. Paul Faber had started a slave trading business in the Conakry region in 1809.

Her husband set up their main business base in Sangha, by the Rio Pongo River. Here, they had a "slave factory." This was like a fortress where enslaved people were kept. Many other slave traders also had similar places in the same area.

Paul Faber was in charge of the ships that took enslaved people to Cuba. Mary Faber, however, managed the daily operations at their base on the Rio Pongo. Her husband was often away, so Mary had almost all the power at the fort. He wasn't really involved in the business there after the mid-1830s.

Reports from 1827 said that there were about 6,000 enslaved people on the Faber property.

Running the Slave Trade

The British had banned the slave trade. To avoid the British Royal Navy Anti-Slave Squadron, which would raid and destroy slave forts, Mary Faber and other traders changed their forts into plantations. This was a way to make it look like the enslaved people were just domestic workers, not meant for export.

Because she was in charge of the company's base, Mary Faber also managed complex agreements and power struggles with local tribes and other trading families. The region had many independent slave traders. They often formed alliances with local tribes and sometimes fought wars against each other.

Mary Faber had her own private army. She led this army during conflicts. Between 1838 and 1840, she fought a war against another trader named William Ormond in Bangalan.

Ormond had allies in Freetown. Mary Faber used this to her advantage. She allied with the Fula tribe. The Fula chief then stopped protecting Ormond. This helped Mary Faber win the war and become the most important trader in the region.

In 1842, Mary Faber and her business partner, Bailey Gomez Lightburn, combined their armies. They helped their Fula allies take over the Susu capital, Thia. The Susu were weak from internal conflicts. Faber and Lightburn helped put their own chosen leader in charge. This helped the Fula, Faber, and Lightburn.

The 1840s were a very successful time for trade in the region. During this time, Mary Faber and other slave traders slowly started to focus on growing peanuts and coffee. However, the slave trade continued at the same time.

The End of the Trade

On January 17, 1852, the British and Sierra Leone made an agreement with the local ruler to ban the slave trade in the region. The lower part of the river had already agreed to this ban. Mary Faber saw this agreement as a hostile act. She believed it was from traders in the lower river area who were allied with Freetown. She also thought it would weaken the Fula tribe's power over the Susu tribe, which would hurt her business.

So, Mary Faber formed an alliance with her partners Lightburn and Charles Wilkinson. They attacked the Susu region by the lower river. This war ended with Faber and her allies losing in 1855. Her slave fort was burned down. However, the Faber family rebuilt their fort and continued their business.

In 1852, Mary Faber gave control of the company to her son, William Faber. He continued the slave trade until at least 1860. Mary Faber was last mentioned by missionaries in 1857. At that time, she was only described as the head of her family and William Faber's mother.

See also

In Spanish: Mary Faber para niños

• Signares, who were female slave traders in colonial West Africa.