Selling Souls












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            * Selling Souls
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            William O’Reilley, a senior lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Cambridg

            lecture on November 6 on his upcoming book ‘Selling Souls. Trafficking German migrants, Eu
            1648–1780.’ The event was prepared in collaboration between the Faculty of Humanities of C
            and CEFRES (Centre Français de Recherche en Sciences Sociales).

            Selling Souls, which has been completed over the course of nine years, investigates the hi
            seventeenth and eighteenth-century German emigration to North America as well as Central a
            Europe. During this period trafficking had a different purpose to its role today, it worke

            the establishment of new settlements in America and Eastern Europe. However, what is simil
            as we know it, is the conditions that the migrants had and still have to endure, the morta

            such vessels in this period was as high as 18%, with migrants being lured into a false sen
            before the reality of their future was made evident.
            Generally, in Early Modern Europe, travel was seen as something that could both threaten a

            promise a better future. Travel encouraged curiosity and curiosity encouraged travel. Ther
            for change overcoming many citizens. This particular story of migration began at the end o
            century, with recruiters who were commonly known as locators beginning to emerge. These in

            motivated by wealth and were sent out into the landscape to drum up migrants, promising bo
            and unlimited resources. They were unjust in their approach, and can be seen as little mor
            traders.

            The statistics show that during this period 120,000 Germans were moved across the Atlantic
            850,000 moved to South Eastern Europe. For O’Reilley, it was only through unravelling the 
            motivations of the traffickers that he would be able to fully understand the history of wh

            during this time of mass migration.
            When O’ Reilley began his research it seemed like a somewhat archaic idea. However, follow
            of the Arab Spring and the increasing refugee crisis, a widespread interest was sparked. A

            current society is defined as a person who moves from one place to another in order to fin
            living conditions. However, in the 17th century they were often seen in a more negative li
            deserter or at least an egotist.

            Throughout the lecture O’Reilley told stories which he had learned through his research, a
            to set the scene of what was really happening. One story that O’Reilley regaled which held
            poignancy began in 1751 with a man named Tshudi. Tshudi was locator who had returned to hi

            appearing as a successful young man who had traversed the seas and thus he had returned to
            success.
            In 1767, Tshudi sailed a boat of migrants from Rotterdam back to Pennsylvania under the fa

            of new opportunities, and in a German newspaper a complaint was published which declared h
            trafficker.’ Three men who were aboard this particular vessel recounted that Tshudi had de
            had entered their village claiming that his mother was coming with them and so he was a tr

            asserted that half the people on the ship knew him to be a priest, five men were even forc
            he claimed to have known their confessions.
            However, following this complaint, Tshudi chose to fight back, publishing a further letter

            entitled ‘A trafficker who seeks to repair his reputation.’ He quoted the Bible and effect
            the three men, declaring one to be a homosexual, the other to be a thief and the third man
            left by his wife.

            This story is just one of many which shows the stance of these locators and the conditions
            citizens had to endure. What can be taken from O’Reilley’s extensive research is that thes
            were selling the dream of a new world. They combined human resource management skills with

            to deceit citizens with the false hope of a better future. For them ignorance was a commod
            traders in the market place of knowing, and not-knowing and they bridged a gap as is done 
            security, freedom and literacy. Without their action, this huge migration that occurred du

            would have been inconceivable.