Mecca courts issued fraudulent marriage and manumission certificates to conceal slave transport

Evidence

When these people have slaves with them, before boarding the ship, they obtain from the Court of Mecca certificates stating that the slave was liberated by her master, or better yet, though less often, they obtain deeds from the aforesaid Court stating that they are legally married to the slave. These documents may have been granted in good faith by the religious authorities[,] but in general these authorities are aware of the abusive ends to which these documents are put, and only dispense them after being compensated. As for the slaves, they are thoroughly instructed in what they are to say, and they are made to believe that the Egyptian authorities have no other goal in coming to see them except to seize and torture them. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 704

Categorization

• DEFINE: Illustrates the specific documentary mechanism (manumission and marriage certificates from the Court of Mecca) used to disguise slave trading.
• QUESTION: How reliable is Schaefer’s report as a source? The account of paid Mecca court officials dispensing documents merits further sourcing.