In this section, the focus is on individuals and their life stories, as far as these can be reconstructed. The reason for focusing on individuals is to unravel this crime against humanity, of people viewed as 'slaves', reduced to property, with individuals turned into commodities and things that could be bought and sold, punished in sometimes barbaric ways, and generally treated as objects rather than as human beings. The aim here is to reveal human dignity, resourcefulness and personality, which could involve a focus on open acts of resistance, expressions of culture and actions that reveal individuals as opposed to slaves. Life stories follow people to different parts of the world during the era of slavery. Their experiences offer a view of Global Africa that helps in understanding the slave trade across the Atlantic, within Africa, into the Islamic world and across the Indian Ocean. Too often, slavery is approached as if it was a uniform institution, unbending in its oppression and victimization, without an appreciation of the fact that the people who were enmeshed in this tragic history had lives filled with pain and suffering on the one hand, but also with joy and dignity on the other. A clear theme in many of the stories is the quest for freedom through escape from the conditions of enslavement. Personal accounts of individuals who were born free in their natal societies stand out. Despite their experience of a period of enslavement, they nonetheless re-established their freedom and thereby overcame the trials and tribulations of severe subjugation and humiliation.