HERE'S THE LAST PART OF PROFESSOR EAKIN'S LECTURE FROM HIS 24 LECTURE SERIES CALLED "THE CONQUEST OF THE AMERICAS" PUBLISHED BY THE TEACHING COMPANY - THE GREAT COURSES.
IT MUST HAVE BEEN A PHENOMENAL EXPERIENCE.
AGAIN FROM BEQUAQUA:
"WE WERE THROWN INTO THE HOLD OF THE VESSEL IN A STATE OF NUDITY. MALES BEING CRAMMED ON ONE SIDE, FEMALES ON THE OTHER."
I SHOULD ADD QUICKLY HERE, THESE SHIPS ARE OVERWHELMINGLY MADE. WHAT THE PLANTATION AND MINE OWNERS WERE LOOKING FOR WAS ADULT MALE MANUAL LABORERS, ADULT MEN ABOVE THE AGE OF 11 OR 12.
"THE HOLD WAS SO LOW WE COULD NOT STAND UP, BUT WE WERE OBLIGED TO CROUCH ON THE FLOOR OR SIT DOWN. DAY AND NIGHT WERE THE SAME TO US. SLEEP BEING DENIED TO US BECAUSE OF THE CONFINED POSITION OF OUR BODIES. WE BECAME DESPERATE THROUGH SUFFERING AND FATIGUE."
THE DEAD WERE SIMPLY THROWN OVERBOARD, AND AT TIMES WHEN SUPPLIES WERE LOW, AND THE WINDS AND WEATHER CONDITIONS UNFAVORABLE, LENGTHENING THE VOYAGE, THEY WOULD BE THROWN OVERBOARD TO SAVE SUPPLIES.
THOSE WHO RESISTED AND REBELLED SUFFERED A HEAVY PRICE. AND MANY DID REBEL. IN THE CD WHICH IS CONSTRUCTED BY ELTIS, IN ALL PHASES OF THE SLAVE TRADE, IN ALL NATION'S SHIPPING, THERE WERE SLAVE REBELLIONS ON THE SHIPS, BUT THEY WOULD RARELY SUCCEED. THE MOST FAMOUS OF THESE TAKES PLACE IN THE 1830s ON THE AMISTAD - THIS IS WHAT HAS BEEN MADE FAMOUS IN SPIELBERG'S RECENT FILM. THIS IS ONE EXAMPLE OF SLAVE REBELLION THAT SUCCEEDS, WHEN THEY TRY AND TURN THE SHIP AROUND AND GO BACK TO AFRICA. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT, AND IN THE CASE OF THE AMISTAD, THEY ARE TRICKED AND END UP ON THE NORTH AMERICAN MAIN-LAND.
UPON THEIR ARRIVAL IN THE AMERICAS, BALTIMORE, CHARLESTON, HAVANA, OR REO, THE PROCESS THERE IS ALMOST THE SAME. THE SHIP WILL ARRIVE, THEY WILL OFF-LOAD THE CARGO, OFTEN LITERALLY HAVING TO CARRY THE WEAK AFRICANS INTO SMALL BOATS TO BRING THEM ASHORE. IN EACH OF THESE PORTS THEY HAVE A SIMILAR PROCESS. THEY HAVE PENS SET UP AND THE REVERSE OF WHAT TOOK PLACE ON THE AFRICAN COAST TAKES PLACE.
AT THIS POINT THE SHIPPERS NEED TO MAXIMIZE THEIR PROFIT, BEFORE THEY PUT THE SLAVES ON THE AUCTION BLOCK, THEY CLEAN, FEED THEM WELL, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON THEM, AND THEN TAKE THEM TO THE AUCTION BLOCK, WHETHER IT'S IN BOLONGO, THE FAMOUS SLAVE MARKET OF REO, OR CHARLESTON. THEY ARE PLACED ON THE AUCTION BLOCK AND SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE SLAVES WILL END UP DOING MANUAL LABOR, ON THE SUGAR PLANTATIONS, TOBACCO FIELDS, IN RURAL AREAS IN LATIN AMERICA, PARTICULARLY IN BRAZIL AND THE CARIBBEAN.
BUT THEY WILL BE ENGAGED IN OCCUPATIONS OF ALL CONCEIVABLE TYPES.
BUT WHAT THIS DOES IN THESE TWO MAJOR REGIONS OF BRAZIL AND THE CARIBBEAN, IS AN ENORMOUS DEMOGRAPHICAL IMBALANCE. PROBABLY 70 TO 75 PERCENT OF THE ARRIVING AFRICANS ARE MALE, AND ON A TYPICAL PLANTATION WHAT YOU SEE IS THE SAME DEMOGRAPHICAL IMBALANCE.
BUT AGAIN SLAVES ARE ENGAGED IN EVERY CONCEIVABLE OCCUPATION WHETHER IN REO, NEW ORLEANS, HAVANA. AT THE END OF THE 18TH CENTURY AND THE BEGINNING OF THE 19TH CENTURY, YOU'LL FIND SLAVES AS MANUAL LABORERS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, DOMESTIC SERVANTS, CARPENTERS, AS COBBLERS, AS BARREL MAKERS, AND ALSO WHAT IS ASTONISHING TO US, THESE SLAVES ARE OFTEN ENGAGED IN OCCUPATIONS THAT TAKE THEM AWAY FROM THEIR MASTERS. WE HAVE THE EXAMPLE OF EQUINANO; FOR MUCH OF HIS CAREER AND SLAVERY HE SHIPS OUT, AND IS IN FACT CAPTAIN OF MERCHANT VESSELS FOR HIS OWNER WHO REMAINS BACK IN THE ISLANDS OF THE CARIBBEAN.
SO THERE IS AN ENORMOUS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT FOR SOME SLAVES, AND SOME ARE RESTRICTED TO THE PLANTATIONS. BUT IN THE END I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THIS, WHAT WE SEE HERE IS A PROCESS TO BRING AFRICANS OUT OF THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA; CAPTURED BY OTHER AFRICANS IN WARFARE, SOMETIMES IN SLAVE RAIDS AND BROUGHT TO THE COAST OF AFRICA, SOLD TO THE EUROPEANS; PACKED ABOARD SHIPS, AND BROUGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC IN A VOYAGE THAT WILL LAST ANYWHERE FROM 4 TO 10 WEEKS; ALL DONE UNDER HORRIFIC CONDITIONS. THEN THEY ARRIVE IN THE AMERICAS; THEY ARE SOLD INTO SLAVERY, LARGELY INTO THE PLANTATIONS AND MINES; EVENTUALLY ENDING UP IN EVERY CONCEIVABLE OCCUPATION.
BUT IT IS THESE AFRICANS, ESPECIALLY IN BRAZIL, THE CARIBBEAN, AND WHAT EVENTUALLY BECOMES THE USA SOUTH, WHO QUITE LITERALLY CONSTRUCT THE NEW SOCIETIES IN THE AMERICAS.
THEY AND THEIR DESCENDANTS ARE THE BUILDERS OF THE NEW AMERICAN COLONIES.
..............................
THIS IS A PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE MAIN PLAYERS OF THE WESTERN NATIONS, MOSTLY NATIONS OF THE VERY DESCENDANTS OF THE BIBLICAL HOUSE OF ISRAEL. OUR SINS OF THE PAST ARE MOUNTAINOUS. WE FINALLY SAW THIS SIN OF SLAVERY AND PUT IT AWAY FROM US. THEN THE USA ESPECIALLY WENT THROUGH A 100 YEARS OF BIGOTRY, RACISM IN PARTS OF THE NATION, EVEN TO KILLING BLACKS, BEFORE THE USA FULLY REPENTED OF THAT SIN.
NOW TODAY THE WESTERN NATIONS HAVE OTHER GREAT HUGE SINS [LIKE ABORTION ON DEMAND, AND ALLOWING "GAY MARRIAGES" AS WELL AS WHOLE SALE SABBATH BREAKING, WHOLESALE GAMBLING, SEXUAL IMMORALITY, AND THROWING THE BIBLE OUT OF EVERY PART OF OUR LIVES], THAT WE WILL NOT REPENT OF; WE HAVE CROSSED THE LINE OF NO RETURN; WE SHALL HAVE TO BE PUNISHED AND BROUGHT SO LOW AND DOWN ON OUR KNEES WITH OUR FACES IN THE MUD, BEFORE THE FEET OF OUR LOVER ENEMIES, IN DESTRUCTION, THAT WILL ONLY LEAVE 1/10 OF OUR PEOPLES ALIVE AT THE COMING OF CHRIST. TO DELIVER US, TO REDEEM US, TO CLEAN US UP AND GIVE US THE SPIRIT OF GOD.
OUR SINS OF THE PAST HAVE BEEN GREAT, OUR SINS OF THE PRESENT ARE GREAT AND GRIEVOUS.
GOD IS PATIENT. HE IS GIVING US TIME FOR SOME TO COME TO REPENTANCE; FOR THE WORK OF THE GOSPEL TO GO FORTH, TO OUR NATIONS AND ALL NATIONS OF THE EARTH. BUT THE TIME WILL COME WHEN WHAT WE ARE SOWING WILL REAP THE REWARD OF OUR PUNISHMENT, GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED, HE IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS OR NATIONS.
WHAT IS WRITTEN IN THE PROPHECIES OF THE WORD OF THE LORD WILL COME TO PASS. THOSE PROPHECIES I HAVE EXPOUNDED FOR YOU IN DETAIL ON MY WEBSITE.
..........
No comments:
Post a Comment