WHOLE TRUTH...about the ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
I'M MAKING MY WAY THROUGH A VERY INTERESTING AND EDUCATIONAL AND SHOCKING LECTURE SERIES CALLED "THE CONQUEST OF THE AMERICAS" BY PROFESSOR MARSHALL C. EAKIN - FROM "THE TEACHING COMPANY" - COURSES CALLED "THE GREAT COURSES."
THIS RECOUNT OF HISTORY YOU CAN TELL BY THE FACE OF THE PROFESSOR, IS NOT EASY TO TELL, VERY HARD AND EMOTIONAL TO HAVE TO RELATE THE FACTS OF HISTORY, IN THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE - Keith Hunt
LECTURE 13 - THE WORDS OF PROFESSOR EAKIN:
IN THIS LECTURE WE TURN TO THE RISE OF THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE - THE LARGEST FORCED HUMAN MIGRATION IN HISTORY. ALTHOUGH THE SLAVE TRADE HAS OFTEN BEEN CALLED "A PECULIAR INSTITUTION" IT IS NOT! IT HAS HAPPENED IN ALL HISTORY AND ON ALL CONTINENTS.
BUT WHAT WE ARE FOCUSING ON HERE IS THE MODERN RISE OF THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE - IT BEGINS IN THE MID-15TH CENTURY AND ENDS IN THE MID-19TH CENTURY.
MILLIONS OF AFRICANS ARE BROUGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AND DISPERSED IN THE DIASPORA, IN ALL THE COLONIES OF THE NEW WORLD.
THIS TRADE TOOK PLACE FOR 400 YEARS AND INVOLVED ALL PEOPLE OF THE ATLANTIC WORLD - THE SPANISH, THE PORTUGUESE, THE DUTCH, THE FRENCH, THE ENGLISH. ALL ARE ENGAGED IN THE SLAVE TRADE; EVERY COLONY IN THE AMERICAS IS EFFECTED BY IT.
BUT WHAT OFTEN GOES UNSPOKEN AND IS UN-POPULAR TO SAY, IS THAT THE PEOPLES OF AFRICA WERE ALSO ENGAGED IN THE PROCESS!! AS JOHN THORTON SHOWS IN HIS WONDERFUL BOOK "AFRICA AND AFRICANS IN THE MAKING OF THE ATLANTIC WORLD (1998).
THE PEOPLES ALONG THE WESTERN COAST AND IN CENTRAL AFRICA WERE DEEPLY ENGAGED IN THE SLAVE TRADE ALONG WITH THE EUROPEANS. AND AGAIN I WANT TO EMPHASIZE, IT'S FALSE TO SEE AMERICANS AS A SINGLE PEOPLE WITH A SENSE OF SOLIDARITY WHO OFTEN SAW THEMSELVES AS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, WITH THE OTHER PEOPLE AROUND THEM AS THE ENEMY IN THE OTHER [PART OF THE UNIVERSE]. IF ONE IS LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME IN THE SLAVE TRADE THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE TO FOCUS ON, FOR EVERYONE PARTICIPATED IN THE PROCESS.
WHAT IS STRIKING TO THE MODERN MIND IS: HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR ANYONE IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD TO BEGIN TO QUESTION THE IMMORALITY AND IN-HUMANITY OF THE SLAVE TRADE AND SLAVERY ITSELF!
CONTINUING FROM THE LECTURE BY PROFESSOR EAKIN:
THE SLAVE TRADE BEGINS IN THE 1440s.
FIRST DOCUMENTS - PORTUGUESE SHIPS COMING BACK FROM WEST AFRICA. THE BEST ESTIMATES PLACE THE NUMBER OF AFRICANS BROUGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 12 AND 15 MILLION!
BUT FOR EVERY AFRICAN WHO ARRIVED ON THE SHORES OF THE AMERICAS PROBABLY ONE DIED FOR EVERY ONE CAPTURED AND ARRIVED IN THE AMERICAS.
IN OTHER WORDS WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 24 TO 30 MILLION AFRICANS WHO WERE INTENTIONALLY ENSLAVED AND DESTINED FOR THE AMERICAS. THIS WOULD BE ROUGHLY 8 TO 10 MILLION PEOPLE PER CENTURY, IN THE 3 CENTURIES OF THE HEIGHT OF THE SLAVE TRADE, IN A CONTINENT THAT HAD 80 TO 120 MILLION POPULATION.
THE STUDY OF THE SLAVE TRADE HAS BECOME VERY SOPHISTICATED IN THE LAST 30 YEARS [THIS LECTURE SERIES WAS DONE IN ABOUT 2004]. WE HAVE A VERY LARGE LITERATURE THAT LOOKS AT ALL ASPECTS OF THE SLAVE TRADE AND SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS.
UNDERSTANDABLY THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH THE SOURCES, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE DIFFICULTIES HISTORIANS FACE WHEN LOOKING AT THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE, AND THE SORDID CAPTURE IN WORLD HISTORY.
OUR BEST QUANTITATIVE SOURCES ON THIS COMES FROM THE SHIPPING RECORDS THEMSELVES, FROM EUROPEAN MERCHANTS, AND THESE ARE SPOTTY AND OFTEN DECEPTIVE; THEY ARE HIGHLY DISPERSED AND UNEVEN. IN THE USA FOR EXAMPLE, THESE RECORDS ARE DISPERSED AMONG MANY PORTS AND DIFFERENT TRADERS. THERE IS NO CENTRALIZATION THAT TAKES PLACE.
IN BRAZIL, WHICH IS THE LARGEST IMPORTER OF SLAVES, THERE IS MORE CENTRALIZED RECORDS, BUT THEY ARE SYSTEMATICALLY DESTROYED AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY.
AND THE BEST EVIDENCE WE HAVE ON BRAZIL, THE LARGEST IMPORTER, IN FACT COMES FROM BRITISH CONSULAR RECORDS IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY, WHEN EACH BRITISH CONSULAR IN BRAZILIAN PORTS, WOULD SYSTEMATICALLY WRITE DOWN EACH SLAVES SHIPMENT COMING IN, AND WOULD DESCRIBE THE PEOPLE WHO GOT OFF AND THE NUMBERS.
DAVID ELTIS, THE CANADIAN SCHOLAR, HAS LED AN EFFORT IN THE LAST FEW YEARS TO CONSOLIDATE ALL THESE SHIPPING RECORDS. THE RESULT IS A CD THAT CAME OUT IN 2,000 - "THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE: A DATABASE ON CD-ROM."
INCLUDES INFORMATION THAT IS EASILY ACCESSED.
ON THE 27,000 SLAVE VOYAGES ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, ELTIS ESTIMATES THIS IS PROBABLY A QUARTER OF ALL THE SHIPS THAT MOVED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC IN THE SLAVE TRADE.
HIS MOST RECENT BOOK HAS WON HIM MANY PRIZES: "THE RISE OF AFRICAN SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS" (2,000). IT IS THE FINEST ACCOUNT.
HUGH THOMAS' "THE SLAVE TRADE" (1997) IS ALSO A FINE NARRATIVE ACCOUNT.
THE CAREFUL WORK OF SCHOLARS LIKE ELTIS, PHIL CURT AND OTHERS, PROVIDE US WITH REASONABLY GOOD ESTIMATES OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SLAVE TRADE AND ITS PHASES.
THE FIRST BLACK AFRICANS ARE SHIPPED BACK TO LISBON IN SOUTHERN PORTUGAL IN THE 144Os. AND IN FACT WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT OF ONE OF THESE EARLY SHIPMENTS, THAT ARRIVES ON THE SOUTHERN COAST OF PORTUGAL IN 1444.
GOMES EANNES de ZURARA, ATTACHED TO THE ENTOURAGE OF PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR, DESCRIBES THE ARRIVAL OF 235 AFRICANS. AND THESE ARE HIS WORDS:
CONTINUING WITH THE LECTURE:
GOMES EANNES de ZURARA, THESE ARE HIS WORDS:
"A MARVELOUS SIGHT AND SOME AMONGST THEM WHITE ENOUGH, FAIR ENOUGH AND WELL PROPORTIONED, OTHERS WERE LESS WHITE ... OTHERS AGAIN SO BLACK LIKE ETHIOPIANS, AND SO UGLY IN FEATURES AND BODY AS TO ALMOST APPEAR AS IMAGES OF THE LOWER HEMISPHERE. WHAT HEART COULD BE SO HARD NOT TO BE PIERCED WITH THE PITIST FEELING TO SEE THAT COMPANY, FOR SOME KEPT THEIR HEADS LOW, AND THEIR FACES BATHED IN TEARS, LOOKING UPON ONE ANOTHER; OTHERS STOOD GROANING VERY GRIEVOUSLY, LOOKING UP TO THE HEIGHT OF HEAVEN, FIXING THEIR EYES ON AND CRYING OUT LOUDLY AS IF ASKING HELP FROM THE FATHER OF NATURE. OTHERS STRUCK THEIR FACES WITH THE PALMS OF THEIR HANDS, THROWING THEMSELVES FULL LENGTH ON THE GROUND, WHILE OTHERS MADE LAMENTATIONS IN THE MANNER OF A DIRGE, AFTER THE CUSTOM OF THEIR COUNTRY."
46 OF THESE SLAVES WERE HANDED OVER TO PRINCE HENRY, WHO WAS STANDING NEARBY, WATCHING THE UNLOADING OF THE SHIP.
WITH THE DISCOVERY OF THE AMERICAS IN THE 1490s, AFRICAN SLAVES BEGIN TO CROSS THE ATLANTIC.
FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS FERNANDO AND ISABEL DEBATE WHETHER TO ALLOW THESE SHIPMENTS OF SLAVES INTO THE NEW AMERICAS. ONLY IN 1510 DOES FERNANDO BEGIN TO AUTHORIZE SLAVE SHIPMENTS, TO BE REGULATED BY THE CROWN, INTO THE CARIBBEAN.
THIS IS THE TRUE BEGINNING INTO THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE.
BUT IT WAS THE RISE OF SUGAR PLANTATIONS, FIRST IN BRAZIL, IN THE 1560s AND 1570s THAT IS THE TRUE ENGINE THAT MOVES THE SLAVE TRADE TO ITS HIGHEST LEVEL.
BLACK SLAVES AND FREE BLACKS ARE EVERYWHERE IN THE AMERICAS. SLAVES IN CUBA BY 1511. A BLACK SLAVE WAS WITH BABOWA WHEN HE SAW THE PACIFIC. A FREE BLACK IS AT THE SIDE OF CORTEZ IN THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO.
PROBABLY ABOUT 100,000 AFRICANS WERE BROUGHT ACROSS TO SPANISH AMERICA AS SLAVES IN THE PERIOD BEFORE 1575.
IT IS NOT UNTIL ABOUT 1550 THE TRADE OF AFRICANS TO THE AMERICAS SURPASSES THAT TRADE BACK TO EUROPE, AND PARTICULAR BACK TO PORTUGAL.
BUT THE RISE OF THE SUGAR PLANTATIONS IN BRAZIL IN THE LATE 16TH CENTURY AND THE CARIBBEAN IN THE 1600s, THAT THE TRADE ACCELERATES DRAMATICALLY. THERE IS A RISING CURVE OF IMPORTS IN THE 16TH CENTURY.
IN THE 1650s THE DUTCH AND THE ENGLISH HAVE COPIED THE BRAZILIANS AND BUILT SUGAR PLANTATIONS ACROSS THE CARIBBEAN BASIN, AND THE DEMANDS FOR SLAVE LABOR ACCELERATES.
NEARLY 2/3 OF ALL THE SLAVES WHO COME ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, CROSS IN THE 18TH CENTURY. THE REASON FOR THIS IS VERY SIMPLE. IT'S IN THE 18TH CENTURY THAT EVERY PLANTATION SOCIETY IN THE AMERICAS IS IN FULL SWING. BRAZIL, THE CARIBBEAN, AND WHAT BECOMES THE USA SOUTH, ALL ARE OPERATING AT FULL TILT. AND IN BRAZIL I SHOULD ADD, IT'S NOT ONLY THE SUGAR PLANTATIONS, BUT THE GOLD MINES, WITH THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN THE 1700s IN BRAZIL, THAT RISES THE DEMAND FOR AFRICAN SLAVE LABOR.
ALTHOUGH ALL OF THE SEA POWERS ARE INVOLVED WITH CARRYING THE SLAVE TRADE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, IN THE 18TH CENTURY, IT IS THE ENGLISH WHO CARRY THE MAJORITY OF THE TRAFFIC, SUPPLYING THEIR OWN COLONIES AS WELL AS THOSE OF THE OTHER EUROPEAN POWERS.
WE CONTINUE WITH PROFESSOR EAKIN'S LECTURE ON THE CONQUEST OF THE AMERICAS, AND IN PARTICULAR HIS HALF HOUR ON THE ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE:
WITH THE RISE OF AN ANTI-SLAVE TRADE AND ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT IN THE LATE 18TH CENTURY, BEGINNING IN ENGLAND, THE TRADE WOULD GRADUALLY DECLINE UNTIL ITS EXTINCTION IN 1870. WHAT IS PERHAPS MOST STRIKING THOUGH TO THE MODERN MIND IS HOW EASILY THE EUROPEANS AND AFRICAN PEOPLES MOVE INTO THIS SLAVE TRADE, AND HOW LONG IT IS FOR ANYONE TO QUESTION ITS MORALITY.
IN THE LAST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY IN ENGLAND THE ANTI-SLAVE TRADE, ANTI-SLAVE MOVEMENT BEGINS, IN PARTICULAR AMONG ENGLISH QUAKERS, WHO IRONICALLY IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY WERE SOME OF THE MAJOR CHARACTERS, MAJOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE ATLANTIC SALVE TRADE.
WITH GROWING ENGLISH PRESSURE ESPECIALLY AFTER 1800 WITH OFFICIAL BACKING OF THE ENGLISH CROWN, THE TRADE AND SLAVERY ARE GRADUALLY SQUEEZED AND ELIMINATED.
THE LAST KNOWN SLAVE SHIPMENT ARRIVED IN CUBA JANUARY OF 1870. AND BRAZIL HAS THE IGNOMINIOUS DISTINCTION BEING THE LAST COUNTRY IN THE HEMISPHERE TO ABOLISH SLAVERY, IN MAY OF 1888.
ALL THE REGIONS OF THE AMERICAS FEEL THE IMPACT OF THE SLAVE TRADE, SEVERAL REGIONS FEEL IT MORE THAN OTHERS. AND ALTHOUGH ALL REGIONS OF AFRICA, WEST AFRICA AND CENTRAL AFRICA, EAST AFRICA, PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROCESS, TWO - ONE IN CENTRAL AFRICA AND ONE IN WEST AFRICA ARE THE REAL FOCUS OF THE ACTIVITY.
THE REGION IN WEST AFRICA BECOMES THE FIRST GREAT EXPORTER OF THIS HUMAN CARGO. THIS BEGINS INITIALLY IN SENAGAMBIA WEST AFRICA, CLOSEST TO THE SAHARA, MOVES VERY QUICKLY TO WHAT TODAY IS GHANA, NIGERIA, BENIN, CAMEROON. IN THE 16TH CENTURY THIS BECOMES THE FOCUS, PORTUGAL IN PARTICULAR, ON THE COAST OF GHANA THEY CONSTRUCT THEIR TRADING SYSTEM, THEIR FORTS, AND FACTORIES AT ELMINA.
LATER IN THE 16TH CENTURY, ANGOLA, CONGO, BEGIN TO SUPPLY MANY BANTON PEOPLES TO THE AMERICAS, ESPECIALLY TO THE PLANTATIONS OF BRAZIL. AND IN EXCHANGE THE BRAZILIANS, AND PORTUGAL, SHIP SUGAR, MOLASSES, AND CANE RUM, BACK ACROSS TO ANGOLA.
IN THE LATE 18TH CENTURY, MOZAMBIQUE IN EAST AFRICA BECOMES A MAJOR SUPPLIER, ESPECIALLY FOR THE BRAZILIANS. IN PART THIS IS DUE TO GROWING DEMAND, IN PART BECAUSE THE SLAVE TRADE IS BEING SQUEEZED NORTH OF THE EQUATOR.
THE LENGTH OF THE VOYAGE FROM MOZAMBIQUE TO BRAZIL IS 10 WEEKS, COMPARED TO 4 WEEKS FROM WEST AFRICA TO NORTH-WEST BRAZIL.
BRAZIL IS THE SINGLE LARGEST IMPORTER OF AFRICAN SLAVES DURING THIS ENTIRE PERIOD; PERHAPS A THIRD OF ALL THE SLAVES THAT COME ACROSS THE ATLANTIC END UP IN BRAZIL. AND UNLIKE ANY OTHER REGIONS, THE SLAVE TRADE INTO BRAZIL ACCELERATES RIGHT TO THE VERY END, WHEN IT IS SUPPRESSED WITH BRITISH PRESSURE AND BRAZILIAN LEGISLATION, THE SLAVE TRADE IN BRAZIL IS AT ITS PEAK. 50,000 AFRICANS PER YEAR, IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY WERE ENTERING BRAZIL - DOUBLE THE ANNUAL RATE OF THE 18TH CENTURY.
THE CARIBBEAN BASIN DEVOURS 50 PERCENT OF ALL THE AFRICANS BROUGHT TO THE AMERICAS, INTO THE SPANISH, ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND DUTCH POSSESSIONS. ALTHOUGH THE CARIBBEAN IS A MUCH LARGER IMPORTER THAN BRAZIL, IT IS MUCH MORE POLITICALLY AND GEOGRAPHICALLY FRAGMENTED.
LIKE BRAZIL THE DEMOGRAPHIC IMPACT ON THE CARIBBEAN IS ENORMOUS. TODAY THE TWO REGIONS OF THE AMERICAS, THAT BEAR THE IMPACT OF AFRICA MOST CLEARLY ARE BRAZIL AND THE CARIBBEAN.
THE 13 COLONIES IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA ABSORB POSSIBLY 6 PERCENT OF THE TRADE, MAYBE 700 TO 750 THOUSAND PEOPLE.
THE FIRST SHIPMENT OF SLAVES INTO NORTH AMERICA ON THE MAIN-LAND, ARE SPANISH MOVING INTO WHAT TODAY IS FLORIDA.
THE FIRST KNOWN SHIPMENT OF ENSLAVED AFRICANS INTO THE BRITISH TERRITORIES IS IN THE EARLY 16 HUNDREDS INTO VIRGINIA.
SO THE USA, WHAT IS THE 13 COLONIES IS A LATE COMER IN THIS PROCESS. PLANTATION SOCIETY THAT BECOMES THE USA, DOESN'T BECOME FULL FLOWER UNTIL THE 18TH CENTURY. SO SLAVERY IN WHAT BECOMES THE USA IS CONCENTRATED IN THE OLD SOUTH WHICH HAS THE DEEPEST IMPRINT OF AFRICA IN ANY REGION OF NORTH AMERICA.
BUT THE IMPRINT IN THE USA IS NO WHERE NEAR WHAT IT IS IN THE CARIBBEAN AND BRAZIL.
Continuing with Professor Eakin's lecture from his 24 lectures on "The Conquest of the Americas"
NOW THE JOURNEY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC HAS OFTEN BEEN CALLED "THE MIDDLE PASSAGE." AND I ALWAYS SAY THIS IS BEYOND THE COMPREHENSION OF US IN THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY. THERE IS NO WAY WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE BROUGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC IN THE HULLS OF THESE SLAVE SHIPS.
ABOUT THE CLOSEST WE GET TO THIS ON FILMS IS THE RECENT MOVIE BY STEVEN SPIELBERG'S MOVIE CALLED "AMISTAD." I ALWAYS COMPARE IT TO THE HOLOCAUST. IF WE REALLY SAW ON FILM HOW BRUTAL AND GRAPHIC THIS WAS, WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO WATCH IT.
WE DO HAVE SOME CLASSIC ACCOUNTS OF THIS PROCESS. TWO SLAVES WRITE ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES.
GUSTAVUS VASSA BETTER KNOWN TODAY BY HIS AFRICAN NAME OLAUDAH EQUIMANO - WAS BORN 1745 AND WAS CAPTURED WHAT TODAY IS EASTERN NIGERIA. HE TRAVELS TO THE WEST-INDIES AND IS SOLD AS A SLAVE THERE. BUT HE EVENTUALLY TRAVELS ACROSS THE ENTIRE ATLANTIC WORLD. HIS OWNER IS A NAVAL OFFICER IN THE BRITISH NAVY, AND HE TRAVELS WITH HIM THROUGHOUT THE ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN AND INTO BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, HE LIVES IN ENGLAND. HE BECOMES IN FACT BRITISH. HE IS CULTURALLY TRANSFORMED. HIS BOOK, HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY WHICH IS CALLED "THE INTERESTING NARRATIVE", APPEARED IN ENGLAND IN 1789; IT IS STILL IN PRINT AND STILL WIDELY READ.
MAHOMMAM BEQUAQUA IS FROM AN AREA AROUND THE UPPER BOLTAR RIVER IN WEST AFRICA. HE'S CAPTURED AND SHIPPED TO BRAZIL IN THE 1840s. HE'S FREED AFTER HIS BRAZILIAN MERCHANT VESSEL STOPS IN NEW YORK.
BOTH OF THESE NARRATIVES PROVIDE THE TYPICAL EXPERIENCE, TO THE MOMENT OF CAPTURE, TO THE TRANSPORTING ACROSS THE ATLANTIC, AND WHAT LIFE IS LIKE AFTERWARDS FOR MANY OF THESE SLAVES.
NOW SLAVERY HAS EXISTED IN AFRICA BEFORE THE EUROPEANS HAD ARRIVED. BUT THE AFRICANS DO NOT HAVE THE SAME NOTION OF SLAVERY AS THE EUROPEANS. THERE IS NO CONCEPT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY, AND IN THIS SENSE SLAVES ARE NOT "CHATTEL SLAVES" WHERE PROPERTY IS OWNED AND TRANSFERRED BY INDIVIDUALS. THERE IS A MUCH MORE "COLLECTIVE" BELONGING. SLAVERY IS NOT A PERPETUAL STATE, PASSED ON THROUGH GENERATIONS.
BUT INDIVIDUALS ARE CAPTURED IN WARFARE; THEY ARE SOLD OR RANSOMED, AND THESE CAPTURED TRAVEL GREAT DISTANCES, OFTEN FROM THE INTERIOR, CHANGING HANDS MANY TIMES BEFORE REACHING THE COAST.
AT THE END OF THIS JOURNEY IN AFRICA, THEY ARRIVE ON THE COAST. OFTEN SEEING THE OCEAN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIVES. CERTAINLY SEEING EUROPEANS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIVES. THEY ARRIVE AT PLACES LIKE WHAT TODAY IS GHANA, RWANDA, ANGOLA, AND THEY ARE PLACED IN PENS; THEY ARE BRANDED, AND IF IN ROMAN CATHOLIC POSSESSION, NOMINALLY BAPTIZED.
(YES, WE SEE SOME OF THIS SLAVERY DONE UNDER THE NAME OF "CHRISTIANITY" - WHAT HAS BEEN DONE OVER THE CENTURIES IN THE NAME OF GOD AND CHRIST IS TRULY SHOCKING; BOTH CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT CHURCHES HAVE SINNED GREATLY - Keith Hunt)
BEQUAQUA LEAVES US A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THIS PROCESS WHEN HE SAYS:
"THE SLAVES WERE ALL PUT INTO A PEN AND PLACED WITH THEIR BACKS TO A FIRE, IN ORDER TO NOT LOOK ABOUT US. AND TO ENSURE OBEDIENCE A MAN WAS PLACED IN FRONT WITH A WHIP IS HIS HAND READY TO STRIKE THE FIRST TO DISOBEY. ANOTHER MAN WENT ABOUT WITH A HOT IRON, AND BRANDED US, THE SAME AS THEY WOULD THE HEAD OF A BARREL, OR ANY OTHER INANIMATE GOODS OR MERCHANDISE. WHEN WE WERE ALL READY TO GO ABOARD THE SHIP WE WERE ALL CHAINED TOGETHER AND TIED WITH ROPES AROUND OUR NECKS, AND WERE THUS DRAWN TO THE SEA SHORE."
FOR MOST OF THESE PEOPLE THIS MUST HAVE BEEN A DEVASTATING EXPERIENCE. THE DEATH ON THE COAST MUST HAVE BEEN ENORMOUS. IN A SENSE MANY OF THE PORTS MUST HAVE BECOME GRAVE YARDS.
BEQUAQUA SAYS HE HAD NEVER SEEN A SHIP BEFORE, AND "...MY IDEA OF IT WAS THAT IT WAS SOME KIND OF OBJECT OF WORSHIP OF THE WHITE MAN. I IMAGINED WE WERE ALL TO BE SLAUGHTERED, AND WERE BEING LED THERE FOR THAT PURPOSE."
NOW THE PASSAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC MUST HAVE BEEN HARROWING EVEN AT THE BEST, THE BEST CONDITIONS.
JOSEPH MILLER'S WONDERFUL BOOK "WAY OD DEATH" (1988) WHICH LOOKS AT THE ANGOLAN SLAVE TRADE RECREATES THIS IN ENORMOUS DETAIL. AND ONCE AGAIN THE BEST DOCUMENTATION ON A GLOBAL SCALE IS DAVID ELTIS' CD.
THE AVERAGE SHIP PROBABLY HAD ABOUT 400 PEOPLE CHAINED IN GROUPS AND STACKED LIKE BOOKS ON SHELVES, BELOW THE DECK.
WITH MINIMAL FOOD AND WATER, BECAUSE THE MORE SUPPLIES YOU HAD ON BOARD, THE LESS SPACE YOU HAD FOR CARGO.
DISEASE, PUNISHMENT, AND TROPICAL TEMPERATURES ABOVE 100 DEGREES ABOVE DECK, IT MUST HAVE BEEN HORRIBLE CONDITIONS BELOW.
ANY TYPICAL VOYAGE MUST HAVE LOST 10-20 PERCENT OF AFRICANS THAT WERE CROSSING. AND IT WAS NOT HEALTHY FOR THE CREWS EITHER. IT'S PROBABLE THAT THE EUROPEAN CREWS THAT WERE ON BOARD THESE SHIPS, DIED AT THE SAME RATE AS THOSE PEOPLE THEY WERE CARRYING ACROSS.
THE SHIPS WERE SO UN-HEALTHY, THAT AT TIMES WHEN THEY ARRIVED IN THE NEW WORLD, THE SHIPS ARE SCUTTLED AND BURNT.
THIS SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT THE CONDITIONS ON BOARD.
SOME OF THESE SLAVE CAPTAINS LEAVE ACCOUNTS, AND SO SOME OF OUR BEST FIRST-HAND SOURCES ARE SLAVE CAPTAINS WHO LATER DECIDE THAT WHAT THEIR DOING IS IMMORAL, AND THEY WRITE ABOUT THIS.
AND IN FACT WHAT GETS MY VOTE AS THE GREATEST SONG EVER WRITTEN, WAS WRITTEN BY A FORMER SLAVE SHIPPER, JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807) AN ENGLISHMAN IN THE 18TH CENTURY, WHO HAS A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE AND GIVES UP HIS TRADE, IS AUTHOR OF "AMAZING GRACE."
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.
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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.
A FEW MONTHS INTO COVID 19 MY SERVER WERNT DOWN, AND IT SEEMS NOW IT WILL NOT BE BACK UP.
THANKFULLY THE PEOPLE WHO INVENTED WAYBACK MACHINE HAVE MY WEBSITE.
GO TO — WAYBACK MACHINE
TYPE IN — keithhunt.com
CHOOSE YEAR — 2017
CLICK ON DOT IN — FEBRUARY
CLICK ON WHAT COMES UP
YOU HAVE MY WEBSITE AS IT WAS IN 2017
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