GROWING UP IN BRITAIN AND IN A CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL [ANGLICAN], WE HAD A HISTORY CLASSS; WE LEARNT ALL ABOUT BRITISH HISTORY FROM THE EARLY FIST A.D. CENTURY UP TO THE ENGLISH TAKING CANADA AWAY FROM THE FRENCH. WE WERE NOT TAUGHT ABOUT ENGLAND BEING IN THE SLAVE TRADE, OR ANYTHING ABOUT THE USA AND SLAVERY. I KNEW NOTHING OF THIS UNTIL AND AFTER I CAME TO CANADA. I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THE DIVISION IN THE SOUTH USA OVER RACE, ALL THE WAY UP INTO THE 1960s. I LEARNT ABOUT ALL THAT DURING THE 1960s AND WAS TOTALLY SHOCKED AND SICKENED IN HEART AND MIND. AND IT WAS ONLY IN THE LAST 20 YEARS THAT I HAVE LEARNT THAT CANADA ALSO HAD A TERRIBLE SLAVE HISTORY - Keith Hunt
WHOLE TRUTH of SLAVERY in the Americas #5
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."
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TO BE CONTINUED
WHOLE TRUTH of SLAVERY in the AMERICAS #6
Continuing the lecture from Professor Eakin:
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."
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TO BE CONTINUED
WHOLE truth of SLAVERY in the Americas #7
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; AND WE STILL HAVE RACIAL SINS IN VARIOUS WAYS IN THE USA. 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.
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