10 Facts about Slavery that aren't
Taught in School
Human slavery
is as old as time. It is still practiced today in many variant forms
in countries all across the globe, including the United States. In
this age of political correctness, some of these facts reveal
inconvenient truths. I've listed a few sources I used for this
article, and invite anyone who has an interest in this subject to
check my statements for accuracy.
1 – Human
Slavery has Likely Existed Since the Beginning of Time.
The Code
of Hammurabi (1760 BC), refers to slavery as an established
institution. In the Bible, Joseph's jealous brothers sold him into
slavery. The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians for 400 years
and finally freed by Moses in his famous Exodus. In the New
Testament book of Philemon, the apostle Paul enjoins a Christian
slave-owner to treat his runaway slave, Onesimus, like a brother. In
the book of I Corinthians, Paul tells the church that “bond and
free” Christians are to be treated equally. Roman society, which
flourished in Biblical times, was built on the backs of slaves. The
famous Roman Coliseum, for example, was constructed primarily by
slave-labor from captive Jews. Beginning in 793 A.D., Vikings from Scandinavia captured thousands of Irish and Scottish civilians, enslaving them. The women were used for sex and as domestic workers while the men were used for manual labor. The Viking culture was built on slavery.
2 –
Millions of White Europeans were Enslaved by Muslims.
Christopher Hitchens wrote: “How many know that perhaps 1.5 million
Europeans were enslaved in Islamic North Africa between 1530 and
1780?” For centuries, the so-called Islamic Empire (a loose
federation of countries now known as Egypt, Algeria, Tunis, and
Libya) enslaved millions of white Europeans. In fact, the Empire
grew wealthy due in part to the slave trade. Pirates from these and
other Arabic countries raided coastal villages in Europe (France,
Spain, Portugal, England, etc.) in search of slaves. They also
captured thousands of ships, selling the cargo and enslaving the
crews. It is estimated that about 2.5 million Europeans were enslaved
by the Empire from 1450 to 1830. Conditions endured by these victims
were brutal to the extreme—women were used as concubines while many
men were forced to become eunuchs. The Barbary Wars, fought in the
early 1800s by the Americans and some European allies, effectively
ended the practice of enslaving and ransoming crews of American
ships. In 1830, France conquered Algiers, making it a colony and
ending the rampant slave trade there.
3 –
Africans Traded Slaves to Arabic, European, and American
Slave Traders.
From prehistoric
times, slavery thrived in Africa. The practice likely began when
warring clans captured rivals, enslaving them. For thousands of
years, slavery was a major part of the African economy. Beginning in
the 7th
century, clans and wealthy families sold hundreds of thousands of
slaves to Arab traders. In addition, Islamic pirates captured
millions of Africans and sold them into slavery. In the 12th
century, Europeans began to trade for black slaves that were carried
back to Europe. Beginning in the 16th
century, English ships transported African slaves to the New World.
Soon New England slavers established their own slave routes to and
from Africa. These slaves were not hunted down by whites, but
obtained through trading with local clans and warlords. In “Slavery
in Africa,” Donald R. Wright states that “West
and west central African states, already involved in slave trading,
supplied the Europeans with African slaves for export across the
Atlantic.” Today, UNICEF
reports that slavery still exists in Africa.
4 – Millions
of “Indians” Were Enslaved by Whites.
Christopher Columbus
took Indians (natives misnamed because he thought he'd found India)
back to Europe where they were enslaved. The Spanish conquerors of
South America captured millions of Indians and used them to perform
manual labor. In Florida alone, Hernando de Soto seized thousands of
natives which he used as slaves. In the 1600's, New England
colonists enslaved hundreds of troublesome Pequot Indians who
objected to encroachment on their territory. Since these Indian
slaves were considered “dangerous and revengeful,” many were
transported to the West Indies and exchanged for “Negro” slaves,
thought of as more compliant. John Winthrop, governor of
Massachusetts, kept American Indians as slaves, and doled others out
to those who requested them. Winthrop also helped write the first
law making slavery legal in the United States.
5 – Agriculture
was a Driving Force for Slavery in the South.
As the fledgling
United States began, all Southern and Northern states codified their
laws so that individuals could legally own slaves. (Georgia was the
last Southern state to do so since James Edward Ogelthorpe, one of
its founders, opposed slavery.) Approximately twelve million
Africans were brought to the Americas, but most were shipped to
Brazil and the West Indies, where sugar plantations were plentiful.
The 1793 invention of the cotton gin, a machine that sped up the
process of removing seeds from cotton fiber, jump-started slavery in
the South. According to the 1860 census, one year before the start
of the War Between the States, 8% of Americans, including southerners
and northerners, owned slaves. The total number of slaves in
America in 1860 was listed as 3,950,528. Of 31 million Americans,
nearly 400,000 owned slaves. At the time, 476,748 free blacks were
listed. The vast majority of southerners did not own slaves, and
many opposed the institution.
6 – Thousands
of Freed Blacks Owned Slaves.
Yes, Virginia, blacks owned slaves.
This fact has been suppressed by historians because it does not fit
the politically correct narrative. For example, in 1830, two South
Carolina blacks (Justus Angel and Mistress L. Horry) each owned 84
slaves. In the 1830 census, 3,775 blacks owned 12,740 black slaves.
In 1860, in Charleston, South Carolina, 125 free blacks owned slaves.
In New Orleans, approximately 25% of slaves were owned by freed
blacks. Antoine Dubuclet was a black sugar planter in Louisiana who
owned more than 100 slaves. William Ellison, a former slave freed by
his owner, became one of the largest and wealthiest slave-owners in
South Carolina. He was also a slave-breeder, something looked down
on by both blacks and whites. Ellison supported the Confederacy
during the Civil War, and one of his sons, Buckner, fought in the 1st
South Carolina Artillery. Buckner Ellison was wounded in action in
1863. From the early 1800s to the defeat of the Confederate States
of America, thousands of freed blacks owned slaves.
7 –
Slavery Existed in the Northern States Even After the Civil
War.
Slavery in the northern
states began long before the American Revolution. Many of those
instrumental in the creation of the United States owned or sold
slaves. For instance, Dudley Saltenstall, progenitor of many New
England politicians and governors, made much of his money as a
slaver. William Penn, who wrote Pennsylvania's then-liberal
constitution, owned slaves. Slavery in many New England states was
not abolished until long after the Revolutionary War. In the late
1700's, nearly twenty percent of New York City's population were
slaves. The City Council passed a law appointing a place where “all
Negro and Indian slaves” should be sold. This was near today's
Wall Street Stock Exchange. While slavery became illegal in New York
in 1827, it continued on. In 1857, the New York Journal of
Commerce wrote: “Downtown merchants of wealth and
respectability are extensively engaged in buying and selling African
Negroes and have been, with comparatively little interruption, for an
indefinite number of years.” Slavery
was still legal in some northern states (i. e., Delaware, Maryland,
Kentucky, and Missouri) until December, 1865, nearly a year after the
end of the Civil War.
8 –
Slavery in the United
States of America Only Ended After
the Civil War.
The 13th
Amendment, ratified on December 6, 1865 (eight months after the end
of the Civil War), abolished legalized slavery in the United States
of America. NOTE: By the time of the passage of the 13th
Amendment, slavery had already ended in the former Confederate States
of America. Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, issued on
September 22, 1862, applied only to Southern states. In fact,
History.com states that in 1863, “there were an estimated
800,000 slaves in border states and some 3 million more in
Confederate states.” On April 8,
1864, during the war, the United States Congress voted NOT to ratify
the 13th
Amendment. Slavery in the South ended on
April, 1865, when the war ended, but legally continued in northern states
until December, 1865.
9 – Many
Famous Northerners Owned Slaves.
This is a partial list of a few
famous northerners who owned slaves: Union General and U. S.
President Ulysses S. Grant; Benjamin Franklin (bought, sold, and
traded slaves); Cornelius Vanderbilt; John Hancock (bought, sold, and
traded slaves); William Penn; President Martin Van Buren; President
William Henry Harrison; President James Buchanan; John Jay, signer of
the Declaration of Independence; and Union General William Tecumseh
Sherman. Like President Abraham Lincoln, Sherman was vocal in his
belief that blacks were inferior to whites.
10 – Slavery
Still Exists in the United States Today.
Slavery today is
generally called “trafficking.” It occurs all over the world,
including America. It can take many forms, including sex trafficking,
labor trafficking, debt bondage, and, in some countries, organ
transplant trafficking and military trafficking. In the United
States, pimps routinely search out young white blond girls, called
“snow bunnies,” because they bring more money from sex-hungry
johns. By addicting these girls (many underage) to drugs, the pimps
are able to control them and coerce them to do anything, including to
sell their bodies. In addition to sex trafficking, many foreign-born
individuals are smuggled into America and forced to labor for little
or no pay. Chinese, Africans, Mexicans, individuals from the
post-Russian countries, and many others also become victims of
trafficking. According to recent data, an estimated 100,000 to
300,000 young people are trafficked in this country at any given
time. Many
American-born victims are from poverty-stricken homes, or are
runaways.
Recommended Reading
The
Manor: Three Centuries at a Slave Plantation on Long Island by
Mac Griswold.
Complicity:
How the North Promoted, Prolonged and Profited from Slavery by
Anne Farrow.
Digital
Collections/New York Public Library (Online). Many images and
articles discuss the extensive slavery institution in New York.
“Slavery
in Africa” by David R. Wright.
slavenorth.com
Thomas
Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War that Changed
American History by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/thirteenth-amendment
