MISINFORMATION IN SLAVE TRADE HISTORY

Instead, we trace the history of slavery in all its forms to make sense of the origins of wealth inequality and the roots of discrimination today. The history of slavery provides vital context to contemporary conversations and counters the distorted facts, internet hoaxes and poor scholarship I caution my students against. The majority of African captives came to what became the United States. Only a little more than , captives, or percent, came to the United States. The majority of enslaved Africans went to Brazil, followed by the Caribbean. They spent months or years recovering from the harsh realities of the Middle Passage.

Once they were forcibly accustomed to slave labor, many were then brought to plantations on American soil. Popular culture is rich with references to years of oppression. There seems to be confusion between the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the institution of slavery, confusion only reinforced by the Bible, Genesis The American part of the story lasted fewer than years.

How, then, do we calculate the timeline of slavery in America? Most historians use as a starting point: Africans first arrived in America in the late 16th century not as slaves but as explorers together with Spanish and Portuguese explorers. As far as the institution of chattel slavery — the treatment of slaves as property — in the United States, if we use as the beginning and the 13th Amendment as its end, then it lasted years, not Roughly 25 percent of all Southerners owned slaves.

The fact that one-quarter of the southern population were slaveholders is still shocking to many. This truth brings historical insight to modern conversations about inequality and reparations. When it established statehood, the Lone Star State had a shorter period of Anglo-American chattel slavery than other southern states — only to — because Spain and Mexico had occupied the region for almost one-half of the 19th century with policies that either abolished or limited slavery.

Still, the number of people impacted by wealth and income inequality is staggering. By , the Texas enslaved population was ,, but slaveholders represented 27 percent of the population, and controlled 68 percent of the government positions and 73 percent of the wealth. African-Americans have been free in this country for less time than they were enslaved. Blacks have been free for years, which means that most Americans are only two to three generations away from slavery. This is not that long ago. Over this same period, however, former slaveholding families have built their legacies on the institution and generated wealth that African-Americans have not had access to because enslaved labor was forced.

Segregation maintained wealth disparities , and overt and covert discrimination limited African-American recovery efforts. Economists and historians have examined detailed aspects of the enslaved experience for as long as slavery existed. My own work enters this conversation by looking at the value of individual slaves and the ways enslaved people responded to being treated as a commodity.

They were bought and sold just like we sell cars and cattle today. They were gifted, deeded and mortgaged the same way we sell houses today. They were itemized and insured the same way we manage our assets and protect our valuables. Enslaved people were valued at every stage of their lives, from before birth until after death. Their values decreased on a quarter scale from three-fourths hands to one-fourth hands, to a rate of zero, which was typically reserved for elderly or differently abled bondpeople another term for slaves.

For example, Guy and Andrew, two prime males sold at the largest auction in U. The latest scientific research points to the fact that all human beings are likely to have African ancestors. Africa was not just the birthplace of humanity but also the cradle of early civilisations that made an immense contribution to the world and are still marvelled at today.

The most notable example is Kemet — the original name of ancient Egypt — which first developed in the Nile valley more than 5, years ago and was one of the first monarchies.

The slave trade - a historical background

However, even before the rise of Egypt, an even earlier kingdom was founded in Nubia, in what is present-day Sudan. Ta Seti is thought to be one of the earliest states in history, the existence of which demonstrates that, thousands of years ago, Africans were developing some of the most advanced political systems anywhere in the world. Kemet, more commonly referred to as the Egypt of the pharaohs, is best known for its great monuments and feats of architecture and engineering, such as the planning and construction of the pyramids, but it also made great advances in many other fields.

The Egyptians produced early types of paper, devised a written script and developed a calendar. They made important contributions in various branches of mathematics, such as geometry and algebra, and it seems likely that they understood and perhaps invented the use of zero. They also made important contributions to mechanics, philosophy and agriculture, especially irrigation. Some historians now believe that Egypt had an important influence on ancient Greece, pointing to the fact that Greek scholars such as Pythagoras and Archimedes studied there and that the work of Aristotle and Plato was largely based on earlier Egyptian scholarship.

The continent progressed on its own path of development without major external intervention apart from the Arab invasions of North Africa that began after the rise of Islam in the mid-7th century. Those invasions and the introduction of Islam served to integrate North Africa, as well as parts of East and West Africa, more fully into the Muslim-dominated trading system of that period and generally enhanced the local, regional and international trading networks that were already developing throughout the continent.

The Arabic language also provided a script that assisted the development of literacy, book-based learning and record-keeping. The works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle were studied there, as well as subjects such as law, various branches of philosophy, dialectics, grammar, rhetoric and astronomy. In the 16th century, one of its most famous scholars, Ahmed Baba — , is said to have written more than 40 major books on such subjects as astronomy, history and theology and had a private library that held over 1, volumes. In his book Description of Africa, published in , he says of the town: There, too, they sell many handwritten North African books, and more profit is to be made there from the sale of books than from any other branch of trade.

Arabic numerals based on those used in India were also transplanted, which helped to simplify mathematical calculations. This knowledge, brought to Europe mainly by the Moors, helped to create the conditions for the Renaissance and the eventual expansion of Europe overseas in the 15th century.

The slave trade - a historical background

Between the 7th and 15th centuries, the external Muslim trading demand for African goods also included a demand for captives. Forms of slavery have existed on all continents at different times in history — for instance, as a means of exploiting those captured in war — especially where there were labour shortages and an abundance of land.

Slavery was certainly present in some African societies before the rise of Islam. In ancient Kemet, for example, there are descriptions of European slaves being branded. Later, in other African societies, especially those that were powerful states, enslaved or unfree people could be found, although generally their status was little different from that of poor farmers. It may indeed have been similar to that of the serfs of medieval Europe, who were required to produce an agricultural surplus or perform other duties for a particular ruler.

But when an external demand for enslaved people arose, some African societies could and did supply slaves. Enslaved Africans were also forced to go to parts of the Middle East, to India and perhaps even as far as China. The most well-known slave of East African origin is Malik Ambar — who was born in what is now Ethiopia.

Enslaved at an early age, he eventually became the regent of the Indian kingdom of Ahmednagar, famous for his military campaigns against the Mughals. The development of states in Africa, increased the levels of inequality — between men and women, rich and poor, free and servile. In fact, inequality and economic exploitation were particularly prevalent in some of the most powerful and developed states, such as the Ethiopian kingdom. Indeed, historians generally consider Ethiopia to be a feudal society with many features similar to those of feudalism in Europe — that is, economic and political power was based on land ownership and the exploitation of those who were forced to work on that land.

It was sustained by the mining of gold in West Africa, as well as the production of many other goods there. For many centuries, it was dominated by powerful empires such as Ghana, Mali and Songhay, which often controlled both gold production and the major trading towns on the southern fringes of the Sahara.

A 9th-century historian wrote: In his territory are mines of gold.

He was also said to have an army of , men and to rule over an extremely wealthy trading empire. In the 14th century, the West African empire of Mali, which was larger than western Europe, was reputed to be one of the biggest, richest and most powerful states in the world. When the famous emperor of Mali, Mansa Musa, visited Cairo in , it was said that he brought so much gold with him that its price fell dramatically and had not recovered its value even 12 years later.

It was gold from these great empires of West Africa that prompted the early Portuguese voyages of exploration.

Biographies

However, although the history of the continent before the transatlantic slave trade is often viewed as one of great empires and kingdoms, many of its inhabitants lived in societies with no great state apparatus. They were often governed by councils of elders or by other kinship- or age-based institutions. Religious and philosophical beliefs concentrated on maintaining communication with ancestors who could intercede with gods on behalf of the living and ensure the smooth functioning of society. The Ethiopian kingdom was unusual because there the orthodox Christian Church, which was of ancient origin, performed increasingly important state functions.

Many of these societies were small scale, occupied with farming, herding and producing enough from agriculture to survive and exchange in local markets. They could also be part of larger empires and, as such, were expected to produce a surplus or perform other duties for an overlord. In short, while these societies varied greatly and were governed in different ways, they were all developing according to their own internal dynamics.

The Igbo people, who still live in Nigeria, are an example of a society that was not part of a centralised state. They ruled themselves in village communities that, at different times, used slightly different political systems. As in many other African societies that used similar methods, everyone was taught rules and responsibilities according to age and groupings — men or women together in age sets — that cut across family or village loyalty. Sometimes the extended family was responsible for organising and training people and for liaising with other similar extended family groups, through councils of elders or elected chiefs.

Therefore relationships based on age and kinship were often very important. Even societies that had kings and more centralised political structures also used these other political institutions and ways of organising people. What is important about them is that they involved many people in decision-making and, in this respect, were African forms of participatory democracy.

Religious ideas generally supported and underpinned these systems of government, most importantly giving people their own specific ways of understanding the world and the rules of their own society. In most parts of Africa before , societies had become highly developed in terms of their own histories. They often had complex systems of participatory government, or were established powerful states that covered large territories and had extensive regional and international links. Many of these societies had solved difficult agricultural problems and had come up with advanced techniques of production of food and other crops and were engaged in local, regional or even international trading networks.

Some peoples were skilled miners and metallurgists, others great artists in wood, stone and other materials. Many of the societies had also amassed a great stock of scientific and other knowledge, some of it stored in libraries such as those of Timbuktu, but some passed down orally from generation to generation.

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There was great diversity across the continent and therefore societies at different stages and levels of development. Most importantly, Africans had established their own economic and political systems, their own cultures, technologies and philosophies that had enabled them to make spectacular advances and important contributions to human knowledge.

But just as devastating was the fact that African societies were disrupted by the trade and increasingly unable to follow an independent path of development. Colonial rule and its modern legacy have been a continuation of this disruption. The devastation of Africa through transatlantic slavery was accompanied by the ignorance of some historians and philosophers to negate its entire history. These ideas and philosophies suggested, that among other things, Africans had never developed any institutions or cultures, nor anything else of any worth and that future advances could only take place under the direction of Europeans or European institutions.

This is full of unhelpful misinformation! We must stop misleading our children with falsehood and incitement to hatred in the name of history. The aim of this trash is to fit into the narrative that the Whites have done Blacks wrong and very strangely, that Islam and Arabism have done us well or not so bad!! Brushing over Arabic invasions as if it was all flowers and economic prosperity, is equally disgusting and reaks of the work of a wet behind the ears social justice warrior. Nothing could be further from the truth. Why not go into some detail about the brutal nature of the Sub-saharan slave trade.

Black slaves are still castrated today in Saudi Arabia. Hello Pepe and by extension, Ezhi. Just letting you know that your comments and critiques have not fallen on deaf ears. We have been working on several pieces regarding Middle Eastern, Far Eastern and Oceanic involement in Africa for some time.

However, as we focus on Black History in the UK and because the UK falls within a European sphere of influence, research on European involvement in Africa was our primary source of information as it is a easier to get a hold of and b has a greater number of sources that have been verified. At present, the largest issue we have on talking about the influence of Middle Eastern countries in Africa is that we are nowhere near where the information is kept.

Secondly,people are largely unwilling to talk to us due to time constraints or their own views which deem it an issue not worth their time. In conclusion, this article was planned to be the first of many, with this one in particular looking to be constantly updated as information came to us.

This is a very lazy historical analysis. It claims to be countering Eurocentricism, but begins with the European assumption that Africa is a homogenous block. Nobody disputes that Egypt is the cradle of much of modern civilisation. But what did San bushmen living in the Kalahari have to do with Egypt?

The above article is exactly the kind of history you get when Black Europeans write history with a specific identity political agenda in mind.