Slave traders

[VF500]

Who thinks white men went to Africa and rounded up slaves to bring to America? Everyone, right? While it's true that some Eurpeans occasionally did mount campaigns to go through the bush to capture slaves, the vast majority were sold into slavery by their African brothers. Here's (http://africanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa080601a.htm#) how most slaves got to America.

Cattle truckers don't go out and "find" a bunch of cows to take to market. They back up to a loading chute and a cattle farmer drives them into the truck. Slave ships did the same thing. The idea fostered by abolishionists of white men on horses capturing slaves, like in Planet of the Apes, is self-serving crap. It's not a whole lot different in Africa today.

Between 1450 and the end of the nineteenth century, slaves were obtained from along the west coast of Africa with the full and active co-operation of African kings and merchants. (There were occasional military campaigns organised by Europeans to capture slaves, especially by the Portuguese in what is now Angola, but this accounts for only a small percentage of the total.) In return, the African kings and merchants received various trade goods including beads, cowrie shells (used as money), textiles, brandy, horses, and perhaps most importantly, guns. The guns were used to help expand empires and obtain more slaves, until they were finally used against the European colonisers. The export of trade goods from Europe to Africa forms the first side of the triangular trade.

[David M]

I don't get it...whats the point? Slavery is wrong no matter who does it.

[VF500]

I don't get it...whats the point? Slavery is wrong no matter who does it.
Exactly. Look what's going on in the Darfur provence of Sudan. (http://www.sudanupdate.org/REPORTS/Slavery/slave.htm#anchor568096) The Islamics from the north come down and capture Christians and others from the south and sell them as slaves. That's ignored by George Clooney and his cause de jour. Modern day slavery is the dirty little secret of Africa. How loud should liberals, and people like me, be howling about this practice? And we should be giving aid to this country??? No.

[VF500]

Here's the "official" government repsonse to charges of slavery.

What is the Sudan Government's policy?
The government has repeatedly denied that slavery exists, but under international pressure it set up committees to investigate the question in early 1996. It blames the phenomenon on "tribal conflicts" in which both sides take hostages, and insists these captives are not slaves. Slavery is against the law in Sudan, and only "the white man, decades ago", took slaves, it says. In practice, the government uses the militias to destroy villages and terrorize entire communities. It turns a blind eye to raiding for captives as "war booty" to be kept in servitude or sold. Some captives become hostages, some become slaves. When families of captives try to get their children back through the courts,the government has not often been helpful. And close to the war zones, few people are brave enough to challenge militia fighters in court.

[whr2206]

I visited a few "slave castles" in Ghana over the summer. I was suprised to hear the guides give an objective account of the transatlantic slave trade.

Of course this all went to hell when visting the castle in Cape Coast, our group ran into Jessie Jackson. (But he did invite us to the U.S ambassadors house for a 4th of July celebration.. which was pretty cool :rolleyes: )

[alex n]

The reason why Europeans didn't go and capture slaves themselves was because of diseases like malaria, which at that time no vaccines existed.

To the best of my knowledge, the West Africans went inland and captured other Africans to sell to the slave buyers who waited off the coast in boats.

Slavery is always wrong, however, the fact that Africans sold other Africans changes the scenario. No longer can you blame slavery on white racism alone. Both races were profiting from it.

[VF500]

Slavery is always wrong, however, the fact that Africans sold other Africans changes the scenario. No longer can you blame slavery on white racism alone. Both races were profiting from it.
You're using the past tense. Slave trading isn't a thing of the past. It's on going, just not done publicly. Where are all the up-in-arms liberals? :confused: How did you like the reference than "only white people were involved"? How hypocritical can those nations be?

[alex n]

I used past tense because the slave trade with Africa was abolished around 1810 - maybe earlier (1809?), not sure of the exact year. After that year no new slaves were allowed into the United States from Africa.

At that point slaves started getting sold "down the river" from Virginia to the deep south to work on large plantations, etc, etc.

What goes on in Africa as far as slavery today is a different issue. Arabia was getting slaves from Africa long before Europeans, however, it is arguable that their system of slavery was different, that their culture didn't treat slaves as "property" like in the United States.