Trinidadian historian Eric Williams once pointed out that “British historians wrote almost as if Britain had introduced Negro slavery solely for the satisfaction of abolishing it.” The historical narrative of the abolishment of slavery is such that it would make you think: 1. African people played no role in ending slavery, when we fought harder to end slavery than any white abolitionist did. 2. That figures like Abraham Lincoln and William Wilberforce were great liberators, when in fact neither man particularly cared for African people. 3. That economics was not the main factor in slavery being abolished in the United States and the British West Indies. 4. One of the most neglected facts of abolishment is that many Africans still ended up working on the same plantations because job opportunities were limited. Even more forgotten is the fact that the 13 amendment, which we are told ended slavery, actually had a loophole that allowed for the forced labor of criminals. A number young black men were wrongfully charged as criminals and then worked to death in prison labor camps 5. That the British abolitionists were great humanitarians, when in fact they fought to abolish slavery in the British West Indies, but continued to ignore slavery in Brazil and Cuba. After abolishing slavery in its own colonies, Britain continued to import slave made products from Cuba and Brazil.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 17:50:07 +0000
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