A Brief History of North American Slavery II

A Brief History of North American Slavery II

The first article of this series offered substantial evidence that slavery was not begun in lands which became the United States during 1619 and that it was established not by England or later American colonists but existed before Europeans arrived only to be perniciously adapted by varying imperial powers over a century earlier. Among the overlooked facts is that slavery was ongoing for centuries prior to the usual four hundred years that some claim. North America represents a minor portion in the greater history of using illegal captive human labor and slavery was not “unique to the United States, it is a part of almost every nation’s history, from Greek and Roman civilizations to contemporary forms of human trafficking.”i A largely misunderstood issue by some who discuss the matter of slavery is how common the practice quickly became due to its use by nearly every culture in North America. Its tribal roots shifted into a feudal and subsequently imperial system that empowered those using people’s fear and disgust of others against them only to render financial value at the cost of human freedom. Past tribal bondage was transformed into the legalized Portuguese enslavement of Native Americans and Africans while the Spanish crown expanded these practices with help from ongoing religious and public support.

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