Five inconvenient truths about slavery that mainstream media will not tell you
1. Slavery did not begin with “white people”
The story of slavery did not start in 1619 when the first enslaved people came to Jamestown. It existed before then. It neither began in 1492 when Columbus discovered the New World.
When the intrepid explorer landed in the Bahamas, the native Taino tribe hoped he could help them defeat their aggressive neighbors, the Caribs.
The Caribs enslaved the Taino and occasionally served them for dinner. [1]
Slavery existed in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The word “slave” actually comes from the Slavs of Eastern Europe. [2]
Millions of “whites” were captured and enslaved by Muslims in the ninth century and later by the Ottoman Turks.
A new study suggests that a million or more European “white” Christians were enslaved by Muslims in North Africa between 1530 and 1780 – a far greater number than had ever been estimated. [3]
[1] Caribbean Slave Society and Economy: A Student Reader” edited by Hilary McD. Beckles and Verene A. Shepherd, 1991.
[2] Atlantic Worlds: Enslavement and Resistance. Royal Museum of Greenwich.
[3] When Europeans were slaves by Robert Davis, News.osu.edu, 2020.
2. Slavery existed in the Roman Empire
Slavery is in the Bible. The early Roman empires controlled the Mediterranean and most of Europe from the 1st through the 5th centuries. [4]
Alexander the Great conquered Persia in the 4th century BC and took slaves to serve the empire.
It was so common that Aristotle considered it “natural.” The enslaved person/master model was just how the world operated in the great philosopher’s day.
Slavery also existed during the time of the ancient Egyptians, about five thousand years ago. [5]
As far back as we can go in human history, we find slavery. As historian John Steele Gordon notes, “Enslaved people were a major item of commerce…As much as a third of the population of the ancient world was enslaved.”
[4] Shaw, Brent D. “Spartacus and the Slave Wars: A Brief History with Documents.” Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001.
[5] Filer, Joyce. “Ancient Egyptian Slave Trade.” Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, 2005.
4. The first “legal slave” owner was a Black
Anthony Johnson, a man of African descent, was one of the first documented individuals to own a slave in the American colonies legally. [6]
Johnson was a former indentured servant who had gained his freedom in the early 17th century and acquired land and other property in Virginia.
In 1654, he went to court to demand that a fellow African man, John Casor, be declared his slave for life. The court granted Johnson’s request, effectively establishing Casor as the first legally recognized slave in Virginia. [7]
[6] Horton, James Oliver, and Lois E. Horton. “Slavery and the Making of America.” Oxford University Press, 2004.
[7] Wood, Peter H. “Strange New Land: Africans in Colonial America.” Oxford University Press, 2003.
There were 171 Blacks who owned slaves in NC alone
William Ellison, a former black slave, rose to become a successful planter in South Carolina. He achieved great prosperity and owned 68 black slaves, making him the most significant slaveholder among the 171 black individuals who owned slaves in the region.
5. White people were the first to put an end to slavery formally
1833 Britain was the first country to pass a Slavery Abolition Act. They were quickly followed by France, who 1848, abolished slavery in her many colonies. [8]
Then came the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
It was the “white men” led by the Republican Party who took the leading role in ending centuries of human slavery, including the 300,000 overwhelmingly white Union soldiers who died during the Civil War in the 1860s. [9]
In contrast, the Democrat Party had a strong presence in the South and included several members who supported the expansion of slavery. [10]
[8] Slavery Abolition Act, Britannica, 2023.
[9] Civil War in America, Library of Congress.
[10] History of the two-party system.
Reparation for the slaves
HOW AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES FORMED.
Persistent lies we hear today to push a political agenda—Candace Owens
Human history is complicated. No race stands guiltless, but today, very little is told about the murderous Persian Empire, the cannibalism of indigenous tribes of North and South America, or the heinous actions under the imperialistic empires.
Instead, we’re told that slavery is a white phenomenon.
The truth is that Africans were sold into slavery by other black Africans. Whites didn’t go into the interior and round up the natives.
The African Kings were the ones who captured their people and confined them in cages to be traded as enslaved people.
Lincoln made racist remarks, as did most white people in 1860. Columbus owned slaves, as did those who could afford them, including Black businessmen.
Slavery is happening in Africa now
There are currently around 700,000 estimated slaves in Africa, nearly twice the number of enslaved people brought to the United States.
Human trafficking and forced child labor are also prevalent in the sub-Saharan region where the transatlantic slave trade originated.
Today, African bodies are being sold like they were during the transatlantic slave trade, but this time, they are not being purchased by white countries. Instead, slavery is being practiced in nonwhite countries.
CANDACE OWENS: BLACK BRUTALITY A MYTH?
Slavery in the Philippines
While the Philippines did not have widespread chattel slavery, it did experience forms of forced labor and exploitation.
The encomienda system under Spanish colonial rule involved forced labor and tribute demands from the indigenous population.
During the American colonial period, exploitative labor arrangements, such as debt peonage, affected Filipino farmers. These practices resembled aspects of slavery, although they were not as widespread as in other regions.
Before Spanish colonization, indigenous societies had labor systems based on kinship, hierarchy, and reciprocity.
For example, the lowest social class is the “aliping sangigilid” or “aliping namamahay” (enslaved people or servants).
They had limited personal autonomy and usually had masters they served for life without getting paid. They also could not marry without the permission of their owner.
