Human slave trade (Blog #4)

While I find the idea of slavery disgusting and inhumane, I found it interesting how the human slave trade worked within Africa and other countries. It was really surprising to me that individuals, including Americans, justified enslaving Africans because of their lack of stuff and because they 'have attributes that are quite similar to those of dumb animals' (480). This surprised me because in order to enslave millions of people, the Africans had to be dehumanized and "animal-like". What struck me even more was the idea that the African authorities were the ones who regulated the slave trade with other countries. I understood that many of the Europeans that traveled to Africa became ill because of their lack of immunity to jungle diseases, but what I didn't understand is how they could consider Africans dumb and animal like enough to enslave mistreat and even kill them, while others, with the same physical characteristics, were considered humanlike enough to do business with. It’s not like the African authorities were white or different looking than the slaves they were trading, so what made these authorities more human than the slaves?

Another point I found interesting was that America seemed to have a more strenuous and unforgiving lifestyle for the African slaves than any other country at the time. I never realized that other countries often freed their slaves after some time, or at least would consider children born to slaves as free people. In America life as a slave was cruel, dangerous and all children born to slave women were considered life-long slaves as well; generally it was ideal for slave women to bare children because it provided slave owners with “free” slaves. I never realized that of all those involved in the slave trade, America seemed to be the most inhumane, this thought not only made me disappointed but it made me ashamed of my ancestors. It is not a good feeling to learn that your country was founded on the backs of others, especially when these actions continue to cause hardships and racism within America, long after slavery has been outlawed. All I can hope is that with education of our past behavior, we can head towards a stronger and more united future.  

Trade in Asia and India (Blog #3)

While reading the first half of chapter 14, two things really caught my attention. First was the way the Portuguese set up a trade post empire, in order to take control of trade in the Indian Ocean. This really caught me off guard because rather than attempting to participate in the trade market, they decided to try and take it by force.  It is disturbing to me how easy it is for people to take advantage of others in the pursuit of money and power; however it made me happy to read that even with their aggressive actions they never dominated the trade, and they were quickly challenged by other countries like Spain.

The second part of this chapter that really interested me was the idea of England being behind in the trade market. In all of the history I’ve learned, England has been a major player in the trade market throughout the world. It was honestly intriguing to see them struggle just to be an active participant in Asian and Indian markets. I found the way in which the Dutch and England finally joined this trade market very interesting as well; instead of pirating, like the Portuguese and Spain, they made business connections and was granted charters to monopolize specific trade markets. Although this caused the exploitation and death of native land owners, this introduced a new way to think about trade relationships in the Indian Ocean. I never approve of the way in which people exploit others and their resources, but I found this section of the chapter very interesting because it allowed the reader to understand the similarities and differences between the different countries’ ways of gaining control of or participating in trade.

 

 

***Sorry this is late, I realized I was reading the wrong chapter on Monday and it was too late for me to reread the correct chapter. ****

Blog #2 Sugar cane and slavery (Blog #2)

     Growing up I found myself fascinated with learning history; I found it inspiring and enlightening, that is until I went to college and learned the side of history that was never revealed in my small home town school. It is overwhelming to think about the atrocities that humans can commit against other humans and living beings. There were three readings from the handout that really triggered an emotional response in me as I read.
      The first was the writing by Frederick Slare in 1775. Frederick Slare attempts to trigger an emotional response within the reader to not only "crave" sugar but to feel guilty about not wanting to use sugar. He "addresses" several popular concerns about sugar in a strictly emotional way, rather than providing evidence in the support of sugar. He attempts to convince the reader to consume sugar by appealing to women's desire for beauty and acceptance. The reason this triggered my anger is because this is the same thing I see in advertisements today; specifically with tobacco, alcohol and fast food. Although all of these products have been proven to be harmful when consumed, advertisements attempt to use emotional triggering to entice consumers to use those products. This really upsets me, because (at least with three products I mentioned above) they know that the product is dangerous and yet they attempt to seduce the consumer by promising to feel good, have fun or be beautiful. It has always interested me to see how different policies and procedures (including advertising) has changed from the past, or not changed for that matter. I always thought that advertising has become more ruthless over the years based on lack of accountability or originality, so it caught me off guard to see that it has been the same for a very long time.
     The second segment that interested me was the letter to parliament. This fascinated me because it is not often that I have seen someone illustrate the entire process of any product before, and I felt like this letter did a good job at that. It would be hard for someone who is a consumer to understand how the entire process works from planting the fields to selling the product in a store, so when they want to add a tax (duty) to the product they don't usually understand the impact this will have on the entire system. What really drew me into this section of the handout, was the way the author simply spelled out the process of sugar production as well as how and why each step of the process would be affected by the increased duty on sugar. One thing I have learned to hate about history is that it changes based on whose pint of view you are hearing. What I like about this is it seemed to take a 360 view of the sugar production industry (whether it actually did or not) and presents it in an intellectual way.
     The third and most emotional section of this handout to me was the account of slavery through the eyes and memory of Olaudah Equiano. This was a heartbreaking account of the living conditions of those living as slaves or indentured servants. This is the side of history that is rarely, if ever, displayed. I believe that it is the lack of these stories that has allowed for these injustices that occurred to go unpunished, and almost unnoticed, and it continues to justify these actions today. I think the most fascinating part of this section was on page 106 when he talks about how not all of the slave owners (plantation owners) treated their slaves and indentured servants with distain. What I found interesting about this is that many plantation owners seemed to justify their cruel and horrific actions towards their slaves with the idea that if they treated them better or gave them more freedom they would be uncontrollable. This however is not the case as we can see by Olaudah Equiano's account, those who were treated more humanely, though still living the life of a slave, lived longer and healthier lives and were at the same time able to complete more work than those living in horrific conditions.

Yay I am done! (Blog #1)

Yay, I finally got this to let me set up a new blog!!!! Long process, I am glad I could finally figure it out.