Pourquoi étudier l’histoire de l’ESCLAVAGE de l’Afrique Noire au collège ? #duty2remember

Why is it important to talk about slavery ?

Some people say slavery is a not-so-important subject to talk about and we think it’s rather ridiculous. Why? Well, we will break it down in three steps. First, what is slavery?

Slavery is a form of indentured service and free labour which has been used since forever.

The first instances of slavery being used go all the way back to the ancient greeks, far before the year zero, where a winning country would take prisoners of war and turn them into slaves who were used to do chores for the most privileged people. At one point there was so much slaves that they represented about forty percent of Athenes population. Also, they didn’t have any rights since they were considered inferior to real citizens.

Later on, they still were multiple instances of slavery being a common thing in major cities but was however often forgotten about in History books except once, during the Late Middle Ages where Lords would always have sorts of slaves called serfs.

Slavery would also take place in Muslim Caliphates where traders would use camels in order to cross the Saharan desert to trade Arab goods for slaves in Subsaharan Africa.

It will always be a common theme across the world but would greatly amplify in the 1500’s as the Spanish would start to colonize America massively and the same can be said for Portugal in Brazil and Africa. They started to trade with their colonies and gain the unfortunate title of “first country to instaure the triangular system” after seeing the profits of the new tropical goods. They would board people and Europeean goods in Africa to the slave trade harbors where they would exchange those goods with captured slaves who would later cross the Atlantic Ocean and arrive to America to be used for labour in the plantations to grow and farm those tropical goods. All of this just to please the Nobles…
Unfortunately, France and England would get involved to get the monopoly on American exports and they would consider slaves as a valuable good to get Luxury (Tropical Goods).

This would amplify later on as the crops needed more slaves to keep up with European demands. Slavery would see its peak between the 1740’s and the 1780’s but started to be seen as brutal by some. Anti-slavery organizations would start to rise up on stage to show the cruelty of slave-owners and they gained a lot of support, enough to put pressure on slave owners to let go of their « possesions ». Slavery would fortunately get reduced and go extinct altogheter in the nineteenth century where constitutions would be rewritten to ban slavery. Slavery has left a deep scar in our society even today as racism is still a common theme, especially in the United States.

And that is it for the second part. We will now talk about the sole reason of this presentation : Why is it important to talk about slavery in the modern world ? I will explain it in two steps :

First, we have to understand the historical reach of slavery. It has deeply affected our culture and history in many ways like the path towards equality, certain countries in America being much poorer than us, racism and more importantly, discrimination.
Finally, we have to respect and honor all people who were either killed or got mutilated during this dark period of history for many countries and to show and convince everyone, even in the future, how barbaric and cruel this system really was.

But the sole reason isn’t that, it’s not repeat those mistakes once again and take a path towards freedom and equality, it’s our duty to remember.

Everybody agrees to say that slavery is bad but it’s worse than bad, it’s inhuman, unfathomable, barbaric, monstruous, cruel, vicious…

Initially, slaves were weirdly wcalledas indentured servants because they would do free labour, work hard : they farmed the land, built homes and helped the colonies grow. They had to work a certain number of years in exchange for their freedom.

In 1619, black people were enslaved by slave traders and forced to board bellow deck of huge ships, where they would find themselves stocked into compartements with ceiling as low 4,5 feet where they would spend most of their voyage. Usually the crossing would last 6-8 months but sometimes it could take more time. The crew fed only slaves who didn’t seem sick, but the food was not very nutritive and looked quite disgusting. As soon as the slaves were sick for several days, they were unchained and thrown overboard. Enslaved captives deemed disobedient were tortured and beaten, usually with the especially cruel Cat-o-nine-tails-a tool designed to inflic maximum pain. They humiliated by the crew because they forced they to dance, sing and entertain.
Roughly 10 percent of people died on the ship during the voyage, because of diseases, suicide, rebellions and horrible conditions.
Women while usually left unshackled were raped and sexually abused by members of the crew, sometimes arriving in the New World carrying he children of their attachers.
When they moored in New England, they were cleaned up and sold by the Europeans to slaves master. Some worked til death in fields or in homes, some committed suicide because it was easier for them. (their life estimation was 10 years !)
Slaves had no rights and couldn’t own anything not even the clothes they were wearing ! Secretly, they sang between them to share they feelings and keep their cultures alive.

Now we are going to give you our opinions on why is it important for us to study the Hisory of slavery. It’s important because we should not repeat the sames errors. It’s also because it helps understanding this painful and terrible part of the US history, 12,5 millions people became slaves and were tortured by Europeans and to recognize the struggles and achievements of people who were enslaved because of their race for years. It’s not only about Africans slaves. It’s about all slaves since antiquity.

We think slavery isn’t something to reproduce. This dark time taught us important values such as kindness, respect and the necessity of equality, justice, and compassion — reminding us that freedom and dignity are rights that must be protected for every human being.

Today, we will explain the need to study the history of slavery. First, you need to know the slavery was not born on the American continent around 1619. Indeed, it has existed for ages and is sometimes plaguing some countries still.

Before going any further we believe it’s important to define what slavery is. Slavery means the kidnapping of people to force them to do free labour, generally in fields but sometimes as servants.

Now, let us tell you about the most known slavery case that took place on the American continent. Contrary to popular opinion, some African tribes actually kidnapped other people from ennemies tribes to sell them for weapons and alcohol… to European merchants. This spark lit a fire and black people started to be captured regardless. They were then transported in boats under horribles conditions.
Indeed slaves were enchained, stocked segregated by age and sex below deck. Plus there were not any facilities, so they relieved themselves in a commun bucket. It was boiling hot, so it smelt bad and they could not move an inch. Moreover, many African slaves got sick from diseases and died at sea ; some slaves committed suicide because life on boat was too horrible. Hardly any slave revolted onboard but sailors had guns and artilleries so it was simply worthless. Sometimes enemy European powers bought pirates to attack ships from another European power to steal slaves. Like the story of saint Juan Baustita a Portuguese ship that was attacked by twopirate ships sent by the English Crown. The crossing lasted two extra months and perhaps fifty percent slaves died as the crossing conditions in the aftermath of the attack were so vile. It’s basically inhuman.

This was later called trans-Atlantic trade. It gave way to a new form of commerce.

Now let us explain the life of slaves in plantation. Once in the Americas, they worked hard: farmed, built homes and helped the colonies grow stronger and richer but their initialy work were servants for some years. The conditions in plantations were worst. Indeed slaves didn’t eat or very little, they were hit with whips whent didn’t do the work properly. They would work from sunrise to sunset to harvest tropicals fruits. Slaves were sold like some pieces of furniture.

We do think it’s crucial to study the History of slavery at school because it’s the obligation to remember. If we know what happened, we can stop it from happening again. Plus it’s important to respect the memory of the people who were enslaved because of their race.

Let us present the History of slavery.

First, people usually make mistakes, but slavery is the big part for our history. People usually assume slavery is our society’s worst plague, so we will try and unterstand why it is crucial to remember.

Slavery in New England started over 500 years ago, right at the birth of the future United States. Black slaves came from Africa, as mere stolen goods from Portuguese merchants.

The condition onboard the boat during this barbaric crossing were inhuman : actually, the crossing lasted between 6 and 8 months or sometimes more according to how rough the sea was. More than 10 percent of slaves died during the crossing. They were under feed and the conditions below deck were ghastly. So diseases spread among the slaves quiclky. The slaves were malnourished and the sick were thrown into the ocean. On top of that, a lot of slaves are beaten, abused, tortued, raped.

They went through these hellish conditions because of a basic caucasian idea that the enslavement of black people was normal as they were not considered human. As simple as it sounds, it is not normal.

In the XIXe siecle, slavery persited in many parts of the world, particulary in European colonies. Slaves were men, women and kids – often from Africa – sold and forced to work on sugar cane, cotton, coffee plantations or as a servants. They was treated like mere property and goods.

We find slavery is both unfair and inhuman. It is a plague on our common History. We should never forget. That is why studying this as schiool is crucial. 

People are usually assuming slavery is a taboo. We do believe it’s worth talking about. So why is it important to study slavery today ? Let us explain our thougts in two parts.

First and foremost, let’s start with dates and a bit of History. Slavery has existed for ages, in Greece and Egypt to name a few, but today we are going to focus on slavery on the American continent. But first, let us define slavery. Slavery is forced work, forced labour, usually inflicted upon by a stronger individual.
Well 15 000 BC, indigenous people, later called Native Americans or sometimes Indians, first lived in North America. Well, intially it was called Turtle Island as it was a name used by Natives. America was later used because of Amerigo Vespucci. Then in 1492 Christopher Colombus supposedly discovered America, thinking it was India. The rest is History and British settlers built cities and settlements accross the Atlantic. Slavery actually began in 1619 in New England when British settlers bought Black slaves captured from Portuguese Angola. It would last for centuries and only end in America in the end of the XIXe century, thanks to President Lincoln, more precisely in 1863.

Now you know more about slavery, let’s answer of the question at stake : « Why is it important to study the History of slavery today ? »

First, obviously because slaves went through a terrible life. Initially they arrived in New England as indentured servants. They lost their land, culture and family but worked hard for the beneffit of few rich settlers. Once in a foreign land, they farmed the land and built homes and helped the colonies grow. Thus this free labour was profitable and more workers were needed. So leaders made laws that allowed for slavery.

So to us it is crucial to study this topic as it is our generations’ job to stop slavery from happening again : it’s the obligation to remember. As for me, Elric, it definitely triggered something in me because I’m black and we share the same skin color.

Our conclusion to this question is : because it helps to understanding this painful and terrible part of U.S history and not to repeat the same mistakes.

People usually assume slavery is our society’s worst plague… And they’re quite right.

-Slavery means forcing somebody to obey under your orders. The topic of Slavery is crucial because it’s important to know the truth, from 1501 to more than 12,5 millions Africans were transported to the Americas. They were kidnapped by Portuguese colonial forces. The slaves used to work in the plantations, were working and tortured by a master. During their transport in a boat their life condition were simply not human. They were stocked and were unchained ; it was barbaric. People saw them like mere animals.

-The slaves owned nothing, not ever their children.
Before the slaves were exploited to work on plantation producing luxury goods, they would often work as servants for Nobles and the bourgeoisie in exchange for their freedom. Black people who were chosen to be sold as slaves could be sold by black traders in exchange for guns and manufactured goods. Because of the nobility and the bourgeoisie who loved luxury goods, more slaves were needed to produce more luxury goods. The slaves sang work song to convey message of distress, to secretly share their feelings and keep their culture alive. If one of the slaves try to escape to the plantation they would be scarred for life.

-Quite often, black women were raped during the night and they could also become pregnant by their master.

-On ships, slave traders sometimes fed the slaves and chose among them those who will be allowed to eat their meal of rice and beans. Slaves were forced to watch others being whipped, and then the slave traders humiliated black women by forcing them to dance. Enslaved people were forced to relieve themselves were they sat, creating hellish conditions when combined with the heat and lack of ventilations below deck.

-Diseases spread such as dysentery -malaria -yellow fever-smallpox -measles -influenza. Sick slaves were tied to a bag of stones that was thrown overboard to drown them. The enslaved people generally spent about 8 hours a day above deck, but were still separated by gender with a barricado a reinforced wall that could be used to protect crew members in case of a revolt.

We do believe it’s important to study this today because it helps in understanding this painful, and terrible part of History, and never to repeat it again.

Before going further, let us state that slavery is a form of racism. It has existed ever since the dawn of time. It’s been resorted to by white people against black people. African slaves were often chained in the worst conditions ever. The crossing months were barbaric because they were separated from their families and they didn’t have a lot of food. And we are pretty sure they could not go out up deck a lot.

The crossing lasted 4-5 months, slaves were in horrible conditions . They had to releave themselves on them, they were malnourished because they didn’t eat a lot. Temperatures were unbearable, and there was just littles portholes with no ventilation. Men were chained by pairs, and women were left alone. Familys were separated, there were baby-deliveries too, and they had to wash themselves with ocean water.

When they arrived in the Americas, they are cleaned and sold, like mere cattle. Masters would buy them and they were brought out in fields and forced to work hard : farming the land, building homes, making the colony richer and more posperous. They lived in huts, next to plantations.