I visited the impressive Museum of Slavery on Guadeloupe Island. I knew most of the information I gathered, but it was still good to remember the essential history for Humanity’s sake.
In 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered America, this continent had 80 million people. Soon the nature of the Indians became an essential issue. Voices rose to condemn slavery and subjugation, and certain clergypersons firmly denounced their treatment. The debates that ensued incited the Spanish crown to issue the Laws of Burgos decrees to regulate the natives’ living conditions in 1512. Conquistador-turned-Dominican friar Bartolomé de Las Casas stood up for the Indians, and others followed in his footsteps, representatives of the military, the clergy, and the law. Finally, Queen Elizabeth I of Spain and the Church concluded that the Indians were human beings, prohibiting slavery. However, this decision did not prevent their abuse and decimation in the new lands.
The Negro population suffered an even worse fate. Some high-hierarchy members of the Church doubted their human nature, setting the conditions for their terrible suffering. Most people do not know, but during the 15th and 16th centuries, the black African continent boasted flourishing and powerful civilizations, a far cry from the Rousseau-like or colonial image of villages with “noble savages.” At the start of the 9th century, the Almoravids from the North pillaged the gold from the prestigious Ghanaian Empire, which grew into the powerful Mali and Songhai Empires– between Senegal and Lake Chad–in the 16th century. Politically well organized, they possessed large cities and armies, government officials, artists, and scholars.
Unfortunately, crossroads for commerce began in the 16th century in the Gulf of Guinea, which became the largest zone for Negro trade during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Portuguese, Spanish, English, Dutch, and French established themselves in different areas along the coast, and Ouidah (present-day Republic of Benin) experienced considerable economic growth. The forts or trading posts stored merchandise from Europe and enslaved people. They shipped more than a million captives in the 18th century. The human cargo continued until the 1860s, despite the earlier abolition of the trade.
