Part 2

The Slave Trade

           

           Theslavetrade!Nobodyisignorantofthesignificanceofthisword,whichshouldneverhavefoundaplaceinhumanlanguage.Thisabominabletraffic,foralongtimepractisedtotheprofitoftheEuropeannationswhichpossessedcoloniesbeyondthesea,hasbeenalreadyforbiddenformanyyears.Meanwhileitisalwaysgoingonalargescale,andprincipallyinCentralAfrica.EveninthisnineteenthcenturythesignatureofafewStates,callingthemselvesChristians,arestillmissingfromtheActfortheAbolitionofSlavery.

           Wemightbelievethatthetradeisnolongercarriedon;thatthisbuyingandthissellingofhumancreatureshasceased:itisnotso,andthatiswhatthereadermustknowifhewishestobecomemoredeeplyinterestedinthesecondpartofthishistory.Hemustlearnwhatthesemen-huntsactuallyarestill,thesehuntswhichthreatentodepopulateawholecontinentforthemaintenanceofafewslavecolonies;whereandhowthesebarbarouscapturesareexecuted;howmuchbloodtheycost;howtheyprovokeincendiarismandpillage;finally,forwhoseprofittheyaremade.

           Itisinthefifteenthcenturyonlythatweseethetradeinblackscarriedonforthefirsttime.Beholdunderwhatcircumstancesitwasestablished:

           TheMussulmans,afterbeingexpelledfromSpain,tookrefugebeyondtheStraitonthecoastofAfrica.ThePortuguese,whothenoccupiedthatpartofthecoast,pursuedthemwithfury.AcertainnumberofthosefugitivesweremadeprisonersandbroughtbacktoPortugal.

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