The Slaves That Time Forgot
By John Martin
They came as slaves; vast human cargo transported on tall British ships bound for the Americas. They were shipped by the hundreds of thousands and included men, women, and even the youngest of children.
Whenever they rebelled or even disobeyed an order, they were punished in the harshest ways. Slave owners would hang their human property by their hands and set their hands or feet on fire as one form of punishment. They were burned alive and had their heads placed on pikes in the marketplace as a warning to other captives.
We don’t really need to go through all of the gory details, do we? After all, we know all too well the atrocities of the African slave trade. But, are we talking about African slavery?
King James II and Charles I led a continued effort to enslave the Irish. Britain’s famed Oliver Cromwell furthered this practice of dehumanizing one’s next door neighbor.
The Irish slave trade began when James II sold 30,000 Irish prisoners as slaves to the New World. His Proclamation of 1625 required Irish political prisoners be sent overseas and sold to English settlers in the West Indies. By the mid 1600s, the Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat. At that time, 70% of the total population of Montserrat were Irish slaves.
Ireland quickly became the biggest source of human livestock for English merchants. The majority of the early slaves to the New World were actually white.
From 1641 to 1652, over 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. Ireland’s population fell from about 1,500,000 to 600,000 in one single decade. Families were ripped apart as the British did not allow Irish dads to take their wives and children with them across the Atlantic. This led to a helpless population of homeless women and children. Britain’s solution was to auction them off as well.
During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia. Another 30,000 Irish men and women were also transported and sold to the highest bidder. In 1656, Cromwell ordered that 2000 Irish children be taken to Jamaica and sold as slaves to English settlers.
Many people today will avoid calling the Irish slaves what they truly were: Slaves. They’ll come up with terms like “Indentured Servants” to describe what occurred to the Irish. However, in most cases from the 17th and 18th centuries, Irish slaves were nothing more than human cattle.
As an example, the African slave trade was just beginning during this same period. It is well recorded that African slaves, not tainted with the stain of the hated Catholic theology and more expensive to purchase, were often treated far better than their Irish counterparts.
African slaves were very expensive during the late 1600s (50 Sterling). Irish slaves came cheap (no more than 5 Sterling). If a planter whipped or branded or beat an Irish slave to death, it was never a crime. A death was a monetary setback, but far cheaper than killing a more expensive African.
The English masters quickly began breeding the Irish women for both their own personal pleasure and for greater profit. Children of slaves were themselves slaves, which increased the size of the master’s free workforce. Even if an Irish woman somehow obtained her freedom, her kids would remain slaves of her master. Thus, Irish moms, even with this new found emancipation, would seldom abandon their kids and would remain in servitude.
In time, the English thought of a better way to use these women (in many cases, girls as young as 12) to increase their market share: The settlers began to breed Irish women and girls with African men to produce slaves with a distinct complexion. These new “mulatto” slaves brought a higher price than Irish livestock and, likewise, enabled the settlers to save money rather than purchase new African slaves.
This practice of interbreeding Irish females with African men went on for several decades and was so widespread that, in 1681, legislation was passed “forbidding the practice of mating Irish slave women to African slave men for the purpose of producing slaves for sale.” In short, it was stopped only because it interfered with the profits of a large slave transport company.
England continued to ship tens of thousands of Irish slaves for more than a century. Records state that, after the 1798 Irish Rebellion, thousands of Irish slaves were sold to both America and Australia.
There were horrible abuses of both African and Irish captives. One British ship even dumped 1,302 slaves into the Atlantic Ocean so that the crew would have plenty of food to eat.
There is little question that the Irish experienced the horrors of slavery as much (if not more in the 17th Century) as the Africans did. There is, also, very little question that those brown, tanned faces you witness in your travels to the West Indies are very likely a combination of African and Irish ancestry.
In 1839, Britain finally decided on it’s own to end it’s participation in Satan’s highway to hell and stopped transporting slaves. While their decision did not stop pirates from doing what they desired, the new law slowly concluded THIS chapter of nightmarish Irish misery.
But, if anyone, black or white, believes that slavery was only an African experience, then they’ve got it completely wrong.
Irish slavery is a subject worth remembering, not erasing from our memories. But, where are our public (and PRIVATE) schools???? Where are the history books? Why is it so seldom discussed?
Do the memories of hundreds of thousands of Irish victims merit more than a mention from an unknown writer? Or is their story to be one that their English pirates intended: To (unlike the African book) have the Irish story utterly and completely disappear as if it never happened.
None of the Irish victims ever made it back to their homeland to describe their ordeal. These are the lost slaves; the ones that time and biased history books conveniently forgot.
http://afgen.com/forgotten_slaves.html
egypt is the house of bondage
Alright, I have sat here and read every comment on this page and have noticed a trend: we are arguing about who is who and who was enslaved when and where. I think that the main point of the original article was to inform people of Irish Slavery. Even more important is the fact that Blacks are the more resent to be slaves and therefore the most well known, but EVERYONE except the Europeans were slaves at one point in time and they still conquer the world today. With the economy of the US affecting the rest of the world except the European Nations I believe we have bigger problems than who’s who.
I am a white woman born in small town America. If you see me on the street you would say “oh just another white American” but the truth is I am of Irish decent and would never claim any part of English or European decent. I was raised a southern Baptist, in my opinion the most closed minded religion other than Catholics, in the world. Yet I have managed to overcome being white, raised in the south, and Baptist. I am now married to an African American and my religious views are somewhat unorthodox.
I try to keep an open mind on any point brought up about what happened to us as the human race in the past, but again in history, if you are not European then you are the minority regardless of color or looks. Also, I’m a firm believer in that “IF YOU DO NOT REMEMBER THE PAST YOU ARE CONDIMMED TO REPEAT IT”. Now, I know that some of you are trying to remember the past by establishing who is from where and what happened to that race or religion specifically but that is the problem. You’re not looking at the big picture, you’re forgetting that regardless of who you are, you’re NOT European and therefore you are not exempt to the wrong doings of the Europeans.
The reason this has happened to us as one people, the Human Race is because we let it happen, we get caught up in the details and forget about the big picture. We were all slaves at one point and we were all treated like crap, we have no real history or roots, but in 500 years do you want the people of the future arguing about the same things because we failed to keep truthful records just as our ancestors?
Let’s jump to the year 2511; we now live in the NWO (New World Order) under the rule of the EU or United Nations of Europe, our currency is the Euro dollar and our first language is French and second is English, our religion is Orthodox Roman Catholic. Any belief, currency, language, etc., that differs is punishable by DEATH. Your great, great and so on great grandchild is sitting in World History class and the teacher is on the subject of American History in particular and how they became enslaved by the Chinese after the “Great Economic Crash” of the turn of the millennium, who in turn became enslaved by the Europeans because of debts owed to them as well, and so forth. How do you think that conversation is going to go?
“The American people failed as a nation and could not balance politics and economics and therefore China decided to collect the debts owed to them by making the Americans work for little to no pay for long hours without food or water; all the finer things in life like cell phones, cable TV, running water, heating and cooling, all forms of transportation and communication were taken away because Americans as a nation are wasteful and got exactly what they deserved. Then because of the greed of China, Europe decided to fight them on the pre-tense to free America, but in fact only sided with Americans because they didn’t want China to become stronger than them and at a later date decided to collect on the wages of war and debts owed to them by both America and China and now consequently rule over both countries, in turn taking over all other smaller countries in its path and now rules the world as The Roman Emperor Constantine intended way back in 1300 A.D.”
I think not. Come on people, get it together. Regardless if you believe in Bible prophecy or not (which is heavily weighted by Roman Catholic Pagan Beliefs) look at the future and what is at hand right now as I type. These things ARE going to happen, maybe not in the order I described or how I put it because what I did describe is purely hypothetical, but it will happen and in the near future if we don’t do something about it fast. Don’t simply believe what I have to say and don’t dismiss it as paranoid conspiracy theorist rants either. Please, for the sake of your freedom and lives and the freedom and lives of your children and grandchildren and even their grandchildren I beg of you to do your research on current events and how the past effects what is going on around the world and what it means for our future as MANKIND.
The internet and freedom of information has the answers to all of your life questions, the meaning of life and what the future holds, all you have to do is have a little common since and ask the right questions and the answers are out there. Google Roman Catholics, Pagans, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and their connections, educate yourself in how religion affected the who, what, when and where YOU are today regardless of whether you believe in a higher power or not…..its vital to what’s next; when you have learned how religion affected your race now Google who is responsible for what wrong doings your people have suffered, then Google what the responsible party is doing at this very moment, e.g.: The Europeans stem from Roman Catholic and Early Protestant religions, they decided to conquer the world one nation, race and religion at a time, they enslaved my ancestors and divided us to the point of our history being forgotten and lost. That was 500 years ago and now they are voting to become one nation and having one world currency since most of the world owes them it is not an unreasonable request but part of the plan to rule the world and not unlikely that in another 500 years they will succeed.
The most powerful weapon known to mankind is knowledge, don’t be unarmed.
Islam I just read Mrs Informed response and I am curious to her propsal to right the wrongs…honestly I think we should first reestablish the Republican form of government…and organize our foces to evacuate The Europeans …Yes we are all humans however there are by nature some that are supieror just as a lion is superior to a domestic cat…both are of the same family and have simular organs that have the exact same functions yet there is no doubt that the bigger cat will can and will devour the smaller one….Therefore my thesis is that all nations that are formed of naturally inferior humans must Unite and Support and Educate the misguided sleeping superior ones..simalar to the fable of the Lion and the mouse…..Then and only then can the Lion and Lamb dwell in Peace and Harmony…..I appluad you for reconizing your nation and your heritage….however truth is the only thing that will free the masses of Supereme people who are asleep…if they don’t awaken then They will ultimately destroy the world…They will awake and be free to righteously Rule once the mouse cuts the rope and frees us…Use your current advantage as an Irish Woman and teach your children the Truth and point your husband in the Right Direction…and gather others who simply are willing and able to work collectively to better humanity….and increase in knowledge and gracfully accept your place and position on the human race scale…I respond to you in good faith to encourage you to gracefully go foward and start assembling and organizing and gathering like minded individuals who want there children to be actually free and not sleep within a matrix believing they are free……we still have time to fix this I know who I …you know who you are ….lets be friends so that just as in the fable of the Lion and Mouse We can and will protect you ….peace
Yes, I agree some people have advantages over others, I for one am physically inferior, however, intellectually superior than most. That being said, the only way ignorance of inferior “nations” can be overcome is first by said nations admitting and acknowledging they are ignorant and inferior. Lest face it, ask any random person, who is more intelligent, them or their enemy, who is right or wrong? Naturally, they will answer saying they are. Each individual has their own opinion of right and wrong on up to the nation they represent. Example, I mostly do not agree with Republican views, however, I am “pro-life” instead of “pro-choice”, and I don’t believe death of any kind should be a form of birth control with all of the other options available today. The same aspect, I also do not believe in the death penalty, how odd the line of thought is: you committed a crime that is punishable by death, you killed that person. Therefore, I am going to put you to death as well. Then, am I not guilty of the same? Do I not deserve to die as well?
What you are proposing is bigger than one person, group, or even country regardless of influence. Leaders of superior nations will not allow the education of the people they rule over, for the most part the American people are blind sheep led by propaganda and majority thinking. I as an American am condemned for my opinion and coined a conspiracy nut! I do not believe there is some plot to enslave the human race only to be controlled by the Supreme Beings that are already in control. Truth will set us free but that requires the truth seekers effort, which is almost nonexistent. Just like you say about sleeping in the matrix, we are in a “Matrix” type of world. I would not deny that at all. My question to you is how would you propose to wake someone from the “Matrix”?
I have accepted my place in the world as a mom and wife that faithfully stands behind her husband and supports the family as he goes to work to support the household. I strive to teach my family about the truth of the past and the outcome of our future. Not just my husband and children, but parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and anyone else who will listen. Any person who agrees with our solution to the problem has an ally, anyone who disagrees is not lost forever and I will be there in the background hoping and praying that one day they too will become informed.
I am friends with everyone, including my enemies. –Mrs. Informed
“If the POWER of love could overcome the LOVE of power, the world would know true PEACE” -Unknown
wow, and i only thought there were only black slaves, smh, i’m 43 years old and just finding this out, hummm, what my teachers missed, i only found this cause i was reading up on planking and slavery, then i asked myself, were blacks the only race that were slaves???
P.S. slavery has always been common place. It was a common practice in the Middle East, and the Romans certainly used slave labor, it was certainly practiced in some parts of Africa by African before Trans-Atlantic slave trade and it was also practiced in North America by some aboriginal tribes but their practice was different to that of the colonialists who eventually forced some tribes to model their treatment of their black slaves which we all know was brutality with a capital B.
Some slaves were often warriors and civilians captured in time of war, a person could be sold to pay a debt that he owed. The slavery that was practiced was somewhat different to what it is in modern time. Rome did send slaves to the Arenas to die brutal deaths. In ancient time, slaves took care of your property and they were trusted servants who could become members of your household, but without legal rights. They were trained people who tutored your children. I don’t believe that the ancient practice of slavery comes anywhere close to what was practiced in British as you described it with the Irish and by the colonizing countries and particularly with the Africans. (But I was there so, I can be 100% sure) The form changed particularly with the Europeans where they dehumanized and brutalized people for their profit and pleasures.
Slavery dehumanized both the enslaved and the slavers. It is horrifying what humans can do to each other.
There is much shame that comes with having been identified as a descend of slaves. The blacks can’t escape this exposure because of the sheer volume of people involved, the number of colonizing countries involved and we can’t blend in to hide either because of our colour, but the Irish can. The East Indian keep quiet, hiding hoping that no one will remember that they too were slaves(smart people, who wants to be stigmatized).
I am sure that the Irish wrote their own history books, so maybe they did not want anyone to remember.
Canada held slaved First Nations and blacks. They don’t mention it in their history books, because they wanted to look like the good guys. Those were provided a refuge to escaping slaves while years earlier slaves were running from Atlantic Canada to the States. Obviously, they did not know what they were in for, a case of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
Whites wrote the history books, so if there is something missing; it is to cover up their shame.
I do understand that you want recognition that the Irish too have suffered and I agree with you on that.
Remember that slavery is still alive today even in North America. Human trafficking is the modern term and it includes children and women. Are we crying over them?
We are trying to repair the past meanwhile, we are creating a future that we will be equally sorry for.
If you can, get a hold of the film “Nefarious”. It is a documentary on the modern day slave trade.
Correction to post October 19, 2011 9:18 (But I was there so, I can be 100% sure) should read, (But I was not there so, I can”t be 100% sure)
Jesus, if there’s one thing we’re used to in Ireland, it’s English coverups, whitewashing, lies and propaganda, and their general populations refusal to accept the facts. We can show them all the reasonable evidence and proof and eye witness reports and God knows what else buy unless they see it on the BBC they’ll never accept it. And the BBC will find a way to somehow blame it on the ira lol.
Btw Michelle there’s no shame in it for us. 800 years trying they couldn’t keep us down with all their might. And with all the horrors of history (and believe me, some are worse than what you’ve read in this article) we still Rose above it. Irish people are proud, not ashamed.
I totally agree with you.
Just a flavour of what the Vatican men of God brought to the Irish people.
http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/murderers.htm
Just a few of the tortures that ‘heretics’ went through:
• Skin flayed from head, face and body
• Noses, nipples and breasts pulled off with red hot pinchers
• Fried or boiled alive or roasted on a spit
• Mouth slit back to ears
• Crucified upside down
• Thrown from windows on to spears
• Arms cut off
• Torturous slow burning, soles of feet, then up to ankles, mid-calf, etc.
• Women stripped, hung from trees by their hair and scourged or left hanging by one leg until dead
• Tourniquet placed on head and twisted until eyes came out
Portia – did u mean to reply to me with this? I don’t see what that has to do with this discussion… unless you’re assuming me to be Catholic, and even then, I don’t see the relevance of that article?
800 years? The English were occupied by the Normans 800 years ago and being treated worse than the Irish. When the Normans finally invaded Ireland their army was made up of French and Welsh. There were no problems between the English and the Irish until the Europeans got involved and took over by force. The Saxons even fled to Ireland for safety following 1066. Can anhyone name an English King or Queen of England since 1066? There have been French, Welsh, Scottish, Dutch, German, but I cannot think of any English.
Oliver Cromwell .. though he was never called a king, he was a de-facto king of England.
Cromwell was never a king. He was a dictator that most people did not want. If the Stuarts had not behaved so badly, they would have remained in power and history would have been very different. If it had not been for Charles II and James II abusing their power, Oliver Cromwell and William of Orange would never have been able to seize control. It’s a pitty so much terrible things happened because the peoples of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England have given the world some of the best in literature, arts and science. I may be wrong, but I still blame the Europeans for jumping in and causing all of the problems. If the French had stayed out in 1066 and left everyone over here alone, all of the worst parts of history might never have happened. There would have been four independent countries with 800 years of friendship behind them. Sometimes history is painful, but he can never be changed. Let us hope the future is a better place.
800 years of friendship and peace… your a joke ‘kip’ .. since civilasation there hasn;t been any longevity in peace.. no matter what country you name… England beign one of the worst countries in history for this…. and by the way.. where do you think an Englishman came from….Europe mate!!!! they are a mixed race .. not a pure race…
maptrap, there is no such thing as a pure race. The Irish are as equally mixed up as the English. Two thousand years of Saxon, Viking, Welsh, Norman, French invasion and settlement. How can the English be the worst? There weren’t any problem with Saxon England until the Normans invaded.
800 years of history and only 1 English head of state. The worst problems seem to have been caused by the Stuarts, who were Scottish. Without them Cromwell would never have been heard of and neither would William and Mary.
I am Australian,may every pommy mongrel rot in hell.
Wow Jim, you sound like a nice happy person. I can just imagine you wandering around your house in Australia blaming all of your problems on everyone else but yourself. I can just p;icture you: 30 stone, a tin of lager in each hand, living on benefits and spouting off about how you hate the English at every opportunity. Advice Jim: Get a life, and please stay in Australia.