400-years after slavery demands education
Let’s talk about slavery. Difficult subject matter as the United States prefers distanced disregard for a past moral indiscretion that lingers, one that ripped a blueprint for democracy, stained for centuries the nation’s fabric and contradicted a benign belief that all men were created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
August marked 400 years since the first slaves from Africa arrived in North America — more than 150 years before establishment of the United States and a Declaration of Independence redrafted to allow for slavery.
In August, 1619, crew members of The White Lion, a 160ton English privateer ship, abducted about two dozen slaves from The San Juan Bautista, a Spanish ship that transported human cargo to Mexico.
The White Lion continued onto the English colony of Virginia, specifically Point Comfort, where John Rolfe, a colonist, reported a cargo “not anything but 20 and odd Negroes”, which the Governor and Cape Merchant traded for food items and other supplies.
Slavery had a landmark, a landing point in the Chesapeake Bay that would siren thousands of ships holding curious human cargo, black and brown-skinned “Negroes” whose numbers started with approximately 330,000 slaves being brought to what would be the United States then eventually teeming to an estimated 3,953,761.
Jefferson, who had owned slaves and fathered at least six mixed-race children with his slave Sarah “Sally” Heming, had raged against slavery, even included a rant against King George. This condemnation against England’s powerbroker eventually landed on the cutting room floor as founding fathers believed slavery needed a foothold for the advancement of United States’ capitalist desires.
“(King George) has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation,” Jefferson wrote.
No doubt Jefferson lived a conflicted life in matters regarding equality and slavery. He espoused that blacks were inferior to whites and believed that if set free, slaves would deliver rage, revolution and death, especially to former slave owners.
This 400-year slave date stamp seemed perfect for discussions about our nation’s diabolical past and how the decision to engage in the selling and owning of people continues to impact our daily lives. Even in New Jersey where slave numbers reached approximately 14,000, our state ended slavery begrudgingly.
Understanding, acknowledging and knowing history offers an opportunity for resolution, not that we can repair the crimes against humanity but we can, we must produce atonement and voice heartfelt apologies. All New Jersey schools should include slavery history as part of its curriculum. Unfortunately, our society maintains a mindset that this nation will improve if we hide our history.
By the way, did you know that during the American Revolution, enslaved African Americans fought on each side. The British promised freedom to slaves who would leave their rebel masters and fight for their cause. Thousands signed up for the freedom opportunity. After losing, British officials refused to return former slaves to their masters. Many slaves resettled in Nova Scotia and the West Indies.
In 2008, the New Jersey Legislature acknowledged the state’s role in the history of slavery in the United States. The government body offered these sentiments.
The Legislature of the State of New Jersey expresses its profound regret for the State’s role in slavery and apologizes for the wrongs inflicted by slavery and its after effects in the United States of America; expresses its deepest sympathies and solemn regrets to those who were enslaved and the descendants of those slaves, who were deprived of life, human dignity, and the constitutional protections accorded all citizens of the United States; and we encourage all citizens to remember and teach their children about the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and modern day slavery, to ensure that these tragedies will neither be forgotten nor repeated.
Learning institutions should host forums and discussions about the history of slavery, underscoring our nation’s role in this enterprise and acknowledging that numerous forms of slavery continue in this nation of opportunity.
Get smarter by connecting with the Princeton and Slavery Project ( https://slavery. princeton.edu/.) which examines Princeton University’s historical ties to the institution of slavery. The site invites citizens to “explore stories and sources and to contribute research and ideas.”