![]() While slavery was a system of “unceasing brutality” (15), James notes that countless French officials and others have tried to show that. Over the next few decades, due to colonial policies, including forced labor, and imported diseases, the indigenous. Upon arriving in the West Indies in 1492, explorer Christopher Columbus claimed the island of San Domingo (now known as Hispaniola) for Spain. According to the Negro Code, issued by France, they were harshly disciplined, tortured, and whipped for the smallest infraction. James summarizes events leading to the transatlantic slave trade. James notes that the “difficulty” was the fact that these slaves remained “invincibly human beings” with “the intelligence and resentments of human beings” (11). ![]() James describes a typical San Domingo slave’s long workday, shabby quarters, and meager diet. When they reached America and the West Indies, the slaves were inspected and branded. They were then loaded onto ships, where they died “not only from the regime but from grief and rage and despair” (9). Slaves were brought under brutal conditions from the interior to the coast. Operating from their central base in Guinea, Europeans destabilized tribal life in order to collect slaves. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |