The Overthrow Of Colonial Slavery By Robin Doak And Philip Schwarz

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There were other examples of slave rebellions that are discussed in the book, Slave Rebellions. In the book, authors Robin Doak and Philip Schwarz highlight some of the biggest slave rebellions that occurred within the Caribbean and Latin America. One of the most well known revolts was on the slave ship known as Amistad. The ship had left Havana, Cuba and heading to “Puerto Principe, a part of Cuba about 300 miles (480 km) away. The ship’s cargo included 53 Africans that two men in Cuba claimed as slaves—49 adult males and four children”. One African on the ship named Sengbe Pieh is from Sierra Leone, Africa. Before he had been captured, he was a prince of a village and had a wife. When he is captured, Pieh was given a new name and sent to …show more content…

For years the European colonies in Latin America had made profit off the backs of slaves. They used them to harvest crops and produce goods for their economies. They had abused them and did not give them full equality as whites had in the colonies. By the 1770s, there are abolitionists who have been fighting for the rights of slaves, and many of them have seen or heard of the horrors of slavery. They work tirelessly to rid of the institution that many considered to be evil. However, many of these colonies do not feel that slavery should be ended, and they continued in their abuse of the slaves. Even before the 1700s, slaves have committed small acts of resistance in order to fight back against the injustices done to them. These acts however, did not gather as much attention as the future rebellions that would arise in the 1790s and the 1800s.When these rebellions did occur, such as the famous Haitian Revolution, and the fact that abolitionists have proved through testimonies and evidence that slavery was an evil institution, that many nations begin to reconsider whether or not slavery could be continued. In the case of France, they decided to give slaves in Haiti more rights partly due to the large scale of insurrections occurring on plantations. However, they still want to maintain control of Haiti. After Louverture had become the governor, later arrested, and the French failed to retake Haiti, they finally decided to leave the country alone, and take action against slavery. One example was how there was a law passed in 1818 which “declared that the captains of slave-trading vessels, if apprehended, would be deprived of their licenses and their cargoes would be liable to seizure”. Still the author does mention that the slave trades continue in secret. The Spanish as well as Brazil, who will continue slavery all the way up

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