The Realm of the Uncivilised!

A few days ago, I spent almost a day at a plantation in New Orleans, USA. The experience made me wonder at humanity's sad state. How does one grow rich on the backbreaking labour of others? Today, August 23rd, is the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and it's Abolition. This day is dedicated to remembering the more than 15 million men, women and children who were victims of the trans-Atlantic slave trade as well as memorializing all those who fought for freedom. It was established by UNESCO to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade and its abolition, and to honor those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal system that has little parallel in human history.

Around 400 years ago, in August 1619, the first ship with enslaved Africans destined for the United States arrived in the colony of Virginia. This marked the beginning of a global tragedy. Around 300,000 people disembarked in the U.S. directly, while many more arrived via the inter-American slave trade from the Caribbean or South America. It is estimated that almost 4.5 million enslaved Africans arrived in the Caribbean and another 3.2 million in present-day Brazil, highlighting the global impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Forced labour, brutal back braeking work, punishment and rape were par for the course and a slave was owned body and soul. The person was an object that could be traded. Often families were torn asunder with members being sold to geographically disparate plantations.

Many of the enslaved died on the way due to a lack of food and water, and the barbaric conditions aboard the slave ships. Hundreds of slaves would be cooped up together in a hold, in dreadful unhygienic conditions, a stark reminder of the inhumanity of the slave trade. It is estimated that close to 20 million people were forced to leave the African continent enslaved. By 1800, this had decimated the African population to half the size it would have been had slavery not occurred.

The slave trade in India is sketchy and not adequately researched. Ports on the West Coast, such as Karachi ( Pakistan ), Murud Janjira, Surat, and Mandvi, have received slaves over the last few hundred years. Many slaves would have probably ended up in local kings' armies, principalities' armies, and women as concubines or in harems. If you see a native Indian in a far-flung nation whose ancestors settled there a century or more ago, it is likely that they were indentured labour, a slightly milder form of slavery. Nations that have such Indians are the Caribbean, South Africa, Mauritius, and others.

Today is a stark reminder of the capability of the human to lose all sense of proportion and prey on the weak and defenceless. That truly is a realm of the uncivilized and crimes on a scale that has no explanation.