L’histoire
Greetings loved ones, history is for the victors as we are all fond of saying. But no one wants to talk about the people who started this mess in the first place. I have been down a rabbit hole today. I’m currently reading Somerset vs Stuart- a landmark case in 1772 which they outlawed slavery in England (I’m about halfway through, the arguments, whilst making sense, jump around more than a rabbit in a rave and even though its not a lot of text I am losing the will to live. I am also seeing the abolitionist acts the “Chloe Cooley act” of 1793 in which one woman’s terrified screams ended slavery in Canada. Everyone wants to start at the end, because the end ended with laws. Slavery was, it seems never truly legal, it seemed to exist in this grey area of “permissible” but if you take it to court the concept will fold like paper. The racial supremist seemed to know all along that the concept of black and indigenous people being “less than” was tripe. But it served a purpose, a classic case of make the evidence fit the theory. I’m so far struggling to get to the start of it. Because it would seem, history wishes to hide the identities of the guilty parties. This madness would not have existed without instigators and propagators so who were they? This lasted between 200-400 years and magically it had no one defending it at the time? No one in history profiting over it? Somehow I doubt it.
Slavery is in fact one of the 9 elements I am researching. The rabbit hole I am currently on includes the following.
Missouri compromise (underwhelming, it was a government land contract with 1 article about slavery
Somerset vs Stewart 1772 the basic premise is that England is too good for slavery, Christians can’t be slaves and a slave can’t enter into a contract in which he sells his humanity because it isn’t his to sell and also you physically can’t pay enough because slavery continues across generations and no one has the right to sell another’s rights before they are born. The only lawful slavery known in England is Villeinery which is feudal and has been wiped out excluding for coal workers in Scotland who technically the law still applied to and so service was for life. (don’t know about now)
the Nebraska and Kansas treaty on slavery.
“Le code noir” (the black code. a French document on the treatment of slaves (at time of writing I haven’t read it yet)
Chloe’s law 1793 passed days after her “incident” (still haven’t read it yet) allowed there to be hope within your lifetime of freedom, it wasn’t apparently immeadiate freedom
The capitulation of Montreal (apparently it allows you to keep your slaves if you already had them.)
“Systema Naturae” by Carl Linneus who appartently is the father of scientific racism. (I’m reading a copy from 1792, not the original)
The rabbit hole… I really went down it.
By the way, all these don’t add up to 100 pages of laws. And certainly not 50 pages on actual slavery.
Grace and Courage.
Annetta Mother Smith.