Good one. I'd only add--in the chronological mix--that my Irish ancestors were worked to death in the mills, mines and on the railroads and canals. In some ways conditions were worse than slavery, given Irish lives were of no value; whereas slaves were valuable property--especially after laws prohibited further importation. In other words, de facto slavery existed along with literal slavery, and still does to the extent circumstance forces people into brutal, dangerous, repetitive work, resulting in no material gain. Not only in US prisons, but in the lives of poor people in general. That is to say, the rich already have slaves, but they pay rent.
As someone from Ireland: the slave trade with Africa probably wouldn't have taken off if fair-skinned Irish hadn't died en masse in the plantations. Irish indentured "servants" absolutely had value because you paid for them and they had a fixed term of service. In no way were they treated worse than slaves, they just didn't have the melanin needed to survive the Caribbean without some Factor 100. Most indentured servants served their terms and walked away, and even if they didn't they had an endpoint in sight. Not something a slave could hope for.
Are you fully aware of the working conditions and living conditions experienced in the US, not for indentured servants but, to pick one example among many, the Carnegie steel mills? Indentured servants were the lucky Irish.
Mill owners did not have the legal right to lifetime servitude from every single descendant of their Irish indentured servants, including the ones created by their raping of those same indentured servants.
I thought "they" were characters from a skit, and "she" was doing the accents, which to my ear sound like some variation of Received Pronunciation, not Jamaican accent. Sorry for my stupidity.
Good one. I'd only add--in the chronological mix--that my Irish ancestors were worked to death in the mills, mines and on the railroads and canals. In some ways conditions were worse than slavery, given Irish lives were of no value; whereas slaves were valuable property--especially after laws prohibited further importation. In other words, de facto slavery existed along with literal slavery, and still does to the extent circumstance forces people into brutal, dangerous, repetitive work, resulting in no material gain. Not only in US prisons, but in the lives of poor people in general. That is to say, the rich already have slaves, but they pay rent.
ReplyDeleteAs someone from Ireland: the slave trade with Africa probably wouldn't have taken off if fair-skinned Irish hadn't died en masse in the plantations. Irish indentured "servants" absolutely had value because you paid for them and they had a fixed term of service. In no way were they treated worse than slaves, they just didn't have the melanin needed to survive the Caribbean without some Factor 100.
DeleteMost indentured servants served their terms and walked away, and even if they didn't they had an endpoint in sight. Not something a slave could hope for.
Are you fully aware of the working conditions and living conditions experienced in the US, not for indentured servants but, to pick one example among many, the Carnegie steel mills? Indentured servants were the lucky Irish.
DeleteMill owners did not have the legal right to lifetime servitude from every single descendant of their Irish indentured servants, including the ones created by their raping of those same indentured servants.
DeleteWhy do they have English accents if they are talking about 1865 as the end of slavery rather than 1833?
ReplyDelete"They" is "she", and she has a Jamaican accent, commenting on American history.
DeleteI thought "they" were characters from a skit, and "she" was doing the accents, which to my ear sound like some variation of Received Pronunciation, not Jamaican accent. Sorry for my stupidity.
DeleteClever. "What else?" "What else?" "What else?" ad nostram ruinam.
ReplyDeleteA billionaire with just $1B...can spend $100,000 a day............FOR OVER 27 YEARS!!!
ReplyDelete