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Comment by CapitalistCartr

1 year ago

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Yes, and that is why there was such a large call to ban slavery in the UK back in the day - it was happening to them [1] just as much as it was happening to others. That call eventually led the UK to ban slavery upon which it used its navy - back then the strongest in the world - to patrol the seas in search of slavers. When they found them they released the slaves. The West Africa Squadron (or 'the Preventative Squadron') was formed in 1808 to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa.

Of course this did not end slavery all over the world, it continues both legally as well as illegally in Africa and parts of Asia. Slavery was prevalent in many West and Central African societies before and during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. When diverse African empires, small to medium-sized nations, or kinship groups came into conflict for various political and economic reasons, individuals from one African group regularly enslaved captives from another group because they viewed them as outsiders [1].

It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this.

[1] https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Barba...

[2] https://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/africanpassagesl...