And yes the first slaves in America were white from Britain and Ireland. Historical fact.
That's true. But I understand the conditions of servitude were different, i.e. the Black Africans were sold into
chattel slavery, meaning ownership under the same terms as inanimate property, while the Irish were
transferred by the British into
bonded servitude, meaning they were able to
earn their freedom after a number of years in service.
An FYI. The first slaves were white children from the streets of Britain. Had nothing to do with servitude when you are 8 years old. As far as the Irish slave trade went, that was Cromwell decimating the population of Ireland. Again. Not servitude. They were captured and sent to the new world.
Of course our media just can't acknowledge the truth of this so there are hundreds of so called "debunking" articles but the truth of the matter is that the "poorest of the poor" in Britain and the"Irish captives" were not indentured servants.
That's like calling the convicts banished to Australia willing immigrants.
White Cargo is excellent.
White Cargo is the forgotten story of the thousands of Britons who lived and died in bondage in Britain’s American colonies.
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, more than 300,000 white people were shipped to America as slaves. Urchins were swept up from London’s streets to labor in the tobacco fields, where life expectancy was no more than two years. Brothels were raided to provide “breeders” for Virginia. Hopeful migrants were duped into signing as indentured servants, unaware they would become personal property who could be bought, sold, and even gambled away. Transported convicts were paraded for sale like livestock.
Drawing on letters crying for help, diaries, and court and government archives, Don Jordan and Michael Walsh demonstrate that the brutalities usually associated with black slavery alone were perpetrated on whites throughout British rule. The trade ended with American independence, but the British still tried to sell convicts in their former colonies, which prompted one of the most audacious plots in Anglo-American history.
This is a saga of exploration and cruelty spanning 170 years that has been submerged under the overwhelming memory of black slavery.
White Cargo brings the brutal, uncomfortable story to the surface.
White Cargo
And another excellent read:
White Slavery: The Irish Slaves that Time Forgot
White Slavery: The Irish Slaves that Time Forgot - by John Martin
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31436.htm
"...The Irish slave trade began when James II sold 30,000 Irish prisoners as slaves to the New World. His Proclamation of 1625 required Irish political prisoners be sent overseas and sold to English settlers in the West Indies. By the mid 1600s, the Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat. At that time, 70% of the total population of Montserrat were Irish slaves
Ireland quickly became the biggest source of human livestock for English merchants. The majority of the early slaves to the New World were actually white..."