Forces more powerful than religion - The African slave trade
Edit: The person I quoted was robhiengler sorry
To further illustrate how the slave trade required forces greater than religion watch bellow video
"Reminder of the epicenes of the African slave trade"
• Reminder of the epicenes of the African sl...
Robert Norris d. 1791
http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/norris/no...
Page 162
"British possess, at present, the greatest share. It was during the government of the commonwealth, that Negroes were carried, in any numbers, to the British West Indies, and then, chiefly to Barbadoes: a few indeed were brought to Virginia, by a Dutch ship, as early as 1620; but it was the Royal African Company, that first carried on, from England, a vigorous commerce to Africa, during the reign of Charles II. We may form an opinion of the magnitude of it, in its most flourishing state, prior to the revolution in 1688, by considering that the company employed thirty ships annually, which delivered about five thousand Negroes in the West Indies. The increase of it to its present state, may be attributed to the enterprizing spirit of the merchants; to the superior address of those employed in the executive part of it; to the opulence of the manufacturers, which enables them to extend a credit to the former, beyond what can be had in any other country; and to the annual grants of parliament, for the maintenance of several forts, and factories in Africa. From these concurring circumstances, the British planters are supplied with Negroes, on more reasonable terms than their neighbours; and a large surplus is left, which is disposed of to the French and Spaniards for specie, and other valuable commodities."
page 165
The adventurers in this trade, who have seen for near a century past, the Society for propagating Christianity, composed of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and many pious doctors of the established church, deriving, as masters, a yearly income from the labor of their Negroe slaves in the West Indies, which is appropriated to the increase of Christianity in the world, could not consider it as contrary to the spirit of the Scriptures, or to the principles of morality: nor could the adventurers regard this traffic as inconsistent with the natural rights of mankind, when they read in the statute of 9 and 10 of King William (which was made avowedly for extending the trade to Africa), "That this trade was highly beneficial to this kingdom;" a declaration of a king, who was the patron of liberty, and of a parliament that had vindicated
Page 166
the natural rights of mankind; and when they read also in the stat. of 23 Geo. II. "That the trade to Africa is very advantageous to Great Britain, and necessary to the plantations," Which act was made by a whig king, and a whig parliament; who, when they dissolved the late African Company, granted a large sum of money as a compensation for their rights, in order that a trade thus necessary and advantageous, might be carried on with greater energy and success."
FRERE'S CRUSADE:
http://books.google.com/books?id=YAIZ...
"But the British Government can easily make the Bombay authorities execute the laws against the slave-traders, whose headquarters are in their dominions. If the Banians, who are subjects of the queen, find that they will be punished for felony for direct or indirect participation in this traffic, they will use their capital in some less dangerous business. As the Arabs have not the wealth to carry on the slave trade to any extent, the British cruisers will be able to put a stop to it, even if they are not aided by the native rulers whose subjects are concerned in it. The Shah of Persia, however, has already expressed his intention to cooperate with Great Britain in this matter, and has issued two firmans peremptorily forbidding the importation of negroes by sea into his dominions"
East African slave trade 1872
http://books.google.com/books?id=A23W...
"Every British subject taking any part, direct or indirect, in the trade, is guilty of felony ; and if this is distinctly known, and it is known also that every effort will be made by our Bombay Government to trace home to the offender any such act, and if need be, to punish it with the utmost rigour of the law, we shall have at once done much to destroy the infamous traffic. For Dr. Livingstone is no doubt perfectly right in saying that, whilst the Arabs are ready enough to find the men who will conduct the actual risks of the trade, they have not the wealth necessary to advance the capital required"