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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, James Simpson writes:
(big clipping)
> Again, I'd say that your statement, while partially correct, needs some
> moderation. Britain came down like an iron fist everywhere. France was quite
> humane as things went in the 16th-19th centuries. Spain was barbaric in the
> beginning, but became moderate, taking a reasonably high view of Indian life by
> the 17th century. Portugal was perhaps the worst of the bunch - they began the
> European slave traffic (note: slavery was alive and thriving throughout Africa,
> amongst Africans, and by Arabs - slavery is a human evil, not just a European
> one), without, it seems, any conscience.
Would you mind telling me why you consider Portugal was "the worst of the
bunch"??
In fact, it DID start slave trade in the Atlantic; but it also began ANY
sort of trade routes in the Atlantic.
(A curious thought: the portuguese did not "enslave" the africans, at least
in the 15th/16th centuries; they *bought* the slaves to the african
kingdoms. It is not good for an excuse, but it supports what you wrote after)
So how come that you acuse them of not having any conscience (about slavery
being bad)? Did ANYONE, in the 1440's?
And didn't Portugal follow Britain when it announced the end of slavery? I
mean, portuguese crews and ships continued slave trade from portuguese
colonies, but how could the portuguese navy or army effectively patrol such
a widespread (not vast) Empire? We are speaking of the poorest of the
european "empires" here... and I mean REALLY poor!
Yes, slavery was bad and Portugal was responsible. But weren't we all? Or
were all those slaves for "domestic consumption"? Those who bought the
slaves (i.e., all american colonies and nations) were as guilty as all who
enslaved them, and those who carried them across the ocean.
Pedro
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Essential nature of mankind
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| (...) That is a good point; in terms of colonization, the Spanish had a more overtly religious tone to the economic exploitation. An interesting irony is that while the Spanish often used divine right as a justification, they also, over the course (...) (23 years ago, 5-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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