Dutch_labrat
Junior Member
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2007
- Messages
- 65
- Location
- Leiden, The Netherlands
- Basic Beliefs
- Atheist, humanist, liberal
There were many Africans that traveled on ships as seamen and ended up in the Americas. There is no need to explain why, their reasons were pretty much the same as for European or Asians.
Slavery was common institution in Africa and they took this with them. In Africa nobody would think it weird if an African owned an African slave, obviously.
Most of the free Africans in the Americas ended up in the Caribbean, I am not sure why and the obvious reasons might be wrong. In pre-revolution Haiti free slave owning Africans were a significant group in the society important enough to play a role of their own in the politics of the revolution.
The biggest reason for the OP's confusion is maybe that in the (Southern) USA history narrative black equaled slavery and that may have been true in some isolated areas but it is a gross oversimplification; Not all blacks were slaves and even not all slaves were black.
Slavery was common institution in Africa and they took this with them. In Africa nobody would think it weird if an African owned an African slave, obviously.
Most of the free Africans in the Americas ended up in the Caribbean, I am not sure why and the obvious reasons might be wrong. In pre-revolution Haiti free slave owning Africans were a significant group in the society important enough to play a role of their own in the politics of the revolution.
The biggest reason for the OP's confusion is maybe that in the (Southern) USA history narrative black equaled slavery and that may have been true in some isolated areas but it is a gross oversimplification; Not all blacks were slaves and even not all slaves were black.