Mr. Giant Reacts: The Hidden Truth Behind The End Of Slavery - Part Two | Thomas Sowell

I react to Thomas Sowell's Hidden Truth Behind The End Of Slavery. Slavery ended in the late eighteenth century not because of any great moral crusade on the part of the abolitionists, but because of economics. As Sowell reveals, the slave trade was not a lucrative business, and as it became more costly and less profitable, the slave trade gradually came to an end.

If you're interested in history, this video is a great way to

[simonsimon]

I am half British and half Zulu, I am also 53 so I have had considerable to to ponder the complexities of race and how our views have changed over time.

Like it or not, slaves were property and to free them meant buying them no if's or but's if you wanted to remain within the rule of law. Note this was international law as slavery was embedded within every nation for thousands of years, it was the status quo. The key difference in America not buying them out is they had a civil war and them freeing them happened within their own boarders so they were able to pass a law enabling it while Britain had to negotiate with powers outside of it's boarders.

The only people I care about in my family lineage are the ones that I actually knew, for me that extends back to my grandparents. Reaching back to the time of slavery would require you to go back 6 generations and to put that in perspective that if any of us goes back 6 generations that gives you 64 great great etc grandparents. No one knows those people, or their names or indeed anything about their lives but to somehow claim victimhood on their behalf is pure victimhood culture, ambulance chasing, a con. Go back far enough and WE ALL HAD murderers, rapists, pedos, slaves and slave owners in our lineage. So how far do we go back? and what crimes should we pursue?

One thing that was true throughout our history, today and will be in the future is that humans evolved to seek advantage, we will do anything to get to the top including exploiting others.

One last thing I never see addressed in these videos is why Britain never had slaves. It simply didn't need any. They had surfs to fill those roles. Ever wondered why so many Brits left for the US, Aus, NZ ect? Because it was really bad in the UK! The surfs that stayed became the current British population and to even suggest they should feel or be responsible for what happened generations before they were born is insanity

[dominik]

It is worth noting that the debt that was taken to buyout those slaves was finally settled in... 2015. Every English person who paid taxes at least once before 2015 contributed at least some amount of their labor to the idea of abolishing slavery.

[paulthomas-hhkv]

Although the slaves did not receive anything… you could say the british government paid for there freedom

[robertzoomer]

I think what people are trying to I say is that they paid for their freedom from the slavers, not paid reparations, and this debt came out of the English peoples taxes which was finally paid off in 2015.
The English themselves were under Roman rule for approx 600 years and a lot were taken to Rome for hard labour but no one paid them reparations. So where would this all end if we all wanted reparations if distant ancestors back in history who were taken as slaves.
We all would be suing each other but it would not benefit those who were the ones that actually suffered.

[csy]

Slavery is still going strong in Cambodia. It is terrible.

[JJ-ofir]

In English law you cannot just seize someone's property, and slaves were considered 'chattels'. So, had we not 'purchased' the slaves to set them free, the minute we turned our backs, the slaves would have been enslaved again. We would have been caught up in legal cases everywhere, delaying the release of slaves elsewhere. This way the slaves themselves were quickly and legally set free and able to prove they were now free men, women and children. With that proof they would remain free even if they were 'caught' again by unscrupulous slavers. Often we gave money to released slaves, often released slaves would opt to stay and work for a wage with the people who had previously 'bought' them. We could not give money to the slaves themselves, because they were 'owned' by their purchaser, who would have simply taken it off them.
We did what we could. We spent far more than our Empire wealth on this Crusade. Can you imagine how immense, how seemingly impossible a task it was for one nation to change the mindset of the whole World - that slavery was not moral or right, that one man should not be able to own another - just because 'the British' said so! After the first fifty years of trying to 'crush' the Slave Trade our Government asked the British people if they wanted them to carry on. The task was overwhelming. If we said 'Yes' the Government said it would have to raise our taxes to pay for Loans the Government would need to take out to continue. The British people said 'YES'. The British Royal Navy, the Government and its people joined together and worked on it's Crusade to end Slavery tirelessly for over l60 years. Our last patrol of the Coast of Africa was in 1970. The Government announced to the people in 2015 that the last payment of the Loan had been made.

[VickyF_]

£20million was the buyout costs to free the slaves. That doesn't include any of the costs of the ships, the navy seamen, the weaponry. £20, 000, 000 in 1833 was the equivalent of £2, 184, 631, 578.95 in 2016.
Money changes value over time.

Britain was enslaved by Romans, who also enslaved other nations under the roman Empire. The Ottoman Empire enslaved others. The African tribal leaders and Kings enslaved other tribes.

America chose not to emancipate its slaves but instead to slaughter one another in a civil war, which has left lasting impacts between the north and south, and was even defended by black slave owners too.

To say that Britain and its people still have not paid enough is so disheartening. To say you never heard anyone accuse the British of being slavers in the same sentence as saying that we didn't also pay the slaves that were sold by African leaders to other nations like the portuguese and the Arabs and many more, leaves me devastated.

If it had not been for the Britsh crusade across the world, slavery as a societal and legal norm would have taken centuries longer to be questioned and may not have been abolished in the widespread manner that it was.

The fact modern day slavery still exists is proof that the human condition contains evil. China enslaves its own still, as does India, and others. It is not an issue of colour or race but power, greed and control.

[jacquesdube]

I read somewhere that the slave freed were also resettled. So they did not get money like the slave owner, but they were given house and freedom. They were not just dropped in the wild after being freed.

[AKMcF]

I understand your perspective about paying slaves when they were released but I must think that freedom for them was invaluable and the greatest reward one could imagine, being socially aknowledged to have the now basic human right of independence and personal sovereignty.. I doubt they would have asked for more.

[iluvrolaz]

All due respect n much love, but if it weren't for the European colonizers, slavery would most likely still be happening today. It was the colonizers, n them alone, that decided slavery was wrong, on moral grounds, n decided that NO ONE should do it, despite the fact that the entire rest of the world saw nothing at all wrong with it, n had no plans to stop at all. Europe n their offshoot nations, like the US, did their colonizer thing, n went around the entire world n FORCED their beliefs n ideologies about slavery on the entire rest of the world... so, people need to really rethink their animosity n ridiculousness about colonization....

[kilburn]

G'Day from rural South Australia, I find the Barbary wars & slavery interesting

[andrewdavies]

As a british national who has generations of family going back over a 100 years that have paid out of our own pockets, probably thousands and thousands of pounds by each british family to give people alive today and several generations of their family the freedom they now have and their family have had just for those people to tell us it wasnt enough and they now want more is a real kick in the teeth. We didn't enslave you or your family, but we actually put our hands in our pockets and paid towards their freedom, and they're slapping us in the face for it . Luckily its not the majority and most recognise what britain and british people have sacrificed for them and their families. We dont want thanks, we dont want to be put on a pedestal, we just to be appreciated for our families sacrifice and our hard work because we have actually worked to contribute to their families and their freedom .

[stuartjohnellis]

i get that its a raw deal that the slave owners got paid and the slaves just got their freedom but its a tough call as the British valued the rule of law more than anything else and was a major factor in their success; circumventing this even for the most moral cause was simply not a consideration. Also theres not major backlash over the Arab slave trade because there are no surviving ancestors of the enslaved; slaves were castrated

[jamesbarton]

Paying the slave owners was a legal and not a moral thing. The government was under no obligation to change terms of service, and there was no such things as minimum wage laws. Slaves were property like houses, land, factories, ships or any other property. If the government can take one person's property without compensation it can take anyone's property without compensation. In war there is an exception, property used for war, called contraband, can be taken. Because slaves were often used to build fortifications in the South they were labeled as contraband and declared forfeit in areas still in rebellion as of Jan 1, 1863. After the war slaves in the 4 slave states that did not rebel and slaves in areas, like New Orleans, that were under union occupation prior to Jan 1 were not freed at the end of the war. Some would be freed by the individual states but the remainder would only be freed by the passage and ratification of the thirteenth amendment in December of 1865. These were not the last slaves recognized by the federal government. The 5 civilized tribes, in areas under the control of the federal government, had slaves allowed by treaties. The treaties would be renegotiated during 1866 ending legally recognized slavery.

[brachiator]

Very astute comments. Slavery during this period is a complex issue, but clearly West Africa and East Africa suffered exploitation by different groups of slavers. I wonder what was happening in Asia during this period. The British efforts to suppress slavery was also connected to their expansion as an empire, which is not addressed by Sowell.
The idea of reparations is very timely. I recall that France forced Haiti to pay compensation for slaves. This helped keep Haiti mired in poverty for centuries.

[jang]

The Americans didn't pay slave owners to pay for the slaves' freedom. The US decided to have a war. They couldn't afford paying the owners so it had to be war! Maybe valuing money over human lives? Not sure how black slave owners fitted into that though.

[paulthomas-hhkv]

The tv series Roots caused a lot of blame whithin the black community many people believed it to be true

[ko]

Just dawned on me there when you were saying America didn't compensate the slave owners in the states for the loss of thier slaves, and England have being paying back the slave owners up until last payment Would that be a case of pretty much rewarding themselves ? Like jobs for the boys...the government bringing it into power to pay the owners ..which in alot of cases would be the rich upper class of England kind of keeping it within the family !! I could be wrong..but I also could be right ! I shall have to look into that.

[Lincoln-vjli]

I am sad that it is coming back. All that work for not. We need to go to work ones more. The old world is in love with slavery it can make a $200 Iphone. You pay workers it be $700 Iphone.

[wbw]

If someone can make $ they will go for it.