
August 23 has been designated by UNESCO as International Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. The trans-Atlantic slave trade was one of the most massive violations of human rights in modern history. From the 16th through 19th centuries as many as 17 million Africans were stolen away from their homelands, families, dreams, and aspirations, to be transported in a deadly voyage across the ocean where they had few choices but to make a new life in the face of the horrific system of New World slavery and institutionalized racism. The hopes and dreams enslaved Africans kept alive came to fruition first with the legal abolition of the slave trade (by Britain and America in 1807) and finally with the abolition of slavery itself, at various dates by various nations (British colonies in 1833, French colonies in 1848, the United States in 1865, Cuba in 1886, and the last hold-out, Brazil, in 1888).
The ships that played a role in the Atlantic slave trade have increasingly piqued the interest of maritime archaeologists, though few have been located and identified. Two known slave ships have wrecked in St. Augustine waters. To date, neither has been discovered.
Continue reading "International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition" »