One of the ways that I spend quiet evenings is catching up on reading. I'm currently in the midst of two books: Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Bob Rotella, and a serious history tome, The Colony of New Netherland: A Dutch Settlement in 17th Century America by Jaap Jacobs. First of all, I take golf a wee bit too seriously. Rotella is helping me to realign my emotions (and this is the second time I've read the short book). Be grateful he says, concentrate on the positive. Visualize, set a routine, and reach new horizons. So far, my handicap has changed from 11.8 to 11.8. Then again, I'm playing on tougher courses. And blah, blah, blah. It is what it is.
On the other hand, spending spring in the Southland affords me the opportunity to get away from my home computer and its usual applications -- one of which is Reunion, a genealogical data base. So reading Jacobs is exciting for me because I have ancestors who literally appear in this book, and I take notes. I'm not all that far into it yet, but tonight, in Chapter Two, a sub-topic, "Enslaved Blacks" brought more than one sigh out of me. I find slavery appalling.
I learned from Jacobs, for instance, that in 1639 there were about 100 blacks who worked in the colony, a number that grew to approximately 250 in 1664 and doubled upon the arrival of 291 more slaves on the Gideon in August of that year. They made up about 8% of the total population, concentrated in New Amsterdam, where the rate rose to about 17%. Slaves in New Netherland typically did not come directly to the colony but through a circuitous route that involved Spain and the Caribbean. The Gideon was a rare exception. Prices for slaves averaged 140 to 375 Guilders in the 1650's. By 1664, the price for a healthy slave approached 600 Guilders -- they did not come cheap! About 12% of New Netherland landowners could afford slaves. But most astonishingly, by 1730, 41% of the households in New York City owned slaves, and by then New York had the toughest slave laws in the colonies. [Jacobs, pp 55-56].
This revelation about a northern colony made me wonder about the southern colonies, so off I went to Google.
Although sometimes couched in generalities, I found a few Web sites that gave me realistic and authentic broader statistics. Perhaps the best of them was <http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/wahl.slavery.us>. Although it might seem a bit inconvenient, simply click on the site and then hit return. Astonishing!
Another site that I found and liked was this one: <http://listverse.com/2009/01/14/10-fascinating-facts-about-slavery/>. This one brought me to a new perspective. Worth your time...
Naturally, it occurred to me that slavery is not a new human problem, and for centuries it has included children and orphans in the sex trade. Pretty abysmal. To look at some statistics on current (21st century) slavery go to <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_slavery>.
I'm apologetic to lay this on you. And I'm not sure what can be done about it. I can't even offer you a means to help eliminate the problem.
All of this makes me less and less tolerant of my species. If you know of a way to change cultural mores, please respond -- not to me but to the appropriate, new found organization. I'm just sitting here feeling somewhat stunned.
Yes, I know, it's a downer. Kindly forgive me for occasionally bringing us all back to reality.
Stay calm and carry on,
Paul, temporarily in South Carolina
http://www2.potsdam.edu/loucksap
http://loucksap.smugmug.com
http://madstop68.blogspot.com
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