Tag: Trans Atlantic Slave Trade

Blood Ink on Parchment: The Decrees That Built The Trans Atlantic Slave Trade

July 19, 2025 (updated July 19, 2025) Published by

The transatlantic slave trade did not begin with a whisper, but with the scratch of a quill—signed in gold-leaf arrogance, sealed in blood, and delivered on waves of stolen breath. The architects of this horror were not mere men, but crowns and mitres, their words etched into ledgers of suffering. Let us unroll their scrolls.

1. The Papal Knife (1452–1455)

Nicholas V

Before the ships, there was the word. And the word came from Rome.

  • Dum Diversas (1452)—Nicholas V’s dagger of ink, granting Afonso of Portugal the “right” to invade, pillage, and enslave “Saracens, pagans, and other enemies of Christ.”
  • Romanus Pontifex (1455)—A second stroke, carving Africa into a corpse for Europe to feast upon. The Vatican’s blessing turned men into cargo.

These were not decrees. They were warrants for genocide.

2. The Spanish Contract (1518)

Cover of the English translation of the Asiento contract signed by Britain and Spain in 1713 as part of the Utrecht treaty that ended the War of Spanish Succession. The contract granted exclusive rights to Britain to sell slaves in the Spanish Indies.

Charles I of Spain, trembling with colonial greed, dipped his pen and signed the asiento into being. The decree was simple:

  • “Fill the mines. Feed the plantations. Let the Indies drown in forced labor.”
  • By 1526, the first slave ships groaned under the weight of chained bodies, their names replaced with numbers.

The ink was dry before the screams began.

3. The Royal African Company’s Charter (1663–1672)

England entered the trade like a thief in a cathedral—quiet at first, then brazen.

  • Charles II, the “Merry Monarch,” gifted his cousins a monopoly on human flesh.
  • The Royal African Company’s crest bore an elephant and castle, but its true emblem was the branding iron.

Their ships left London heavy with guns, returned heavy with souls. Profit was measured in bones.

4. The Dutch Calculus (1621)

The West India Company was no mere enterprise—it was a syndicate of death.

  • Their ledgers listed men as “pieces”, women as “units”, children as “fractional cargo.”
  • The Stadtholders of Amsterdam grew fat on sugar and sorrow.

The Architecture of Suffering

These documents were not laws. They were spells—incantations that transmuted flesh into currency. Every signature was a shackle. Every seal, a tombstone.

And yet—the enslaved resisted. They whispered their own decrees in the dark:

  • On the ships, they hummed dirges that became freedom songs.
  • In the fields, they plotted revolts with hoes as weapons.
  • In their hearts, they preserved names the ledgers could not burn.

The trade began with paper, but it ended with fire.

https://youtube.com/Eiwb67-TMd0?si=G8E1wAWea_AVrKP3

The Arrival of the Congo People in Liberia: A Historical Overview

July 14, 2024 Published by

The story of the Congo people being dropped off in Liberia is tied to the broader history of the transatlantic slave trade and efforts to suppress it in the 19th century. Here is an overview:

1. Abolition and Anti-Slave Trade Patrols: After the abolition of the slave trade by Britain in 1807 and by the United States in 1808, both nations began patrolling the West African coast to intercept illegal slave ships. The British Royal Navy and the American Navy captured many of these ships.

2. Liberia’s Founding: Liberia was established by the American Colonization Society (ACS) in the early 19th century as a place to resettle freed African Americans. The first group of settlers arrived in 1822. The capital, Monrovia, was named after U.S. President James Monroe.

3. Liberated Africans: When illegal slave ships were intercepted, their captives, often referred to as “recaptives” or “liberated Africans,” needed a place to go. Liberia became a key resettlement location. The British and American navies would bring these freed Africans to Liberia.

4. Congo People: Many of the Africans who were freed and brought to Liberia were originally from the Congo River basin. They became known as “Congo people” in Liberia. Over time, this term expanded to include not just those from the Congo region but also other liberated Africans from various parts of West Africa.

5. Integration into Liberian Society: The Congo people were integrated into Liberian society, which was already composed of African American settlers, indigenous African tribes, and other groups. This integration was complex, with various social, cultural, and political dynamics at play. Over time, the Congo people and their descendants became an integral part of the Liberian social fabric.



This story reflects the intertwined histories of the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, and the formation of new African identities and communities in the 19th century.

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