The Atlantic slave trade: What too few textbooks told you - Anthony Hazard

Translator: Mehmet Sıddık Dilek Reviewer: ronya bewran

Slavery, the treatment of human beings as property, deprived of personal rights,

Koletî.! Mirov wek mal tên hesibandin û bê maf in.

has occurred in many forms throughout the world.

Bi awayên cuda li seranserê dinyayê çê bû.

But one institution stands out for both its global scale and its lasting legacy.

Lê tevgera koletiyê ya herî mezin ya Atlantîk e.

Bazirganiya koletî ya Atlantîk

The Atlantic slave trade,

occurring from the late 15th to the mid 19th century

Ji dawiya sedsala 15'an heta sedsala 19'a

and spanning three continents,

li ser sê parzemîna hat kirin.

forcibly brought more than 10 million Africans to the Americas.

10 mîlyon însan bi zordarî ji Afrîka birin Amerîka.

The impact it would leave affected not only these slaves

Bandor ne tenê li ser kole

û zarokên wan çê bû,

and their descendants,

but the economies and histories of large parts of the world.

aborî û dîroka dinyayê jî hat guhartin.

There had been centuries of contact between Europe and Africa

Sedsal behtir bû ku di navbera Afrîka û Ewrûpa de

via the Mediterranean.

tekilî hebû.

But the Atlantic slave trade began in the late 1400s

Lê bazirganiya koletiya Atlantîk 1400'an de

with Portuguese colonies in West Africa,

peşî ji mêtingeriyên Portûgal û Spanya yên li Afrîka

and Spanish settlement of the Americas shortly after.

dest pê kir.

The crops grown in the new colonies, sugar cane, tobacco, and cotton,

Li Amerîka bi awayekî pir mezin

çandiniya şekir,pembû, tûtin û hwd dihat kirin.

were labor intensive,

and there were not enough settlers or indentured servants

Lê mirovên ku bixebitin

to cultivate all the new land.

tune bûn.

American Natives were enslaved, but many died from new diseases,

Niştecihên Amerîkî hatin kole kirin

lê gelek bi nexweşiyan mirin û li berxwe dan.

while others effectively resisted.

And so to meet the massive demand for labor,

Ji bo vî karê gelek, Ewrûpiya

the Europeans looked to Africa.

çavê xwe berdan Afrîka.

African slavery had existed for centuries in various forms.

Kolebûna Afrîka bi sedsalan dom kir.

Peymana hinek koleyan hebû ku

Some slaves were indentured servants,

with a limited term and the chance to buy one's freedom.

bi pere azadiya xwe bikirin.

Others were more like European serfs.

Lê gelek jê koleyên Ewrûpiyan bûn.

In some societies, slaves could be part of a master's family,

Carina kole dikarîbûn bibin ji malbatê,

own land, and even rise to positions of power.

bibin xwedî ax û bi hêz bibin.

But when white captains came offering manufactured goods,

Lê dema bazirganên spî ji bo kirîna koleya

weapons, and rum for slaves,

mey û çek anîn,

African kings and merchants had little reason to hesitate.

serokên Afrîkî bê tereddut kole firoştin bazirganan.

They viewed the people they sold not as fellow Africans

Serokên Afrîkî diz,deyndar û êsîrên ji eşîrên dijmin girtî

but criminals, debtors, or prisoners of war from rival tribes.

bi koletî difroştin.

By selling them, kings enriched their own realms,

Bi firotina koleyan serokê Afrîkî

and strengthened them against neighboring enemies.

dewlemend û bi hêz bûn.

African kingdoms prospered from the slave trade,

Ji bo koleyan bifroşin Ewrûpiyan,

but meeting the European's massive demand created intense competition.

serokê Afrîkî ketin berberiyekê mezin.

Slavery replaced other criminal sentences,

Koletî zêde bû.

and capturing slaves became a motivation for war,

Ji bo, eşîrên dijmin êsîr bigirin û bixin kole,

rather than its result.

şer derdixistin.

Eşîr, ji bo ku bi koletî neyên firotin,

To defend themselves from slave raids,

neighboring kingdoms needed European firearms,

ji Ewrûpiyan çek dikirin.

which they also bought with slaves.

Lê çek jî bi firotina koleyan dikirin.

The slave trade had become an arms race,

Kole firoştin û kirîna çekan,

altering societies and economies across the continent.

aborî û civakiya Afrîka guherand.

As for the slaves themselves, they faced unimaginable brutality.

Ji xwe kole zordariyake pir mezin dîtin.

After being marched to slave forts on the coast,

Hatin qusandin û piştî hatin mohr kirin

shaved to prevent lice, and branded,

ji bo Amerîka

they were loaded onto ships bound for the Americas.

li keştiya hatin siwar kirin.

About 20% of them would never see land again.

20% carek din pê li axê nekirin.

Most captains of the day were tight packers,

Kaptanê keştiya wek paketê

cramming as many men as possible below deck.

kole li ser hev dikirin.

While the lack of sanitation caused many to die of disease,

Ji bo şertên tenduristî gelek mirin û

and others were thrown overboard for being sick,

nexweş ji keştiyê avêtin deryaye.

or as discipline,

Ji bo disîplîne,

the captain's ensured their profits by cutting off slave's ears

kaptan guhê koleyan jê dikir

as proof of purchase.

û ev dibû nîşan.

Hinek jî bi destê xwe, xwe kuştin.

Some captives took matters into their own hands.

Many inland Africans had never seen whites before,

Gelek jê mirovên spî nedîtibûn û

difikirîn ku spî yamyam in.

and thought them to be cannibals,

constantly taking people away and returning for more.

Her tim tên mirovan dibin û dixwin.

Afraid of being eaten, or just to avoid further suffering,

Ji tirsa ku bibin xwarin an bên îşkence kirin ,

they committed suicide or starved themselves,

întîhar kirin.Bi baweriya wan

believing that in death, their souls would return home.

bi mirine rihê wan vegere malê.

Those who survived were completley dehumanized,

Yên ku ji mirine filitîn,

bûn wek malê dinyaye.

treated as mere cargo.

Women and children were kept above deck and abused by the crew,

Di keştiyan de jin û zarok dihatin îstîsmar kirin,

while the men were made to perform dances

mer ji bo serî nehildin û ji hêza xwe nekevin

in order to keep them exercised and curb rebellion.

bi zorê dans dikirin..

What happened to those Africans who reached the New World

Koletî çi bandor li Amerîka kiriya û

and how the legacy of slavery still affects their descendants today

îro çi li pêy xwe hiştiye

baş tê zanîn.

is fairly well known.

But what is not often discussed

Lê bandora koletiyê ya li Afrîka,

is the effect that the Atlantic slave trade had on Africa's future.

baş nehatiya lêkolîn kirin.

Not only did the continent lose tens of millions of its able-bodied population,

Ji Afrîka 10 mîlyon însan kêm bû û

but because most of the slaves taken were men,

ji bo ku kole bi giştî mêr bûn

the long-term demographic effect was even greater.

bandorekê mezin çê bû.

When the slave trade was finally outlawed in the Americas and Europe,

Dema koletî li Amerîka û Ewrûpa qedexe bû,

the African kingdoms whose economies it had come to dominate collapsed,

aboriya afrîka ya li ser koletiyê dişixulî, aloz bû.

leaving them open to conquest and colonization.

Bi vê aloziyê dagirkerina Afrîka zêdetir bû.

And the increased competition and influx of European weapons

Bi berberiya eşîran û şerê bi çekên Ewrûpî,

fueled warfare and instability that continues to this day.

heta îro jî li Afrîka aramî tune.

The Atlantic slave trade also contributed to the development of racist ideology.

Bazirganiya Koletiyê nijadperestî jî pir geş kir.

Most African slavery had no deeper reason than legal punishment

Ji bilî dîzî,deyndarî û esîrtiyê

tu sedema kolebûne,tune bû.

or intertribal warfare,

but the Europeans who preached a universal religion,

Ewrûpa li gor ola mesîhiyê kolebûna mesîhiyan

and who had long ago outlawed enslaving fellow Christians,

qedexe kiribû.

needed justification for a practice

Lewra ji bo kolekirina Afrîka

so obviously at odds with their ideals of equality.

sedemên olî jî, ji xwe re li hev anîn.

So they claimed that Africans were biologically inferior

Li gor teoriya Mesîhiyan;

Afrîkî ji hêla bîyolojîk nizmtir in û

and destined to be slaves,

making great efforts to justify this theory.

koletî qedera wan e.

Thus, slavery in Europe and the Americas acquired a racial basis,

Lewma koletî li ser bingeha nîjadperestî saz bû û

making it impossible for slaves and their future descendants

zarokên koleyan jî bûn kole.

to attain equal status in society.

Zarok ji zikmakî bûn kole.

In all of these ways,

Ji her alî ve,

the Atlantic slave trade was an injustice on a massive scale

Bazirganiya Atlantîk a Koletiyê zordariyekê pir mezin bû.

whose impact has continued long after its abolition.

Bandora wê îro jî didome.