23049: Esser: Re: 23036: Allouard: Re: 23020: Esser: The White Curse (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser <torx@joimail.com>

When saying that Haiti was the first country to have abolished
slavery, reasonably educated people know that the enslavement of
Africans trough Europeans is meant here. Slavery has existed before
and still exists today, but never so vicious, deadly and disastrous
as during the european conquest of the Americas. Particularly the
french brand of slavery was cruel and destructive. Haitians  are
universally recognized as having set the events in motion, through
their successful defeat of the mighty French armies, that led to the
abolishment of slavery in the european colonies. Many contemporaries
of Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines feared just that,
hence the oppression of the revolutionary Haiti began.

As I mentioned above whatever the Franks and their relations did 1400
years ago, has little if anything to do with the viciousness of their
descendants a millenium later. Also: Bathilde, originally a slave
herself, basically decided not to enslave her fellow Europeans
anymore. French people and their their laws didn't extend such
courtesies towards Africans which they brutally murdered and tortured
over centuries.

I might note here that Neustria, why you bring it up I have no idea,
wasn't a french Kingdom at all, as such nation states didn't exist in
the 6th century A.D. - it was a frankish kingdom that and the Franks
were a west Germanic tribe. Whatever the accomplishments of France
are, they are not at all that heroic on the topic of abolishing
slavery, just look at the political discussions in it's post
revolutionary period... If I remember correctly freedom and liberty
wasn't given to the Haitians, they fought for it!


On Tuesday, Aug 24, 2004, Allouard wrote:
...
> Taking into account the legitimate rhetorical aspect of a newspaper
> article,
> I nevertheless wonder about the fruitfulness of this claim repeted
> over and
> aver again: Haiti was the first country to abolish slavery...
>
> First, it appears that slavery was outlawed in northern "French"
> kingdom
> (Neustria) by regent Queen Bathilde. I also read but coul not tell for
> sure
> if it is so that old French rule that any slave setting foot on french
> kingdom is free is related to Bathilde.
...