Destructive human behavior and the 'free pass' by historians?

Question

Maybe, as Orwell asserted in Animal Farm, some are just more equal than others.

History is about human events and human conduct as nearly as can be reconstructed through honest research.

However, taking slavery as an example.

All of us had ancestors who were slaves. We all had ancestors who were slave holders. NAs traded in slaves long before Europeans arrived. Black Africans were the first step in the slave trade. Europeans didn't become involved until they unfortunates arrived on the coast for transport.

Almost every civilization and culture in human history included the institution of slavery, until shamefully recently.

However, reading history texts for US children, a deep underlying impression is conveyed that slavery was almost unique to the US. That slavery was an institution perpetrated on black humans by white humans.

Humans were enslaved by other humans because power allowed them to do so.

Why the 'free pass' for non-whites by scholars?

Answer 1

It is not politically correct to point out that African tribes sold each other into slavery. It is not politically correct to point out that Middle-Eastern people enslaved each other and Africans long before Caucasians. It is also not widely talked about that Europeans enslaved other Europeans in Europe and the Americas before they enslaved Africans. Native Americans have been so raped, tortured, and slaughtered by Caucasians we could not possibly point out that they enslaved people from rival tribes. It's all about politics and what we perceive as being the right thing to do in the modern world.

Answer 2

You are right in that they have over-simplified the situation, but part of the reason is those books are written for very young children only studying American history. As students become older, they should learn about slavery in other cultures. However, you have a misconception in your own statements. Europeans DID have slaves long before they came to America.

Every fiefdom had peasants and they were bound to the land they lived on. They were slaves by a different name. Slaves were also brought back by Crusaders and could also be found in most courts. They were few in number and rarely mistreated because they were valuable. Think of the black boys that a few noble ladies and queens had to entertain them or fan them. Some were boys, some were midgets or pygmies, and quite a few of them were eunuchs.

Like the peasants of England, the serfs of Russia were slaves to the land.

Oh, and slavery does still exist today. It's mostly in the Middle East and Africa, but some corners of Asia does have ritual slavery. There have also been reports of slavery in South America.

Answer 3

The term you are looking for is "Anglo-centrism". The belief that the European "race" is intellectually superior to other races, and this seems to come from the fact that most historians are white Europeans. Slavery was common throughout the known history of the world. What made American slavery so very, very bad was that, in earlier times, slaves were servants, and were cared for by their masters. American slavery is unique in that salves were deemed property, without souls, without intellect, and without higher emotions. A falsehood spread by those who wanted to continue their wealth and the wealth that slavery built with its blood, sweat, tears, toil, and their very lives.