In a message dated 9/2/2008 11:19:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > We’ve had this discussion before in regards to this and everything seems to > be correct except, and correct me if I’m wrong, but the Portuguese weren’t > the ones who did the slave trading it was the British, it was the Portuguese > that were the captains of the ships that brought them over to the US and/or > the islands. > > > > I'm afraid not; unfortunately the Portuguese were not merely the pilots of the ships. Although the Portuguese did not invent slavery (slavery was already in practice among the different tribes in Africa when the Portuguese got there) the Portuguese were the grand masters of the slave trade, introducing and providing slaves into Europe and then into North and South America. Slavery was one of Prince Henry's significant sources of income. Once Portugal developed the trade in human bodies into a lucrative enterprise, other European powers got into the act. But the Portuguese were the masters and led the way. Anyone interested in further research should read Prince Henry 'the Navigator': A Life by Peter Russell, Yale University Press, New Haven: 2000 (447pp.) Melville's Don Benito Sereno (I'm not sure I have the spelling right) although a work of fiction, also illustrates this point.
John Miranda Raposo --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
