Forward
We believe that history is a big part of our culture and identity.
“The Atlantic slave trade robbed African Americans of more than our freedom. It robbed us of our identity, our deep knowing of who we are.”
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2019/09/08/400-years-after-slavery-began-african-americans-still-lack-identity-opinion/2233692001/
“Africans enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade not only lost their families, their friends, their homes, they also lost their identity.” https://rrpress.utsa.edu/handle/20.500.12588/751
Many articles regarding our people only discuss issues during and after we were put into bondage. But what about before?
This period before our bondage, we believe, is more significant to us as it shows who we truly are, where we came from and what our true identity is. We are told that once we were put in bondage, our name, nationality, and culture was stripped. But our name, nationality and culture is never mentioned, we are just told, from the point of bondage until now: we are Niggers, Blacks, Coloreds, Negros, African American and now BIPOC.
But we can’t be descendants of Niggers, Blacks, Coloreds, Negros, and African Americans, as these names only were put on us AFTER we were forced into bondage.
And for these reasons, we investigate who we were before slavery, as who we were before, is who we are now and not the names given to us in place of our original names, culture, nationality, religion and ideologies. What we’ve found, is an African Empire known as المملكة المغربية
The statutes at large; being a collection of all the laws of Virginia, from the first session of the legislature, in the year 1619. Published pursuant to an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, passed on the fifth day of February one thousand eight hundred and eight. Volume I[-XIII]. / By William Waller Hening. [Four lines from Priestley] v.
IV. And also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid . . . that all servants imported and brought into this country, by sea or land, who were not Christians in their native country, (except Turks and Moors in amity with her majesty, and others that can make due proof of their being free in England, or any other Christian country, before they were shipped, in order to transportation hither) shall be accounted and be slaves, and such be here bought and sold notwithstanding a conversion to Christianity afterward.
#433 - The statutes at large; : being a collection of all ... v.3. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library
The Virginia Slave Act of 1705Prior to 1705, there were many African American indentured servants in the state of Virginia. For a set number of years, a person would work without pay and then be freed from his bond once the allotted time had passed. In the year 1705, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law which transformed black indentured servants into slaves: the Virginia Slave Act of 1705 condemned many men, women, and children to a lifetime of slavery, even if they were only days away from being freed of their indentured status.
Before the Slave Act of 1705 was enacted, indentured servants over the age of 19 had to work for five years before achieving freedom (indentured servants under the age of 19 had to work until they reached the age of 24).
All servants brought from non-Christian lands became slaves. A subsequent conversion to Christianity had no effect on the person’s status: all servants were now considered slaves. The only exceptions were Turks, Moors, and servants from Christian countries (like England) who had proof that they had been free in their former country of residence....
Slavery in Virginia and the 1705 Virginia Slave Act - Owlcation
“The Atlantic slave trade robbed African Americans of more than our freedom. It robbed us of our identity, our deep knowing of who we are.”
https://www.tallahassee.com/story/opinion/2019/09/08/400-years-after-slavery-began-african-americans-still-lack-identity-opinion/2233692001/
“Africans enslaved during the transatlantic slave trade not only lost their families, their friends, their homes, they also lost their identity.” https://rrpress.utsa.edu/handle/20.500.12588/751
Many articles regarding our people only discuss issues during and after we were put into bondage. But what about before?
This period before our bondage, we believe, is more significant to us as it shows who we truly are, where we came from and what our true identity is. We are told that once we were put in bondage, our name, nationality, and culture was stripped. But our name, nationality and culture is never mentioned, we are just told, from the point of bondage until now: we are Niggers, Blacks, Coloreds, Negros, African American and now BIPOC.
But we can’t be descendants of Niggers, Blacks, Coloreds, Negros, and African Americans, as these names only were put on us AFTER we were forced into bondage.
And for these reasons, we investigate who we were before slavery, as who we were before, is who we are now and not the names given to us in place of our original names, culture, nationality, religion and ideologies. What we’ve found, is an African Empire known as المملكة المغربية
The statutes at large; being a collection of all the laws of Virginia, from the first session of the legislature, in the year 1619. Published pursuant to an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, passed on the fifth day of February one thousand eight hundred and eight. Volume I[-XIII]. / By William Waller Hening. [Four lines from Priestley] v.
IV. And also be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid . . . that all servants imported and brought into this country, by sea or land, who were not Christians in their native country, (except Turks and Moors in amity with her majesty, and others that can make due proof of their being free in England, or any other Christian country, before they were shipped, in order to transportation hither) shall be accounted and be slaves, and such be here bought and sold notwithstanding a conversion to Christianity afterward.
#433 - The statutes at large; : being a collection of all ... v.3. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library
The Virginia Slave Act of 1705Prior to 1705, there were many African American indentured servants in the state of Virginia. For a set number of years, a person would work without pay and then be freed from his bond once the allotted time had passed. In the year 1705, the Virginia General Assembly passed a law which transformed black indentured servants into slaves: the Virginia Slave Act of 1705 condemned many men, women, and children to a lifetime of slavery, even if they were only days away from being freed of their indentured status.
Before the Slave Act of 1705 was enacted, indentured servants over the age of 19 had to work for five years before achieving freedom (indentured servants under the age of 19 had to work until they reached the age of 24).
All servants brought from non-Christian lands became slaves. A subsequent conversion to Christianity had no effect on the person’s status: all servants were now considered slaves. The only exceptions were Turks, Moors, and servants from Christian countries (like England) who had proof that they had been free in their former country of residence....
Slavery in Virginia and the 1705 Virginia Slave Act - Owlcation
POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF IDENTITY
What others have in common, is a sense of cultural pride. A sense of common origin, common historical plights, a common land of origin, a common primogeniture, victories, struggles, suffering and achievement. These experiences help unite and mold each specifically unique national cultural identity for individuals and groups. The only group of people on earth, who cannot express a knowledge of specific geographical origin and history, are the so-called “Black Americans” or “African-Americans.” This did not occur by accident or coincidence, it is the direct result of social engineering implemented by social constructs, through things such as race theory.
Cape Verdeans, Ghanaians, Afghans, Saudi Arabians, Ugandans and every other nation of people, including the ethnic groups and tribes which constitute those nations: all share these common factors; They all can point to their specific land, culture, religion, history, achievements and customs. The only people who cannot, are Americans Blacks. The only common story they can point to is Slavery and the feats accomplished post slavery. By no means is the plight over. But what is disheartening, is that this history only dates back to, circa, 1620 A.D.
Every national identity on earth, has at least an oral tradition regarding their respective history, identity, origin and achievement that date back thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years before 1620. Which should raise the question, “what is the history of American Blacks prior to 1620?”
Answering this question, or at a minimum, beginning to unearth pieces to our illustrious history and identity is the goal of this research paper.
Cape Verdeans, Ghanaians, Afghans, Saudi Arabians, Ugandans and every other nation of people, including the ethnic groups and tribes which constitute those nations: all share these common factors; They all can point to their specific land, culture, religion, history, achievements and customs. The only people who cannot, are Americans Blacks. The only common story they can point to is Slavery and the feats accomplished post slavery. By no means is the plight over. But what is disheartening, is that this history only dates back to, circa, 1620 A.D.
Every national identity on earth, has at least an oral tradition regarding their respective history, identity, origin and achievement that date back thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years before 1620. Which should raise the question, “what is the history of American Blacks prior to 1620?”
Answering this question, or at a minimum, beginning to unearth pieces to our illustrious history and identity is the goal of this research paper.
Why?
Not only is it important because of the impact that identity has over entire groups of people. But since the reference point for many Black Americans is slavery, the issues of identity have always had a political impact. Thus, we can conclude, that identity also has political implications. Evidence of which, can be seen with the collection of the US Census, it is political in nature and used to identify who inhabit the lands referred to as the united states.
The Law of Identity
“The Law of Identity basically states that anything that has been determined to be true must be identical to itself and different from other things.” https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-three-laws-of-logic.html
Identity has been defined as: In philosophy, identity (from Latin: identitas, literally “sameness") is the relation each thing bears only to itself.
Regarding identity, according to most sources, the narrative of Black Americans being brought to this country, includes the removal of their name, culture, language, and history. And in place of our original name, the names Black, African-American, Colored, Negro, Negroid and others, were put in its place.
None of these names are the same (sameness) as what our ancestors use to identify as. Therefore, we are not and cannot be, nor were our ancestors identified as: Black, African-American, Colored, Negro or Negroid.
IDENTITY Definition & Legal Meaning
Definition & Citations:
In the law of evidence. Sameness; the fact that a subject, person, or thing before a court is the same as it is represented, claimed, or charged to be. See Burrill, Circ. Ev. 3S2, 453, 031, G44. - https://thelawdictionary.org/identity/
From these definitions, we can see, that from both a legal and philosophical point of view, we cannot be black, as it is not the same identity of the people from whom we descend.
A national identity is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject or a national of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state against other states. See Boll, Alfred Michael (2007). Multiple Nationality And International Law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 114. ISBN 978-90-04-14838-3. Archived from the original on 2020-07-26. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
According to https://www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk/latest-report/british-social-attitudes-31/national-identity/the-concept-of-national-identity.aspx#:~:text=Citizenship%20denotes%20a%20person's%20legal,was%20born%20and%20lives%20in
The concept of national identity
There are two widely accepted conceptions of nationality: ‘ethnic’ and ‘civic’, both of which are linked to the development of nations and states… The civic conception of nationalism helps explain the development of nations in states that had already emerged as political and geographical units… in the civic conception of nationalism, the nation and the citizenry are one and the same, which is why such states are often referred to as nation states. Consequently, when we think of national identity in civic terms, we think of an inclusive form of identity: a person associates themselves with the citizenry and the political and legal institutions of the state. His or her identity is defined by attachment to the state as embodied by its institutions and rules and not by traditions, language or religion. Conversely, when we think of ethnic nationalism, traditions, language, religion and ancestry are precisely the things that matter… Citizenship denotes a person’s legal status vis-à-vis the state; nationality denotes his or her intrinsic identity. Ethnic national identity is characterised by an attachment to one’s ancestry, tradition, culture and language – and not necessarily to the state a person was born and lives in. This is why an ethnic national identity is exclusive: if you are not born into it, you cannot acquire it (Ignatieff, 1995).”
Interestingly enough, there seems to be an overlap between citizenship and nationality. Although according to standards of international law, citizenship is merely allegiance, and since allegiance can change, citizenship can change. But what does not change, is national identity. In the article, national identity “is characterized by an attachment to one’s ancestry, tradition, culture and language”. These characteristics do not change depending on citizenship. Meaning, the national identity, ancestry, tradition, culture and language of a Chinese national does not change simply because he or she may become a citizen of Uzbekistan or the United State for that matter. The only thing that does change, according to the laws of each specific country, is political status, rights, duties and privileges or as express on the article “civic identity.”
The overlap between citizenship and nationality lay within the nation state of national origin and how the autonomous nationals decide to govern themselves based on their own culture, traditions, beliefs and experiences. This is often called the right to self-govern and shares overlap with the right to self-determination. When a national leaves their native lands, they are either naturalized within another nation’s national government, refugees, stateless persons or treated as subjects, second class citizens or even put in a position of servitude.
Because of these political implications of identity, I can see the correlation as to why most Blacks continue to argue that they are treated as second class citizens.
“African Americans Are Still Treated as Second-Class Citizens By the Law” - https://ips-dc.org/african-americans-still-treated-second-class-citizens-law/
“More than four-in-ten Americans say the country still has work to do to give black people equal rights with whites. Blacks, in particular, are skeptical that black people will ever have equal rights in this country… Most adults, regardless of race or ethnicity, say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in encounters with police and by the criminal justice system… A majority of adults say that being white helps people’s ability to get ahead in the country at least a little (59%); 28% say being white neither helps nor hurts and 12% say it hurts. On the flip side, a majority (56%) sees being black as a disadvantage, with 25% saying it hurts people’s ability to get ahead a lot. About a quarter (26%) say being black neither helps nor hurts and 17% say it helps at least a little.” - https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/04/09/views-of-racial-inequality/
“It is certainly true about the statement about Black Americans being the second class citizens.” - https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/black-americans-as-second-class-citizens-history-essay.php
“SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS: THE MYTH OF RACIAL INTEGRATION IN AMERICA… There is no need here to offer proof that Negroes in America — North and South — are second-class citizens in fact, if not in law. Common sense observation and hundreds of volumes on the subject make that abundantly clear…” - https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/column/second-class-citizens-myth-racial-integration-america/
“Rep. Ayanna Pressley: Blacks Treated ‘Like Second Class Citizens’ in America. BY RUSTY WEISS. MAY 17, 2019 AT 1:16PM. During a hearing on civil rights and civil liberties held Thursday before the House Oversight Committee, Democrat Rep. Ayanna Pressley claimed black Americans are treated “like second class citizens” - https://thepoliticalinsider.com/rep-ayanna-pressley-blacks-treated-like-second-class-citizens-in-america/
“About six-in-ten U.S. adults say the legacy of slavery affects the position of black people in American society today either a great deal (31%) or a fair amount (32%).” - https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/04/09/views-of-racial-inequality/
It was stated in the Dred Scott case, that black were never meant to be citizens of the United States, so, even after this idea of being assimilated citizens, the second class treatment is nothing more than residual reverberations of that well thought out and detailed explanation given by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. Since the establishment of the colonies where never for the benefit of anyone other than the colonists themselves, and at the time of the Dred Scott decision, naturalizations laws were already in existence. These laws were fully detailed by justice Taney, naturalization only existed for other Europeans nationals, commonly classified as ‘White.’ As the colonists maintained their specific national identities, cultures and philosophies, all of which were European in origin. These various European national identities, like all other nationalist movements, share a sentiment of “self before others.” This is a common theme, not rooted in hatred or bigotry that has caused every nation to thrive.
What Black Americans should have done, is revert back to their original national identity, culture and political standing before slavery. Reconnect with their previous nation states, and receive protections under them. As opposed to begging to be treated as equal with their white masters. In Law it is called Jus Postlimini. An example of former slaves seeking protections from their country of origin as opposed to being treated as US Black property or US Black Citizens via the abandonment of their own identity and assimilation into the United States Colonies, is a peculiar case in 1790.
The Moors Sundry Act of 1790 was a 1790 advisory resolution passed by South Carolina House of Representatives, clarifying the status of free subjects of the Sultan of Morocco, Mohammed ben Abdallah. The resolution offered the opinion that free citizens of Morocco were not subject to laws governing blacks and slaves.
Petition from Sundry Free Moors
On January 20, 1790, a petition was presented to the South Carolina House of Representatives from a group of four individuals who were subjects of the Moroccan emperor and residents of the state. They desired that if they happened to commit any fault amenable to be brought to justice, that as subjects to a prince allied with the United States through the Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship, they would be tried as citizens instead of under the Negro Act of 1740.
The Free Moors, Francis, Daniel, Hammond and Samuel petitioned on behalf of themselves and their wives Fatima, Flora, Sarah and Clarinda. They explained how some years ago while fighting in defense of their country, they and their wives were captured and made prisoners of war by an African king. After this a certain Captain Clark had them delivered to him, promising they would be redeemed by the Moroccan ambassador residing in England, and returned to their country. Instead, he transported them to South Carolina, and sold them for slaves. Since then, "by the greatest industry," they purchased freedom from their respective masters. They requested that as free born subjects of a Prince in alliance with the U.S., that they should not be considered subject to a state law (then in force) known as the negro law. If they be found guilty of any crime or misdemeanor, they would receive a fair trial by lawful jury. The matter was referred to a committee consisting of Justice John Faucheraud Grimké, General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Edward Rutledge.
Free Moors Petition: Committee report
Edward Rutledge reported from the committee on the petition on the same day and the House agreed to the report, which read as follows:
They have Considered the same and are of opinion that no Law of this State can in its Construction or Operation apply to them, and that persons who were Subjects of the Emperor of Morocco being Free in this State are not triable by the Law for the better Ordering and Governing of Negroes and other Slaves.
Because the report was not forwarded to the state Senate for concurrence, it did not have the force of law but served as an advisory opinion offering the sense of the House. The report was later published in the Charleston City Gazette and the Charleston State Gazette of South Carolina.
The Law of Identity
“The Law of Identity basically states that anything that has been determined to be true must be identical to itself and different from other things.” https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-three-laws-of-logic.html
Identity has been defined as: In philosophy, identity (from Latin: identitas, literally “sameness") is the relation each thing bears only to itself.
Regarding identity, according to most sources, the narrative of Black Americans being brought to this country, includes the removal of their name, culture, language, and history. And in place of our original name, the names Black, African-American, Colored, Negro, Negroid and others, were put in its place.
None of these names are the same (sameness) as what our ancestors use to identify as. Therefore, we are not and cannot be, nor were our ancestors identified as: Black, African-American, Colored, Negro or Negroid.
IDENTITY Definition & Legal Meaning
Definition & Citations:
In the law of evidence. Sameness; the fact that a subject, person, or thing before a court is the same as it is represented, claimed, or charged to be. See Burrill, Circ. Ev. 3S2, 453, 031, G44. - https://thelawdictionary.org/identity/
From these definitions, we can see, that from both a legal and philosophical point of view, we cannot be black, as it is not the same identity of the people from whom we descend.
A national identity is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject or a national of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the state against other states. See Boll, Alfred Michael (2007). Multiple Nationality And International Law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 114. ISBN 978-90-04-14838-3. Archived from the original on 2020-07-26. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
According to https://www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk/latest-report/british-social-attitudes-31/national-identity/the-concept-of-national-identity.aspx#:~:text=Citizenship%20denotes%20a%20person's%20legal,was%20born%20and%20lives%20in
The concept of national identity
There are two widely accepted conceptions of nationality: ‘ethnic’ and ‘civic’, both of which are linked to the development of nations and states… The civic conception of nationalism helps explain the development of nations in states that had already emerged as political and geographical units… in the civic conception of nationalism, the nation and the citizenry are one and the same, which is why such states are often referred to as nation states. Consequently, when we think of national identity in civic terms, we think of an inclusive form of identity: a person associates themselves with the citizenry and the political and legal institutions of the state. His or her identity is defined by attachment to the state as embodied by its institutions and rules and not by traditions, language or religion. Conversely, when we think of ethnic nationalism, traditions, language, religion and ancestry are precisely the things that matter… Citizenship denotes a person’s legal status vis-à-vis the state; nationality denotes his or her intrinsic identity. Ethnic national identity is characterised by an attachment to one’s ancestry, tradition, culture and language – and not necessarily to the state a person was born and lives in. This is why an ethnic national identity is exclusive: if you are not born into it, you cannot acquire it (Ignatieff, 1995).”
Interestingly enough, there seems to be an overlap between citizenship and nationality. Although according to standards of international law, citizenship is merely allegiance, and since allegiance can change, citizenship can change. But what does not change, is national identity. In the article, national identity “is characterized by an attachment to one’s ancestry, tradition, culture and language”. These characteristics do not change depending on citizenship. Meaning, the national identity, ancestry, tradition, culture and language of a Chinese national does not change simply because he or she may become a citizen of Uzbekistan or the United State for that matter. The only thing that does change, according to the laws of each specific country, is political status, rights, duties and privileges or as express on the article “civic identity.”
The overlap between citizenship and nationality lay within the nation state of national origin and how the autonomous nationals decide to govern themselves based on their own culture, traditions, beliefs and experiences. This is often called the right to self-govern and shares overlap with the right to self-determination. When a national leaves their native lands, they are either naturalized within another nation’s national government, refugees, stateless persons or treated as subjects, second class citizens or even put in a position of servitude.
Because of these political implications of identity, I can see the correlation as to why most Blacks continue to argue that they are treated as second class citizens.
“African Americans Are Still Treated as Second-Class Citizens By the Law” - https://ips-dc.org/african-americans-still-treated-second-class-citizens-law/
“More than four-in-ten Americans say the country still has work to do to give black people equal rights with whites. Blacks, in particular, are skeptical that black people will ever have equal rights in this country… Most adults, regardless of race or ethnicity, say blacks are treated less fairly than whites in encounters with police and by the criminal justice system… A majority of adults say that being white helps people’s ability to get ahead in the country at least a little (59%); 28% say being white neither helps nor hurts and 12% say it hurts. On the flip side, a majority (56%) sees being black as a disadvantage, with 25% saying it hurts people’s ability to get ahead a lot. About a quarter (26%) say being black neither helps nor hurts and 17% say it helps at least a little.” - https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/04/09/views-of-racial-inequality/
“It is certainly true about the statement about Black Americans being the second class citizens.” - https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/black-americans-as-second-class-citizens-history-essay.php
“SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS: THE MYTH OF RACIAL INTEGRATION IN AMERICA… There is no need here to offer proof that Negroes in America — North and South — are second-class citizens in fact, if not in law. Common sense observation and hundreds of volumes on the subject make that abundantly clear…” - https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/column/second-class-citizens-myth-racial-integration-america/
“Rep. Ayanna Pressley: Blacks Treated ‘Like Second Class Citizens’ in America. BY RUSTY WEISS. MAY 17, 2019 AT 1:16PM. During a hearing on civil rights and civil liberties held Thursday before the House Oversight Committee, Democrat Rep. Ayanna Pressley claimed black Americans are treated “like second class citizens” - https://thepoliticalinsider.com/rep-ayanna-pressley-blacks-treated-like-second-class-citizens-in-america/
“About six-in-ten U.S. adults say the legacy of slavery affects the position of black people in American society today either a great deal (31%) or a fair amount (32%).” - https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/04/09/views-of-racial-inequality/
It was stated in the Dred Scott case, that black were never meant to be citizens of the United States, so, even after this idea of being assimilated citizens, the second class treatment is nothing more than residual reverberations of that well thought out and detailed explanation given by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. Since the establishment of the colonies where never for the benefit of anyone other than the colonists themselves, and at the time of the Dred Scott decision, naturalizations laws were already in existence. These laws were fully detailed by justice Taney, naturalization only existed for other Europeans nationals, commonly classified as ‘White.’ As the colonists maintained their specific national identities, cultures and philosophies, all of which were European in origin. These various European national identities, like all other nationalist movements, share a sentiment of “self before others.” This is a common theme, not rooted in hatred or bigotry that has caused every nation to thrive.
What Black Americans should have done, is revert back to their original national identity, culture and political standing before slavery. Reconnect with their previous nation states, and receive protections under them. As opposed to begging to be treated as equal with their white masters. In Law it is called Jus Postlimini. An example of former slaves seeking protections from their country of origin as opposed to being treated as US Black property or US Black Citizens via the abandonment of their own identity and assimilation into the United States Colonies, is a peculiar case in 1790.
The Moors Sundry Act of 1790 was a 1790 advisory resolution passed by South Carolina House of Representatives, clarifying the status of free subjects of the Sultan of Morocco, Mohammed ben Abdallah. The resolution offered the opinion that free citizens of Morocco were not subject to laws governing blacks and slaves.
Petition from Sundry Free Moors
On January 20, 1790, a petition was presented to the South Carolina House of Representatives from a group of four individuals who were subjects of the Moroccan emperor and residents of the state. They desired that if they happened to commit any fault amenable to be brought to justice, that as subjects to a prince allied with the United States through the Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship, they would be tried as citizens instead of under the Negro Act of 1740.
The Free Moors, Francis, Daniel, Hammond and Samuel petitioned on behalf of themselves and their wives Fatima, Flora, Sarah and Clarinda. They explained how some years ago while fighting in defense of their country, they and their wives were captured and made prisoners of war by an African king. After this a certain Captain Clark had them delivered to him, promising they would be redeemed by the Moroccan ambassador residing in England, and returned to their country. Instead, he transported them to South Carolina, and sold them for slaves. Since then, "by the greatest industry," they purchased freedom from their respective masters. They requested that as free born subjects of a Prince in alliance with the U.S., that they should not be considered subject to a state law (then in force) known as the negro law. If they be found guilty of any crime or misdemeanor, they would receive a fair trial by lawful jury. The matter was referred to a committee consisting of Justice John Faucheraud Grimké, General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Edward Rutledge.
Free Moors Petition: Committee report
Edward Rutledge reported from the committee on the petition on the same day and the House agreed to the report, which read as follows:
They have Considered the same and are of opinion that no Law of this State can in its Construction or Operation apply to them, and that persons who were Subjects of the Emperor of Morocco being Free in this State are not triable by the Law for the better Ordering and Governing of Negroes and other Slaves.
Because the report was not forwarded to the state Senate for concurrence, it did not have the force of law but served as an advisory opinion offering the sense of the House. The report was later published in the Charleston City Gazette and the Charleston State Gazette of South Carolina.
These national beliefs and sentiments of patriotism cannot be fully shared by those of different national origin. So, with the assimilation of Blacks into a European Colonial government, it only makes sense that the newly freed Negro, by default, with no culture, history or identity of his own to fall back and rely on. Will adopt the mindset, culture, identity and legal status given to him by the rules of the colonial government, whatever it may be. Here in, lay our problem at the root. With the sundry free Moors, they did not assimilate, but enforced their right to free association, expatriation and declaration of citizenship through allegiance, to their nation of origin. This caused them to be treated as foreign nationals and not subject to the United States colonies.
In contrast, going back to a Chinese national becoming a U.S. citizen, when it comes to their political identity, even they are more inclined to vote for things that will benefit them as US citizens of Chinese origin. Even if it means electing someone that looks like them, from their political districts, in office, at the city, state, federal or other municipal levels. Blacks often vote for whomever they feel sympathize with them on an emotional level. Often resulting in the very conditions that make them feel like second class citizens. This is called, demagogism, and is the root of Democracy.
It’s simple, an Italian American is more inclined to vote for another Italian American from their community, as they are more than likely to share the same values and even political views. Predominantly based on their sentiments of being Italian, although they have US citizenship. The same is true for most US citizens of various ethnic national origin. It helps form their political identity as US citizens.
“Research suggests political identity has strong influence over individuals’ attitudes and beliefs, which in turn can affect their behavior.”
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.607639/full
“Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these identities..” - Bernstein, Mary (2005). "Identity Politics". Annual Review of Sociology. Annual Reviews. 31: 47–74. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100054. eISSN 1545-2115. ISSN 0360-0572. JSTOR 29737711. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
From these points of reference, we can see how a proper identity, with its specific characteristics, affects the political identity of individuals and groups. Diving further into this concept of political identity and nationality. It makes sense from the definition of “sameness” that and Italian will vote for an Italian because that are the same national origin and share the same values. This was also heavily mentioned when Obama ran for presidency. A lot of Black Americans voted for Obama because of this “sameness”, a sense of, we both are black and share the same values. For others, the concept of him being black was not necessarily a primary issue of importance compared to the issue of sharing the “same” political values. Either way, identifying with the individual based on values or identity. Which, identity, more often than not, effects values.
Various claims have been made that assert that nearly 70% of all Africans bound and trafficked to the United States, were west African.
Much about the slave trade has not been told in its proper context. As an example, in the following books. Detail accounts of European slaves being brought from Europe by African Muslims and sold to different African kingdoms, such as Tunis, Algiers, Tripoli and Morocco, and to the European Colonies of America, dating from the 1600s to the 1800s, paint a different picture regarding the slave trade and world powers at the time.
Some of the books are:
White slaves African Masters - An anthology of American Barbary Captivity Narratives by Paul Beapler.
Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters - White Slavery in the Mediterranean, The Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800 by Robert C. Davis.
White Cargo - The forgotten history of Britain’s white slaves in America By Don Jordan, Michael Walsh.
They were white and they were slaves - The untold history of the enslavement of whites in early America by Micheal Hoffman II.
In contrast, going back to a Chinese national becoming a U.S. citizen, when it comes to their political identity, even they are more inclined to vote for things that will benefit them as US citizens of Chinese origin. Even if it means electing someone that looks like them, from their political districts, in office, at the city, state, federal or other municipal levels. Blacks often vote for whomever they feel sympathize with them on an emotional level. Often resulting in the very conditions that make them feel like second class citizens. This is called, demagogism, and is the root of Democracy.
It’s simple, an Italian American is more inclined to vote for another Italian American from their community, as they are more than likely to share the same values and even political views. Predominantly based on their sentiments of being Italian, although they have US citizenship. The same is true for most US citizens of various ethnic national origin. It helps form their political identity as US citizens.
“Research suggests political identity has strong influence over individuals’ attitudes and beliefs, which in turn can affect their behavior.”
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.607639/full
“Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these identities..” - Bernstein, Mary (2005). "Identity Politics". Annual Review of Sociology. Annual Reviews. 31: 47–74. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100054. eISSN 1545-2115. ISSN 0360-0572. JSTOR 29737711. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
From these points of reference, we can see how a proper identity, with its specific characteristics, affects the political identity of individuals and groups. Diving further into this concept of political identity and nationality. It makes sense from the definition of “sameness” that and Italian will vote for an Italian because that are the same national origin and share the same values. This was also heavily mentioned when Obama ran for presidency. A lot of Black Americans voted for Obama because of this “sameness”, a sense of, we both are black and share the same values. For others, the concept of him being black was not necessarily a primary issue of importance compared to the issue of sharing the “same” political values. Either way, identifying with the individual based on values or identity. Which, identity, more often than not, effects values.
Various claims have been made that assert that nearly 70% of all Africans bound and trafficked to the United States, were west African.
Much about the slave trade has not been told in its proper context. As an example, in the following books. Detail accounts of European slaves being brought from Europe by African Muslims and sold to different African kingdoms, such as Tunis, Algiers, Tripoli and Morocco, and to the European Colonies of America, dating from the 1600s to the 1800s, paint a different picture regarding the slave trade and world powers at the time.
Some of the books are:
White slaves African Masters - An anthology of American Barbary Captivity Narratives by Paul Beapler.
Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters - White Slavery in the Mediterranean, The Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800 by Robert C. Davis.
White Cargo - The forgotten history of Britain’s white slaves in America By Don Jordan, Michael Walsh.
They were white and they were slaves - The untold history of the enslavement of whites in early America by Micheal Hoffman II.
According to the account of slavery taught to me, via general education in public school (I graduated in 2010 Christian colander, from William E. Tolman Highschool), the main slavers were Portugal and Spain.
After the Umayyad conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, a long process of reconquest (in Portuguese and Spanish: Reconquista) began. The Battle of Covadonga and the establishment of the Kingdom of Asturias are often regarded as the starting points of this process. Several Christian kingdoms emerged in the peninsula thereafter.
The County of Portucale, successively a vassal of the kingdoms of Asturias, Galicia, León, eventually rebelled and won Battle of São Mamede on 24 June 1128, led by Afonso Henriques, who, after defeating the Moors in the Battle of Ourique, proclaimed himself King of Portugal on 25 July 1139. Portugal's independence was recognized in 1143 by King Alfonso VII of León and in 1179 by Pope Alexander III. Portugal's Reconquista finished in 1249.
Spain began with the Union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon in 1469, although it was not until 1516 when they had a single unified King. Until then the word Hispania was only a geographic location referring exclusively to the Iberian peninsula. It was only in the constitution of 1812 that the name "Españas" (Spains) was adopted for the country along with the use of the title of "king of the Spains". The constitution of 1876 adopts for the first time the name "Spain" for the Spanish state and from then on the kings would use the title of "king of Spain". The Reconquista was finally over with the Fall of Granada in 1492.
Slavery in Spain can be traced to the Phoenician and Roman eras. In the 9th century the Muslim Moorish rulers and local Jewish merchants traded in Spanish and Eastern European Christian slaves. Spain began to trade slaves in the 15th century and this trade reached its peak in the 16th century. The history of Spanish enslavement of Africans began with Portuguese captains Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão in 1441. The first large group of African slaves, made up of 235 slaves, came with Lançarote de Freitas three years later. In 1462, Portuguese slave traders began to operate in Seville, Spain. During the 1470s, Spanish merchants began to trade large numbers of slaves. Slaves were auctioned at market at a cathedral, and subsequently were transported to cities all over Imperial Spain. This led to the spread of Moorish, African, and Christian slavery in Spain. By the 16th century, 7.4 percent of the population in Seville, Spain were slaves. Many historians have concluded that Renaissance and early-modern Spain had the highest amount of African slaves in Europe.
The Barbary slave trade involved slave markets in the Barbary States. European slaves were acquired by Barbary pirates in slave raids on ships and by raids on coastal towns from Italy to the Netherlands, Ireland and the southwest of Britain, as far north as Iceland and into the Eastern Mediterranean.
Robert Davis estimates that slave traders from Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli enslaved 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans in North Africa, from the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th (these numbers do not include the European people who were enslaved by Morocco and by other raiders and traders of the Mediterranean Sea coast).
The authorities of Ottoman and pre-Ottoman times kept no relevant official records, but observers in the late 1500s and early 1600s estimated that around 35,000 European slaves were held throughout this period on the Barbary Coast, across Tripoli and Tunis, but mostly in Algiers.
From at least 1500, the pirates also conducted raids on seaside towns of Italy, Spain, France, England, the Netherlands and as far away as Iceland, capturing men, women and children. In 1544, Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the island of Ischia, taking 4,000 prisoners, and enslaved some 2,000–7,000 inhabitants of Lipari. In 1551, Ottoman corsair Dragut enslaved the entire population of the Maltese island of Gozo, between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to Ottoman Tripolitania. In 1554 corsairs under Dragut sacked Vieste, beheaded 5,000 of its inhabitants, and abducted another 6,000. The Balearic Islands were invaded in 1558, and 4,000 people were taken into slavery. In 1618 the Algerian pirates attacked the Canary Islands taking 1000 captives to be sold as slaves. On some occasions, settlements such as Baltimore in Ireland were abandoned following a raid, only being resettled many years later. Between 1609 and 1616, England alone lost 466 merchant ships to Barbary pirates.
While Barbary corsairs looted the cargo of ships they captured, their primary goal was to capture non-Muslim people for sale as slaves or for ransom. Those who had family or friends who might ransom them were held captive; the most famous of these was the author Miguel de Cervantes, who was held for almost five years - from 1575 to 1580. Others were sold into various types of servitude. Captives who converted to Islam were generally freed, since enslavement of Muslims was prohibited; but this meant that they could never return to their native countries.
Customs' statistics from the 16th and 17th century suggest that Istanbul's additional slave imports from the Black Sea may have totaled around 2.5 million from 1450 to 1700. The markets declined after Sweden and the United States defeated the Barbary States in the Barbary Wars (1800–1815).
From Thomas Jefferson to John Adams,
Paris July 11. 1786.
Dear Sir
Our instructions relative to the Barbary states having required us to proceed by way of negotiation to obtain their peace, it became our duty to do this to the best of our power. Whatever might be our private opinions, they were to be suppressed, and the line marked out to us, was to be followed. It has been so honestly, and zealously. It was therefore never material for us to consult together on the best plan of conduct towards these states. I acknolege I very early thought it would be best to effect a peace thro’ the medium of war... From Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 11 July 1786 (archives.gov)
When Jefferson was inaugurated as President in 1800, Tripoli demanded an immediate tribute of $250,000, a huge amount at that time. Jefferson, who had previously stated "Millions For Defense, Not One Cent For Tribute" refused and sent a squadron of frigates to protect our interests in the Mediterranean. Of swearing, ‘pirates’ and history repeating > Fairchild Air Force Base > Display (af.mil)
At the time when this act was passed, Algiers was and had long been the capital, regency, or pachalic of the same name, one of the well known Barbary States, a Mohammedan power, and dependent on the Ottoman empire, from which empire Turkish pirates had issued in early days, establishing themselves as sovereign masters of the City of Algiers. Mahoney v. United States, 77 U.S. 10 Wall. 62 62 (1869) https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/77/62/
During the Barbary wars, Congress enacted legislation authorizing only limited military action against the Barbary powers. In the slave trade in 1819, Congress legislated that even there, there were specific descriptions as to location and mission.…Barbary Wars. During the Barbary Wars, Congress enacted several measures authorizing limited military action against the Barbary powers. See, e.g., 3 Stat. 230 (1815) (U.S. vessels authorized to seize ``vessels, goods and effects of or belonging to the Dey of Algiers''); 2 Stat. 291 (1804) (expressing support for ``warlike operations against the regency of Tripoli, or any other of the Barbary powers''); see also Fisher, supra at 35-36 & n.92. https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-153/issue-20/senate-section/article/S1475-2
Shortly thereafter, we engaged in undeclared war with the Barbary States of North Africa, who had engaged in piratical depredations against American shipping. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2002-10-10/pdf/CREC-2002-10-10-pt1-PgS10233-7.pdf#page=50
Reports of Barbary raids and kidnappings of those in Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, England, Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and as far north as Iceland exist from between the 16th to the 19th centuries. Robert Davis estimated that between 1 and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by pirates and sold as slaves in Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli during this time period. The slave trade in Europeans in other parts of the Mediterranean is not included in this estimation.
In 1627 a group known as the Salé Rovers, from the Republic of Salé (now Salé in Morocco) occupied Lundy for five years. These Barbary Pirates, under the command of Janszoon, flew an Ottoman flag over the island. Slaving raids were made embarking from Lundy by the Barbary Pirates, and captured Europeans were held on Lundy before being sent to Algiers to be sold as slaves.
The power and influence of these pirates during this time was such that nations including the United States paid tribute in order to stave off their attacks.
In the first years of the 19th century, the United States, allied with European nations, fought and won the First and the Second Barbary Wars. The wars were a direct response of the US, British, French and the Dutch states to the raids and the slave trade by the Moorish pirates against them, which ended in the 1830s, when the region was conquered by France. The Barbary slave trade and slave markets in the Mediterranean declined and eventually disappeared after the European occupations. After being defeated in this period of formal hostilities with European and US powers, the Barbary states went into decline.
The Barbary pirates refused to cease their slaving operations, resulting in another bombardment by a Royal Navy fleet against Algiers in 1824. France invaded Algiers in 1830, placing it under colonial rule. Tunis was similarly invaded by France in 1881. Tripoli returned to direct Ottoman control in 1835, before falling into Italian hands in the 1911 Italo-Turkish War. As such, the slave traders now found that they had to work in accordance with the laws of their governors, and could no longer look to self-regulation. The slave trade ceased on the Barbary coast in the 19th and 20th centuries or when European governments passed laws granting emancipation to slaves.
The English term "Berber" is derived from the Arabic word barbar, which means both "Berber" and "barbarian." Due to this shared meaning, as well as its historical background as an exonym, the term "Berber" is commonly viewed as a pejorative by indigenous North Africans today.
Berber c. 1300, "foreign lands" (especially non-Christian lands), from Latin barbaria "foreign country," from barbarus "strange, foreign" (see barbarian (n.)). The meaning "Saracen nations on coastal North Africa" is attested from 1590s, via French (Old French barbarie), from Arabic Barbar, Berber, ancient Arabic name for the inhabitants of North Africa beyond Egypt.
Perhaps a native name, perhaps an Arabic word, from barbara "to babble confusedly," but this might be ultimately from Greek barbaria. "The actual relations (if any) of the Arabic and Gr[eek] words cannot be settled; but in European langs. barbaria, Barbarie, Barbary, have from the first been treated as identical with L. barbaria, Byzantine Gr[eek] barbaria land of barbarians"
Negro (n.)
Origin and meaning of Negro
1550s, "member of a black-skinned race of Africa," from Spanish or Portuguese negro "black," from Latin nigrum (nominative niger) "black.” Meaning "African-American vernacular, the English language as spoken by U.S. blacks" is from 1704. French nègre is a 16c. borrowing from Spanish negro. Older English words were Moor and blackamoor. - https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=negro
Berber, self-name Amazigh, plural Imazighen, any of the descendants of the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa. The Berbers live in scattered communities across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mali, Niger, and Mauritania.
The two largest populations of Berbers are found in Algeria and Morocco, where large portions of the population are descended from Berbers but only some of them identify as Amazigh. Roughly one-fourth of the population in Algeria is estimated to be Berber, while Berbers are estimated to make up more than three-fifths of the population in Morocco. In the Sahara of southern Algeria and of Libya, Mali, and Niger, the Berber Tuareg number more than two million.
From about 2000 BCE, Berber (Amazigh) languages spread westward from the Nile valley across the northern Sahara into the Maghrib.
The word Maghrib, in Arabic means “The West.” The indigenous ethnic population of the Maghreb region of North Africa are as a collective known as Berbers or Amazigh in English. The plural form Imazighen is sometimes also used in English. While Berber is more widely known among English-speakers, its usage is a subject of debate, due to its historical background as an exonym and present equivalence with the Arabic word for "barbarian".
The Numidian, Mauri or Moor, and Libu populations of antiquity are typically understood to refer to approximately the same population as modern Amazigh or Berbe.
According to Ivan Van Sertima, in his book, titled, The Golden age of the Moor. He states the following:
“Richard Brace sheds additional light upon the origins of the Moors, and the apparent synonymity of the term “Moor” with “Berbers.” Although Brace doesn’t specifically say whether he considers “Berber” to be synonymous with “Moor,” one can see the correlation when Brace writes: “The Berbers came to the Maghrib at least as early as the second millennium B.C., sixteen centuries before the Arab conquest ... it is judged that they came from the east, perhaps the Red Sea or Egypt, (emphasis mine) possibly further.” Brace also maintains that their language was “Hamitic” and is related to the ancient Egyptian. In discussing the racial/ethnic foundations of Morocco, Brace says nothing of “Moors,” preferring to use only the term “Berber.” But Brace’s designation of the “Berber” language as “Hamitic,” is most telling, as it thereby associates the people with distinctly African origins.
It is significant to note that the term “Moabitarum” is very frequently used by medieval-era European writers to describe the “Moorish” inhabitants of northwest Africa or Maure tania. 15 Those who are familiar with both the Koran and the Bible would recognize the references “Mo ab”/“ Moabite.” The descendants of Moab, the Moabites, were an ancient people who occupied a significant portion of Palestine (See Gen: 36:35 & Exodus 15:15)… McCabe submits that the MOORS were (are) “Blacks”/ “Negroes” as we see by his placing “Blacks” in quotations and parentheses next to MOORS. The picture that appears to be developing regarding the relationship between “Berbers” and Moors in the European mind, is one of gradations of color, similar to what the U.S. and several European (European controlled) societies did with Africans of varying mixtures and phenotypes. Terms like “Quadroon,” “Octoroon,” “Mulatto,” “Creole,” & “Mestizo,” all remind us of European-American attempts (all too often successful) to divide up peoples of African blood/ancestry. The notion of such a Pigmentocracy , as my Uncle John often calls it, has evidently been evident in the “scholarship” of several European writers on the Moors. It is beginning to appear that “Berber” is to “Moor,” what “Mulatto,” “Quadroon” or “Octoroon” were to “Negro” in the not-so Old southern United States… With regard to the earlier discussion concerning Moorish ethnology, it is interesting to point out that a Spanish synonym for Almoravid is Moabita, which again draws our attention to the Biblical people, and the evident phenotypic (and historic?) correlation which the medieval Europeans made between the ancient people of the Bible and the Almoravid Africans. We might also recall another synonym for Almoravid: Murabit or Marabout which phonetically corresponds to Moabite/Moabitarum. The Almohads assumed control of al-Andalus after a little more than a century of Almoravid domination. Henry Coppee refers to the Almohades as pure Africans” in contrast to the Almoravids, whose blood was (from Coppee’s viewpoint) more mixed with the Arabs. 89 Like the Almoravids, the Almohades also hailed from the western part of Africa, 96 an area which includes the peoples of Ghana, Mali, Senegal, and Songhay.”
Notice how the same places from which these Moors come from, are regarded as the same places from which over 70% of Africans slaves were brought to the United States.
This bring me to the point of the modern representation of what the Maghreb is. Evidence shows that the full extent of the Maghreb is larger than what is shown below:
After the Umayyad conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, a long process of reconquest (in Portuguese and Spanish: Reconquista) began. The Battle of Covadonga and the establishment of the Kingdom of Asturias are often regarded as the starting points of this process. Several Christian kingdoms emerged in the peninsula thereafter.
The County of Portucale, successively a vassal of the kingdoms of Asturias, Galicia, León, eventually rebelled and won Battle of São Mamede on 24 June 1128, led by Afonso Henriques, who, after defeating the Moors in the Battle of Ourique, proclaimed himself King of Portugal on 25 July 1139. Portugal's independence was recognized in 1143 by King Alfonso VII of León and in 1179 by Pope Alexander III. Portugal's Reconquista finished in 1249.
Spain began with the Union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon in 1469, although it was not until 1516 when they had a single unified King. Until then the word Hispania was only a geographic location referring exclusively to the Iberian peninsula. It was only in the constitution of 1812 that the name "Españas" (Spains) was adopted for the country along with the use of the title of "king of the Spains". The constitution of 1876 adopts for the first time the name "Spain" for the Spanish state and from then on the kings would use the title of "king of Spain". The Reconquista was finally over with the Fall of Granada in 1492.
Slavery in Spain can be traced to the Phoenician and Roman eras. In the 9th century the Muslim Moorish rulers and local Jewish merchants traded in Spanish and Eastern European Christian slaves. Spain began to trade slaves in the 15th century and this trade reached its peak in the 16th century. The history of Spanish enslavement of Africans began with Portuguese captains Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão in 1441. The first large group of African slaves, made up of 235 slaves, came with Lançarote de Freitas three years later. In 1462, Portuguese slave traders began to operate in Seville, Spain. During the 1470s, Spanish merchants began to trade large numbers of slaves. Slaves were auctioned at market at a cathedral, and subsequently were transported to cities all over Imperial Spain. This led to the spread of Moorish, African, and Christian slavery in Spain. By the 16th century, 7.4 percent of the population in Seville, Spain were slaves. Many historians have concluded that Renaissance and early-modern Spain had the highest amount of African slaves in Europe.
The Barbary slave trade involved slave markets in the Barbary States. European slaves were acquired by Barbary pirates in slave raids on ships and by raids on coastal towns from Italy to the Netherlands, Ireland and the southwest of Britain, as far north as Iceland and into the Eastern Mediterranean.
Robert Davis estimates that slave traders from Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli enslaved 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans in North Africa, from the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th (these numbers do not include the European people who were enslaved by Morocco and by other raiders and traders of the Mediterranean Sea coast).
The authorities of Ottoman and pre-Ottoman times kept no relevant official records, but observers in the late 1500s and early 1600s estimated that around 35,000 European slaves were held throughout this period on the Barbary Coast, across Tripoli and Tunis, but mostly in Algiers.
From at least 1500, the pirates also conducted raids on seaside towns of Italy, Spain, France, England, the Netherlands and as far away as Iceland, capturing men, women and children. In 1544, Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the island of Ischia, taking 4,000 prisoners, and enslaved some 2,000–7,000 inhabitants of Lipari. In 1551, Ottoman corsair Dragut enslaved the entire population of the Maltese island of Gozo, between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to Ottoman Tripolitania. In 1554 corsairs under Dragut sacked Vieste, beheaded 5,000 of its inhabitants, and abducted another 6,000. The Balearic Islands were invaded in 1558, and 4,000 people were taken into slavery. In 1618 the Algerian pirates attacked the Canary Islands taking 1000 captives to be sold as slaves. On some occasions, settlements such as Baltimore in Ireland were abandoned following a raid, only being resettled many years later. Between 1609 and 1616, England alone lost 466 merchant ships to Barbary pirates.
While Barbary corsairs looted the cargo of ships they captured, their primary goal was to capture non-Muslim people for sale as slaves or for ransom. Those who had family or friends who might ransom them were held captive; the most famous of these was the author Miguel de Cervantes, who was held for almost five years - from 1575 to 1580. Others were sold into various types of servitude. Captives who converted to Islam were generally freed, since enslavement of Muslims was prohibited; but this meant that they could never return to their native countries.
Customs' statistics from the 16th and 17th century suggest that Istanbul's additional slave imports from the Black Sea may have totaled around 2.5 million from 1450 to 1700. The markets declined after Sweden and the United States defeated the Barbary States in the Barbary Wars (1800–1815).
From Thomas Jefferson to John Adams,
Paris July 11. 1786.
Dear Sir
Our instructions relative to the Barbary states having required us to proceed by way of negotiation to obtain their peace, it became our duty to do this to the best of our power. Whatever might be our private opinions, they were to be suppressed, and the line marked out to us, was to be followed. It has been so honestly, and zealously. It was therefore never material for us to consult together on the best plan of conduct towards these states. I acknolege I very early thought it would be best to effect a peace thro’ the medium of war... From Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 11 July 1786 (archives.gov)
When Jefferson was inaugurated as President in 1800, Tripoli demanded an immediate tribute of $250,000, a huge amount at that time. Jefferson, who had previously stated "Millions For Defense, Not One Cent For Tribute" refused and sent a squadron of frigates to protect our interests in the Mediterranean. Of swearing, ‘pirates’ and history repeating > Fairchild Air Force Base > Display (af.mil)
At the time when this act was passed, Algiers was and had long been the capital, regency, or pachalic of the same name, one of the well known Barbary States, a Mohammedan power, and dependent on the Ottoman empire, from which empire Turkish pirates had issued in early days, establishing themselves as sovereign masters of the City of Algiers. Mahoney v. United States, 77 U.S. 10 Wall. 62 62 (1869) https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/77/62/
During the Barbary wars, Congress enacted legislation authorizing only limited military action against the Barbary powers. In the slave trade in 1819, Congress legislated that even there, there were specific descriptions as to location and mission.…Barbary Wars. During the Barbary Wars, Congress enacted several measures authorizing limited military action against the Barbary powers. See, e.g., 3 Stat. 230 (1815) (U.S. vessels authorized to seize ``vessels, goods and effects of or belonging to the Dey of Algiers''); 2 Stat. 291 (1804) (expressing support for ``warlike operations against the regency of Tripoli, or any other of the Barbary powers''); see also Fisher, supra at 35-36 & n.92. https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-153/issue-20/senate-section/article/S1475-2
Shortly thereafter, we engaged in undeclared war with the Barbary States of North Africa, who had engaged in piratical depredations against American shipping. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-2002-10-10/pdf/CREC-2002-10-10-pt1-PgS10233-7.pdf#page=50
Reports of Barbary raids and kidnappings of those in Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, England, Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and as far north as Iceland exist from between the 16th to the 19th centuries. Robert Davis estimated that between 1 and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by pirates and sold as slaves in Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli during this time period. The slave trade in Europeans in other parts of the Mediterranean is not included in this estimation.
In 1627 a group known as the Salé Rovers, from the Republic of Salé (now Salé in Morocco) occupied Lundy for five years. These Barbary Pirates, under the command of Janszoon, flew an Ottoman flag over the island. Slaving raids were made embarking from Lundy by the Barbary Pirates, and captured Europeans were held on Lundy before being sent to Algiers to be sold as slaves.
The power and influence of these pirates during this time was such that nations including the United States paid tribute in order to stave off their attacks.
In the first years of the 19th century, the United States, allied with European nations, fought and won the First and the Second Barbary Wars. The wars were a direct response of the US, British, French and the Dutch states to the raids and the slave trade by the Moorish pirates against them, which ended in the 1830s, when the region was conquered by France. The Barbary slave trade and slave markets in the Mediterranean declined and eventually disappeared after the European occupations. After being defeated in this period of formal hostilities with European and US powers, the Barbary states went into decline.
The Barbary pirates refused to cease their slaving operations, resulting in another bombardment by a Royal Navy fleet against Algiers in 1824. France invaded Algiers in 1830, placing it under colonial rule. Tunis was similarly invaded by France in 1881. Tripoli returned to direct Ottoman control in 1835, before falling into Italian hands in the 1911 Italo-Turkish War. As such, the slave traders now found that they had to work in accordance with the laws of their governors, and could no longer look to self-regulation. The slave trade ceased on the Barbary coast in the 19th and 20th centuries or when European governments passed laws granting emancipation to slaves.
The English term "Berber" is derived from the Arabic word barbar, which means both "Berber" and "barbarian." Due to this shared meaning, as well as its historical background as an exonym, the term "Berber" is commonly viewed as a pejorative by indigenous North Africans today.
Berber c. 1300, "foreign lands" (especially non-Christian lands), from Latin barbaria "foreign country," from barbarus "strange, foreign" (see barbarian (n.)). The meaning "Saracen nations on coastal North Africa" is attested from 1590s, via French (Old French barbarie), from Arabic Barbar, Berber, ancient Arabic name for the inhabitants of North Africa beyond Egypt.
Perhaps a native name, perhaps an Arabic word, from barbara "to babble confusedly," but this might be ultimately from Greek barbaria. "The actual relations (if any) of the Arabic and Gr[eek] words cannot be settled; but in European langs. barbaria, Barbarie, Barbary, have from the first been treated as identical with L. barbaria, Byzantine Gr[eek] barbaria land of barbarians"
Negro (n.)
Origin and meaning of Negro
1550s, "member of a black-skinned race of Africa," from Spanish or Portuguese negro "black," from Latin nigrum (nominative niger) "black.” Meaning "African-American vernacular, the English language as spoken by U.S. blacks" is from 1704. French nègre is a 16c. borrowing from Spanish negro. Older English words were Moor and blackamoor. - https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=negro
Berber, self-name Amazigh, plural Imazighen, any of the descendants of the pre-Arab inhabitants of North Africa. The Berbers live in scattered communities across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mali, Niger, and Mauritania.
The two largest populations of Berbers are found in Algeria and Morocco, where large portions of the population are descended from Berbers but only some of them identify as Amazigh. Roughly one-fourth of the population in Algeria is estimated to be Berber, while Berbers are estimated to make up more than three-fifths of the population in Morocco. In the Sahara of southern Algeria and of Libya, Mali, and Niger, the Berber Tuareg number more than two million.
From about 2000 BCE, Berber (Amazigh) languages spread westward from the Nile valley across the northern Sahara into the Maghrib.
The word Maghrib, in Arabic means “The West.” The indigenous ethnic population of the Maghreb region of North Africa are as a collective known as Berbers or Amazigh in English. The plural form Imazighen is sometimes also used in English. While Berber is more widely known among English-speakers, its usage is a subject of debate, due to its historical background as an exonym and present equivalence with the Arabic word for "barbarian".
The Numidian, Mauri or Moor, and Libu populations of antiquity are typically understood to refer to approximately the same population as modern Amazigh or Berbe.
According to Ivan Van Sertima, in his book, titled, The Golden age of the Moor. He states the following:
“Richard Brace sheds additional light upon the origins of the Moors, and the apparent synonymity of the term “Moor” with “Berbers.” Although Brace doesn’t specifically say whether he considers “Berber” to be synonymous with “Moor,” one can see the correlation when Brace writes: “The Berbers came to the Maghrib at least as early as the second millennium B.C., sixteen centuries before the Arab conquest ... it is judged that they came from the east, perhaps the Red Sea or Egypt, (emphasis mine) possibly further.” Brace also maintains that their language was “Hamitic” and is related to the ancient Egyptian. In discussing the racial/ethnic foundations of Morocco, Brace says nothing of “Moors,” preferring to use only the term “Berber.” But Brace’s designation of the “Berber” language as “Hamitic,” is most telling, as it thereby associates the people with distinctly African origins.
It is significant to note that the term “Moabitarum” is very frequently used by medieval-era European writers to describe the “Moorish” inhabitants of northwest Africa or Maure tania. 15 Those who are familiar with both the Koran and the Bible would recognize the references “Mo ab”/“ Moabite.” The descendants of Moab, the Moabites, were an ancient people who occupied a significant portion of Palestine (See Gen: 36:35 & Exodus 15:15)… McCabe submits that the MOORS were (are) “Blacks”/ “Negroes” as we see by his placing “Blacks” in quotations and parentheses next to MOORS. The picture that appears to be developing regarding the relationship between “Berbers” and Moors in the European mind, is one of gradations of color, similar to what the U.S. and several European (European controlled) societies did with Africans of varying mixtures and phenotypes. Terms like “Quadroon,” “Octoroon,” “Mulatto,” “Creole,” & “Mestizo,” all remind us of European-American attempts (all too often successful) to divide up peoples of African blood/ancestry. The notion of such a Pigmentocracy , as my Uncle John often calls it, has evidently been evident in the “scholarship” of several European writers on the Moors. It is beginning to appear that “Berber” is to “Moor,” what “Mulatto,” “Quadroon” or “Octoroon” were to “Negro” in the not-so Old southern United States… With regard to the earlier discussion concerning Moorish ethnology, it is interesting to point out that a Spanish synonym for Almoravid is Moabita, which again draws our attention to the Biblical people, and the evident phenotypic (and historic?) correlation which the medieval Europeans made between the ancient people of the Bible and the Almoravid Africans. We might also recall another synonym for Almoravid: Murabit or Marabout which phonetically corresponds to Moabite/Moabitarum. The Almohads assumed control of al-Andalus after a little more than a century of Almoravid domination. Henry Coppee refers to the Almohades as pure Africans” in contrast to the Almoravids, whose blood was (from Coppee’s viewpoint) more mixed with the Arabs. 89 Like the Almoravids, the Almohades also hailed from the western part of Africa, 96 an area which includes the peoples of Ghana, Mali, Senegal, and Songhay.”
Notice how the same places from which these Moors come from, are regarded as the same places from which over 70% of Africans slaves were brought to the United States.
This bring me to the point of the modern representation of what the Maghreb is. Evidence shows that the full extent of the Maghreb is larger than what is shown below:
During the rule of the Moors during the 13th century, the Larabanga Mosque was built in Ghana around 1421. During this time, the Moorish empire extend from Al Andalusia (Spain), as far east at present day Saudi Arabi, Palestine, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt etc. and as far south as present-day Uganda. The masjid’s architecture is based on the Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali (built around 1200 AD.) Larabangas style is said to be Sudanese. Sudan, a country which the river Nile runs through, its also one of the furthest eastern countries which the Sahara desert is extended.
Interestingly enough, Moors have also been referred to as Saracens. Directly from the Arabic word for desert صحراء sahra'. Moors were known for trade and more specifically, camel trains through the desert or Sahra.
The country of Senegal derives its name from a Moorish tribe called the Zenega. Libya derives its name from a Moorish tribe called the Lebu. The prominent ethnic groups of Mali are from the Moorish tribes of the Tuareg and Maur. The name Mauri as a tribal confederation or generic ethnic designator to roughly correspond to the people known as Numidians. In Mauritania, the Haratin form one of the largest ethnic groups and account for as much as 40% of the Mauritanians. They are sometimes referred to as "Black Moors".
Although the Portuguese claim to have found the island of Cape Verde uninhabited in 1460. It is a known fact, that the Portuguese followed Moorish trade routes once they were defeated in Spain.
“The mandate of the Portuguese from their king was to cut the trade routes, subjugate the African trading cities and destroy “Moorish” influence. The Portuguese and the Spanish used the term Moors to refer to all Muslims, whether they were Arabs, Africans, Persians, Indians or Malays.” - https://historyofislam.com/contents/onset-of-the-colonial-age/the-portuguese-devastations-in-the-indian-ocean/
The name Cape Verde, is derived from Cape Vert. a peninsula in Senegal and the westernmost point of the continent of Africa. According to multiple oral traditions from across the region, the ancestors of the Lebu originally lived to the northeast in the Hodh region of modern Mauritania. History of the Almoravid dynasty of Moors also show that the extent of their reign was amongst the Lebu, as the Senegalese are of Moorish origin. The Portuguese also make note that the Lebu were the indigenous inhabitants of cape vert when they arrived in Senegal. Due to the fact that Moors were dominating the seas from at least 711 to the mid-18th century, as shown in the Barbary slave trade. It is safe to say, that the island known as Cape verde, a mere distance from the peninsula of Cape vert of 1039 km (645 miles) were already inhabited by Moors. The islands also appear on the Muslim map in 1154.
Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Idrīs al-sharif al-Idrīsī (or al-Idrisi) produced a book detailing the geography of the known world. Over the course of nine years, and drawing on Arabic sources, firsthand information from world travelers and his own experience, al-Idrisi in 1154 completed what became one of the most detailed geographical works created during the medieval period.
Interestingly enough, Moors have also been referred to as Saracens. Directly from the Arabic word for desert صحراء sahra'. Moors were known for trade and more specifically, camel trains through the desert or Sahra.
The country of Senegal derives its name from a Moorish tribe called the Zenega. Libya derives its name from a Moorish tribe called the Lebu. The prominent ethnic groups of Mali are from the Moorish tribes of the Tuareg and Maur. The name Mauri as a tribal confederation or generic ethnic designator to roughly correspond to the people known as Numidians. In Mauritania, the Haratin form one of the largest ethnic groups and account for as much as 40% of the Mauritanians. They are sometimes referred to as "Black Moors".
Although the Portuguese claim to have found the island of Cape Verde uninhabited in 1460. It is a known fact, that the Portuguese followed Moorish trade routes once they were defeated in Spain.
“The mandate of the Portuguese from their king was to cut the trade routes, subjugate the African trading cities and destroy “Moorish” influence. The Portuguese and the Spanish used the term Moors to refer to all Muslims, whether they were Arabs, Africans, Persians, Indians or Malays.” - https://historyofislam.com/contents/onset-of-the-colonial-age/the-portuguese-devastations-in-the-indian-ocean/
The name Cape Verde, is derived from Cape Vert. a peninsula in Senegal and the westernmost point of the continent of Africa. According to multiple oral traditions from across the region, the ancestors of the Lebu originally lived to the northeast in the Hodh region of modern Mauritania. History of the Almoravid dynasty of Moors also show that the extent of their reign was amongst the Lebu, as the Senegalese are of Moorish origin. The Portuguese also make note that the Lebu were the indigenous inhabitants of cape vert when they arrived in Senegal. Due to the fact that Moors were dominating the seas from at least 711 to the mid-18th century, as shown in the Barbary slave trade. It is safe to say, that the island known as Cape verde, a mere distance from the peninsula of Cape vert of 1039 km (645 miles) were already inhabited by Moors. The islands also appear on the Muslim map in 1154.
Arab Muslim geographer and cartographer Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Idrīs al-sharif al-Idrīsī (or al-Idrisi) produced a book detailing the geography of the known world. Over the course of nine years, and drawing on Arabic sources, firsthand information from world travelers and his own experience, al-Idrisi in 1154 completed what became one of the most detailed geographical works created during the medieval period.
What we have been studying
Our research thus far, has been, to a degree, based on anthropology. The study of the origin and development of human societies and cultures. This again, is the root of all identity.
According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) DIRECTIVE NO. 15 Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting of the Center for Disease Control. The classifications of “Black” and “White” “...should not be interpreted as being scientific or anthropological in nature…”
This sheds light on the fact, that, from both a scientific and anthropological point of view, American Blacks cannot be black. The scientific and anthropological approach to all national identities is the international standard of the human race. Black Americans, being no longer 3/5ths of a man, must fall within the category of the human race. To be identified by something not based on science or anthropology, is by default, to not be counted as human. All human beings are identified by their national origin. A principle enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on human rights: Article 15 “Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality."
Since Black cannot be a nationality, Black Americans have the right to change their national identity from “Black Americans” to “_____ Americans.” Whereas the _____ would be the national identifier based on anthropology and not an adjective turned noun after being stolen from one’s own land.
This, in addition to the emotional aspects of identity. Clearly shows that a nationality is a human right in international law and by default, must have some political implications.
A quick search into the legal definition of nationality, shows that it indeed determines the political status of individuals. According to Henry Campbell Black’s law dictionary. A book that I found in the Rhode Island Supreme and Superior Court building, 250 benefit Street Providence Rhode Island - 5th Floor, Law Library. “Nationality determines the political status of the individual, especially with reference to allegiance; while domicile determines his civil status.”
“POLITICAL. Pertaining or relating to the policy Crim. I or the administration of government, state or national. People v. Morgan, 90 Ill. 558. Pertaining to, or incidental to, the exercise of the functions vested in those charged with the conduct of government; relating to the management of affairs of state; as political theories; of or pertaining to exercise of rights and privileges or the influence by which individuals of a state seek to determine or control its public policy; having to person do with organization or action of individuals, or mail parties, or interests that seek to control appointment or action of those who manage affairs of a state. State ex rel. Maley v. Civic Action Committee, 238 Iowa 851, 28 N.W.2d 467, 470”
“STATUS. Standing, state or condition. Reyn-olds v. Pennsylvania Oil Co., 150 Cal. 629, 89 P. 610, 612. The legal relation of individual to rest of the community. Durea v. Duryea, 46 Idaho 512, 269 P. 987, 988. The rights, duties, capacities and incapacities which determine a person to a given class. Campb. Austin 137. A legal personal relationship, not temporary in its nature nor terminable at the mere will of the parties, with which third persons and the state are concerned. Holzer v. Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft, 159 Misc. 830, 290 N.Y.S. 181, 191. While term implies relation it is not a mere relation. De La Montan-ya v. De La Montanya, 112 Cal. 101, 115, 44 P. 345, 348, 32 L. R.A. 82, 53 Am.St.Rep. 165. It also means estate, because it signifies the condition or circumstances in which one stands with regard to his property. In the Year Books, it was used in this sense; 2 Poll. & Mail. Hist, E. L. 11.”
From these definitions, it appears to be that, this second-Class treatment and march for civil rights [of or pertaining to exercise of rights and privileges], is a direct result of not having a proper national identity. This lack of identity, or the status of being stateless as it is called in international law, is the direct result of us being stripped of our nationality, culture, language, history and way of thinking.
Thereby, assimilating into what the slave master instilled in us. Post slavery, the further assimilation into pre-existing colonialism and further adoption of their way of thinking and molding of our identity, has resulted in the utter lack of identity, individualism and, like other nations, the ability to put the interest of our group before others. It becomes clear that since nationality determines political stats in relation to an individual or group of individuals relationship with their property and which rights and privileges they have. We can see how, with a nationality you have rights and without it, you fall into the status of a slave or subject. Which is exactly what happened to American Blacks. They once had a nationality and rights, their nationality was stripped, they then became slaves without any rights. And now, post slavery, the plight for Civil rights is still on. We are no longer slaves, but we were never restored our national identity.
According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) DIRECTIVE NO. 15 Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting of the Center for Disease Control. The classifications of “Black” and “White” “...should not be interpreted as being scientific or anthropological in nature…”
This sheds light on the fact, that, from both a scientific and anthropological point of view, American Blacks cannot be black. The scientific and anthropological approach to all national identities is the international standard of the human race. Black Americans, being no longer 3/5ths of a man, must fall within the category of the human race. To be identified by something not based on science or anthropology, is by default, to not be counted as human. All human beings are identified by their national origin. A principle enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on human rights: Article 15 “Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality."
Since Black cannot be a nationality, Black Americans have the right to change their national identity from “Black Americans” to “_____ Americans.” Whereas the _____ would be the national identifier based on anthropology and not an adjective turned noun after being stolen from one’s own land.
This, in addition to the emotional aspects of identity. Clearly shows that a nationality is a human right in international law and by default, must have some political implications.
A quick search into the legal definition of nationality, shows that it indeed determines the political status of individuals. According to Henry Campbell Black’s law dictionary. A book that I found in the Rhode Island Supreme and Superior Court building, 250 benefit Street Providence Rhode Island - 5th Floor, Law Library. “Nationality determines the political status of the individual, especially with reference to allegiance; while domicile determines his civil status.”
“POLITICAL. Pertaining or relating to the policy Crim. I or the administration of government, state or national. People v. Morgan, 90 Ill. 558. Pertaining to, or incidental to, the exercise of the functions vested in those charged with the conduct of government; relating to the management of affairs of state; as political theories; of or pertaining to exercise of rights and privileges or the influence by which individuals of a state seek to determine or control its public policy; having to person do with organization or action of individuals, or mail parties, or interests that seek to control appointment or action of those who manage affairs of a state. State ex rel. Maley v. Civic Action Committee, 238 Iowa 851, 28 N.W.2d 467, 470”
“STATUS. Standing, state or condition. Reyn-olds v. Pennsylvania Oil Co., 150 Cal. 629, 89 P. 610, 612. The legal relation of individual to rest of the community. Durea v. Duryea, 46 Idaho 512, 269 P. 987, 988. The rights, duties, capacities and incapacities which determine a person to a given class. Campb. Austin 137. A legal personal relationship, not temporary in its nature nor terminable at the mere will of the parties, with which third persons and the state are concerned. Holzer v. Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft, 159 Misc. 830, 290 N.Y.S. 181, 191. While term implies relation it is not a mere relation. De La Montan-ya v. De La Montanya, 112 Cal. 101, 115, 44 P. 345, 348, 32 L. R.A. 82, 53 Am.St.Rep. 165. It also means estate, because it signifies the condition or circumstances in which one stands with regard to his property. In the Year Books, it was used in this sense; 2 Poll. & Mail. Hist, E. L. 11.”
From these definitions, it appears to be that, this second-Class treatment and march for civil rights [of or pertaining to exercise of rights and privileges], is a direct result of not having a proper national identity. This lack of identity, or the status of being stateless as it is called in international law, is the direct result of us being stripped of our nationality, culture, language, history and way of thinking.
Thereby, assimilating into what the slave master instilled in us. Post slavery, the further assimilation into pre-existing colonialism and further adoption of their way of thinking and molding of our identity, has resulted in the utter lack of identity, individualism and, like other nations, the ability to put the interest of our group before others. It becomes clear that since nationality determines political stats in relation to an individual or group of individuals relationship with their property and which rights and privileges they have. We can see how, with a nationality you have rights and without it, you fall into the status of a slave or subject. Which is exactly what happened to American Blacks. They once had a nationality and rights, their nationality was stripped, they then became slaves without any rights. And now, post slavery, the plight for Civil rights is still on. We are no longer slaves, but we were never restored our national identity.
Moroccan Man. By
JOSÉ TAPIRO Y BARO, 1913
The Inspection LUDWIG DEUTSCH
A historical image by Ludwig Deutsch that depicts a Moor in the marketplace inspecting a piece of merchandise.
Charles Maugendre Villers - Le Garde du palais 1894
Moorish Chief
by EDUARD CHARLEMONT
The Emir
by LUDWIG DEUTSCH
The Emir
by LUDWIG DEUTSCH
