THE DEMOGRAPHICATION RULES: Enslavement in the colonial era!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2022

A deeply brutal history: Especially as judged by contemporary standards, the history of the western hemisphere is a vicious and bloody affair. 

Consider the contents of an exchange we viewed over the Thanksgiving weekend.  The exchange was part of a broadcast of an hour-long interview which took place in late October. 

You can watch the entire session thanks to this this C-Span videotape.  C-Span describes the event as shown:

Lessons from the First Thanksgiving

Martin DiCaro, host of the Washington Times' “History As It Happens” podcast, talked to historian David Silverman about challenges educators face when teaching about colonialism and the first Thanksgiving. This program was part of the Washington Times taping of its history podcast.

As we noted yesterday, we learned a lot from watching Professor Silverman's hour-long interview session. That said, how brutal is the history in question? 

Roughly thirty minutes into the session, consider this exchange:

DICARO (10/27/22): I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself, because as far as I understand, one reason why the trans-Atlantic slave trade in Africans exploded was because it proved impossible to enslave Native Americans for various reasons. But I might be getting ahead of myself.

SILVERMAN: Well, you know, the last 15 years of scholarship, or so, has exploded that idea

DICARO: O.K.

SILVERMAN: —which, you know, which was standard fare in colonial American history courses for a long time.

Like DiCaro, we were surprised to hear that. Silverman continued from there:

SILVERMAN (continuing directly): What we've now discovered is that over the course of the big colonial era—you know, so 16th century all the way through the mid-19th century—Europeans, and then European colonists, enslaved upwards of five and a half million indigenous people

DICARO: I did not know—

SILVERMAN: Hemispherically, not within the boundaries of the United States. That's about forty percent of the volume of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Assuming Silverman's data are accurate, forty percent of the trans-Atlantic slave trade (North and South America combined) involved the enslavement of Native Americans! 

As with DiCaro, so too here: We don't think we knew that.

Elsewhere, Silverman noted that the bulk of these enslaved indigenous people were actually taken to Europe, where they were made to work at various tasks. Even so, as he continued, he surprised us again:

SILVERMAN (continuing directly): In North America, in the North American context—so this would be in English, French, Dutch and Spanish colonies—during the 17th century, so during the 1600s, you would have been as likely in a colonial setting, to encounter Native American slaves as Africans. 

That will change dramatically in the 18th century, largely because if you're enslaving the people you live near, it's a recipe for chronic war.

"This is depressing. I don't think I want to celebrate Thanksgiving," DiCaro said at this point. 

DiCaro was fashioning a rueful joke, but the history is brutal. That's especially true when the history is judged by contemporary moral standards, which are far superior to the moral standards which widely prevailed at that time.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we watched several interviews with Professor Silverman. As we noted yesterday, we were highly impressed by his wide-ranging erudition—though it must be said that we aren't in a position to judge the accuracy of his various factual statements.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but world history tends to be brutal. That's certainly true of the history of the Americas in the age of European colonization—and it was during that age that our struggling nation's so-called "First Thanksgiving" occurred.

As you can see from what's posted above, Silverman's interview with DiCaro was built around a desire to assess the stories which have long been told about that "First Thanksgiving." Back in 2019, Silvermna became the go-to academic on the history of that event when he published a well-received book on the subject:

This Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving.

Over the weekend, we learned a lot from watching Silverman is several interview sessions. At the same time, we thought we detected the possible hint of a possibly unhelpful tone in some of his attendant writings about that "troubled history."

Back in November 2019, Silverman wrote an essay for the New York Times about that "First Thanksgiving." As we noted yesterday, the headline in the essay said this:

The Vicious Reality Behind the Thanksgiving Myth

We stand in awe of the depth of historical knowledge Silverman seems to bring to his work. At the same time, we wonder if a certain slightly unhelpful conceptual framework may perhaps be lurking in that essay for the Times.

Our deeply self-impressed blue tribe has recently embarked on a new tribal culture—a culture we would describe as "the demographication of everything." In part, we call it that to avoid the need to describe it as the racialization of everything, though that would be a reasonably accurate name for this culture as well. 

It seems to us that Silverman's essay begins to offer a window onto that emergent cultural framework. Meanwhile, we deeply self-impressed Blues!  

It seems to us that we often flounder on the merits when we advance that (deeply heartfelt) new tribal culture. On the politics, it seems to us that we routinely insist on driving voters away when we express our newly heartfelt array of identity-centric dogmas, novelizations, assertions, claims, memorized statements and views.

As an historian, Silverman strikes us as amazingly erudite. When it comes to the politics of our floundering tribe's heartfelt new culture, it seems to us that his essay may possibly point the way to our demise, perhaps from its first sentence on.

Tomorrow: In just its first six words...


19 comments:

  1. A former President of the United States accepting flattery from a nutcase who openly wants to repeal our Republic. Hey Bob, Thanksgiving was last week, a hole.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Somerby is quite off base here when he refuses to see the “racialization” that is plain as day emanating from the GOP side. And it wins elections for them.

      Delete
  2. Silverman, a serious historian, writes the truth about Native Americans. And this, in Somerby’s view, means that Democrats will lose votes.

    What is the logic here?

    The past few days, Somerby has been talking about Drum’s list of why “centrists” hate … liberals/progressives/Democrats…I think. Are centrists now “the others”, to use Somerby’s term? I always thought the “others” meant conservatives/Republicans. But anyway..

    Is Somerby suggesting that an undecided centrist will read the historical truth about Native Americans, decide or assume that Silverman is liberal, then conclude that, therefore, all liberals hate America and feel compelled to vote Republican? Can Somerby explain the logic of that?

    Would Somerby imagine that a “conservative” historian would disagree with Silverman’s facts or attempt to hide or discredit them?

    And how is writing the truth about Native Americans a “racialization?”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mh, yes, it is possible that conservative historians believe that Native Americans suffered historic wrong at the hand of colonialist. Highly possible.

      Some historians may take one side or another in a debate as to the grade level where such discussion should take place.

      Some of them may think that children should initially be taught to honor their country and its past, and later delve into its “bitter history” when they are of the age when they can both realize the level of suffering involved and are also aware of the universality of evil.

      This approach would tend to make kids more analytical and less emotionally vulnerable to all sorts of political agendas that seek to prey upon emotions rather principles.

      Delete
    2. Silverman is writing for adults, not kids.

      Delete
    3. “Martin DiCaro, host of the Washington Times' “History As It Happens” podcast, talked to historian David Silverman about challenges educators face when teaching about colonialism and the first Thanksgiving. This program was part of the Washington Times taping of its history podcast.”

      Delete
    4. David Silverman teaches college, you dope.

      Also, mh shied away, but your notions on what to teach children are wrong, harmful to children, and only helpful to those wanting to indoctrinate children with right wing sensibilities.

      Your views on education are deeply immoral; the blame lies in your troubled past.

      Delete
    5. Oh, please. They is no controversy in college academia as to presenting the facts on the “ First Thanksgiving” or about the treatment of Native Americans in general or about slavery.

      This discussion is about the current controversy in elementary and secondary public schools.

      Delete
    6. And yet, Somerby is talking about (centrist) voters and the idea that they will be turned off by what Silverman writes, the tiresome true history of Native Americans that we must all be subjected to every year, tribally, in the Washington Post. Somerby doesn’t mention school children, since even he knows they don’t vote. Do you, Cecelia?

      Delete
    7. What’s turning off centrist voters is all of the moral posturing and sanctimoniousness that surrounds these issues and the current cultural revisionism. Like, we’re such GOOD people for delving into this, and you’re probably a racist (or worse) for not liking what we do, or how we’re doing it.

      Delete
    8. there is no controversy about teaching Thanksgiving in elementary schools, that is manufactured

      the discussion referenced was not over elementary school, here we see the typical right wing belly flop

      centrist voters are not turned off by posturing, whatever that is (it is not even a thing), there is zero evidence for this. what this comment is trying to do is the old right wing tactic of framing issues on an individual level when in fact what Leftists focus on are systems and institutions (remember it is CRT that you are supposedly so upset about)

      Delete
  3. On the naep test, there is a large “achievement gap” (to use Somerby’s preferred term) between white and Native American public school students, a fact that Somerby has never discussed. He was always solely focused on the white/black gap.

    Is it a “racialization” to separate students this way?

    Somerby has acknowledged in the past that the black/white gap is a legacy of the slave holding past. Are Native American test scores a result of the legacy of America’s treatment of Native Americans?

    If so, don’t we need to understand that history in order to understand the gaps?

    ReplyDelete

  4. "Our deeply self-impressed blue tribe has recently embarked on a new tribal culture—a culture we would describe as "the demographication of everything.""

    Yeah. In other words: essentializing of "race", among other utterly extraneous characteristics. At the expense of the only essential one: socioeconomic class.

    Which is, of course, the essentially Hitlerian worldview. We know it, and you, dear Bob, know it.

    ...and nevertheless you, dear Bob, remain a fanatical liberal. Oh well...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, even Bob doesn't agree with your creepy nonsense, today or ever. So stick it, you toxic loser.

      Delete
  5. Somerby hosts banquets for ex Nazis and drug dealers. They gorge on dim sum and talk about how to defeat liberals. Seems kinda mean.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Surprised by the statistics (I'm a bit older than you). But an interesting book "Thundersticks" https://www.amazon.com/Thundersticks-Firearms-Violent-Transformation-America/dp/0674737474 described a process of enslavement of which I also wasn't aware. White colonists would trade firearms to a neighboring tribe. In return they got Indian slaves, taken by the tribe in warfare with less powerful tribes further west. The firearms would enable the tribe to prevail in future conflicts.

    Not a historian so I don't know how new or well-established this narrative is.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. There is a clear way out of our problems: enslave the GOP!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Somerby is dumb as shit.

    He writes:

    SILVERMAN: Hemispherically, not within the boundaries of the United States. That's about forty percent of the volume of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.


    Assuming Silverman's data are accurate, forty percent of the trans-Atlantic slave trade (North and South America combined) involved the enslavement of Native Americans!


    Nope, you have failed at basic reading comprehension, Somerby. Here's your pointy hat, now go sit in the corner until you figure out where you went wrong.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tutorials, Tools & Fullz Available
    For Contact:
    @killhacks = ICQ/TG
    peeterhacks = Wickr/Skype

    CC Fullz with CVV & SSN Info
    High Credit Scores Fullz
    Dumps with Pin Codes Track 101 & 202
    EIN Business Fullz
    SSN DOB DL Fullz/Pros/Leads
    SBA/PUA/UI/Tax Return Filling fullz

    Ethical Ha-cking Complete Course with Tools & Tutorials
    Carding Methods of Cashout & Transfers
    Spamming & Ha-cking Stuff Full Package
    Kali Linux Master, BTC Crakcer/Flasher
    Combos, Mailers, Senders
    I.p's/Proxies, Logins
    Etc

    Huge stuff Available now
    Fresh & Valid, Invalid will be replaced
    Contact for any query

    ICQ = 752822040
    TG = @leadsupplier
    Skype/Wickr = peeterhacks

    ReplyDelete