0:00:01.608,0:00:05.103 - (Narrator) This is the story of a world[br]whose borders and territories 0:00:05.103,0:00:07.074 were drawn by the slave trade, 0:00:07.074,0:00:11.411 where violence, subjugation, [br]and profit imposed their own routes. 0:00:11.411,0:00:15.353 This criminal system shaped our history,[br]and our world. 0:00:16.511,0:00:19.673 On São Tomé, the Portuguese[br]invented an economic model 0:00:19.673,0:00:23.330 with unprecedented profitability:[br]the sugar plantation. 0:00:23.330,0:00:26.454 - (English voiceover) This was [br]the first black colony, 0:00:26.454,0:00:28.321 the first slave society. 0:00:29.222,0:00:32.490 - (English voiceover) We witnessed[br]the marriage of the black man 0:00:32.490,0:00:34.055 with sugar cane. 0:00:35.243,0:00:38.448 - (Narrator) In the 16th century,[br]other European powers 0:00:38.448,0:00:40.898 were eager to follow their model. 0:00:40.898,0:00:44.032 Their greed would plunge [br]an entire continent 0:00:44.032,0:00:46.259 into chaos and violence. 0:00:46.259,0:00:50.876 Nearly 13 million Africans were cast onto[br]new slavery routes to the new world, 0:00:50.876,0:00:55.108 where the English, the French,[br]and the Dutch hoped to become wealthy; 0:00:55.108,0:00:57.412 immeasurably wealthy. 0:00:58.545,0:01:01.761 [intense music with strong bass drum beat] 0:01:16.861,0:01:21.212 Because the Caribbean[br]has similar climatic features to São Tomé, 0:01:21.212,0:01:23.686 it eventually became[br]the principal crossroads 0:01:23.686,0:01:26.062 of the slave trader's routes. 0:01:26.062,0:01:28.132 For people in the western world, 0:01:28.132,0:01:30.966 these islands are today[br]associated with vacation. 0:01:31.681,0:01:35.325 Guadeloupe offers tourists[br]a dream destination. 0:01:35.325,0:01:37.793 Sunshine and pristine nature, 0:01:37.793,0:01:41.046 rekindling myths of a lost paradise. 0:01:41.046,0:01:44.765 Holidaymakers tend to confine themselves[br]to the beaches of Le Gosier, 0:01:44.765,0:01:46.923 Sainte-Anne, and Saint François. 0:01:46.923,0:01:50.117 But as this sign indicates,[br]they are all-too-close 0:01:50.117,0:01:52.465 to another side of the island's heritage 0:01:52.465,0:01:55.171 that was anything but a paradise. 0:01:55.976,0:01:58.136 Just a few meters away from the bathers 0:01:58.136,0:02:01.521 is a burial site where countless[br]skeletons were discovered. 0:02:02.950,0:02:07.371 Between 500 and 1,000 graves[br]are still buried beneath the sand. 0:02:08.810,0:02:13.458 The Raisins Clairs beach is one of 15 [br]slave cemeteries that have been excavated. 0:02:14.658,0:02:18.534 Fifteen, among the 1,000[br]that exist in the Caribbean. 0:02:24.561,0:02:30.099 89 skeletons have been exhumed[br]by French archaeological research experts. 0:02:30.099,0:02:34.290 Judging by the state of the bones,[br]they concluded that these men and women 0:02:34.290,0:02:36.699 had not reached the age of 30. 0:02:36.699,0:02:40.039 By the time of their death,[br]the toll from working on the plantations 0:02:40.039,0:02:44.530 had so deformed their bodies[br]that they seemed more like 75 year olds. 0:02:47.996,0:02:51.914 These people were human guinea pigs[br]for the sugar experiment, 0:02:51.914,0:02:55.579 the collateral damage[br]of an unprecedented trade war: 0:02:55.579,0:02:57.253 The Sugar War. 0:02:59.043,0:03:02.846 - 74% of all slaves carried off, 0:03:04.183,0:03:06.133 were carried off because of sugar. 0:03:06.133,0:03:10.137 If you want to understand the slave trade,[br]you just need to know about sugar. 0:03:12.100,0:03:15.610 Sugar proved more addictive[br]than pepper or cinnamon. 0:03:15.610,0:03:18.034 From the 17th century onward, 0:03:18.034,0:03:21.938 Europeans craved this rare[br]and expensive commodity. 0:03:21.938,0:03:26.029 In London, Amsterdam, and Paris,[br]sugar fever was rampant, 0:03:26.029,0:03:30.501 prompting a new generation of adventurers[br]to go to any extremes to get it. 0:03:31.523,0:03:34.668 Shipowners and fitters,[br]merchants and pirates, 0:03:34.668,0:03:38.337 all knew that to produce sugar,[br]you needed a lot of slaves. 0:03:39.300,0:03:42.071 John Hawkins was one of these[br]new entrepreneurs 0:03:42.071,0:03:44.831 for whom profit reigned supreme. 0:03:44.831,0:03:48.739 The English privateer was a pioneer[br]in understanding that a fortune 0:03:48.739,0:03:52.624 could be made by shipping[br]Black captives to the New World. 0:03:52.624,0:03:56.643 In the mid 16th century,[br]he convinced Queen Elizabeth I 0:03:56.643,0:03:59.836 to lend him a ship, The Jesus of Lubec. 0:03:59.836,0:04:03.306 For the expedition,[br]Hawkins conspicuously set the tone 0:04:03.306,0:04:06.441 by choosing a trussed-up Black man[br]on his emblem. 0:04:09.013,0:04:11.323 - (Male speaker) "I do confirm[br]to your highness 0:04:11.323,0:04:15.558 "that I will bring home 40,000 marks[br]without any offense of the least 0:04:15.558,0:04:18.534 to any of Your Highness'[br]allies or friends. 0:04:19.425,0:04:22.886 "I will conduct this enterprise[br]and turn it to the benefit 0:04:22.886,0:04:26.822 "of your whole realm,[br]with Your Highness' consent. 0:04:26.822,0:04:30.155 "The voyage I propose[br]is to load negroes in Guinea 0:04:30.155,0:04:32.437 "and sell them in the West Indies, 0:04:32.437,0:04:37.144 "in truck of pearls, gold, and emeralds[br]that I will bring back in abundance." 0:04:39.329,0:04:42.980 - (Narrator) 1620,[br]a century after sugar plantations 0:04:42.980,0:04:44.902 were introduced in Brazil, 0:04:44.902,0:04:48.014 the Atlantic became the battleground[br]for the Sugar War. 0:04:48.014,0:04:50.255 England, The Netherlands, and France 0:04:50.255,0:04:53.032 wanted to break Spain[br]and Portugal's hegemony. 0:04:54.016,0:04:56.518 In the Caribbean,[br]the Dutch took control 0:04:56.518,0:05:00.601 of Curaçao, Sint Eustatius,[br]and Saint Martin. 0:05:00.601,0:05:05.093 The French: Guadeloupe, Martinique,[br]Grenada and Saint-Domingue. 0:05:05.093,0:05:10.692 The English occupied The Bahamas,[br]Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados and Dominica. 0:05:12.374,0:05:16.511 Only Cuba and Puerto Rico[br]remained under Spanish rule. 0:05:16.511,0:05:19.886 After the extermination[br]of the native Arawak people, 0:05:19.886,0:05:22.991 the first sugar canes flourished[br]on this fertile land. 0:05:23.893,0:05:26.389 - The Caribbean became[br]a space of conquest 0:05:26.389,0:05:28.414 for the Europeans very early on. 0:05:28.414,0:05:31.657 Really, it was the first place[br]that Columbus landed in the new world, 0:05:31.657,0:05:35.195 the first place that the Spanish[br]began to search for gold, 0:05:35.195,0:05:37.923 and the first place they began[br]to enslave the Indians. 0:05:37.923,0:05:40.499 So they were thoroughgoing[br]colonial spaces 0:05:40.499,0:05:44.318 created by design of European planters 0:05:44.318,0:05:46.020 and imperial policy makers. 0:05:46.020,0:05:48.202 And for their profit, right? 0:05:48.202,0:05:49.525 There aren't so many places 0:05:49.525,0:05:52.302 where you can completely[br]overlay a territory like that. 0:05:52.302,0:05:55.393 So, in some ways, the Caribbean[br]is the space where you find 0:05:55.393,0:05:57.492 the purest of Colonial territories. 0:05:57.492,0:06:01.549 Where the masters of the space[br]actually get to create the space 0:06:01.549,0:06:03.323 to suit their own needs. 0:06:04.965,0:06:07.326 - (Narrator) In Guadalupe,[br]every plot of land, 0:06:07.326,0:06:09.755 every single square inch of ground, 0:06:09.755,0:06:12.816 is connected to this violent[br]and deeply-rooted history. 0:06:25.300,0:06:29.555 Today, all that is left of the Sugar War[br]is a field of ruins. 0:06:35.613,0:06:40.105 Of the 250 sugar refineries active[br]in the late 19th century, 0:06:40.105,0:06:42.332 only two remain in operation. 0:06:56.118,0:06:58.972 In 2017, experts from France's 0:06:58.972,0:07:02.297 National Institute of Preventive[br]Archeological Research 0:07:02.297,0:07:06.063 exhumed the remains of the Saint Jacques[br]residence and sugar refinery 0:07:06.063,0:07:08.334 in Anse-Bertrand: 0:07:08.334,0:07:12.024 a mill, stock rooms,[br]and three rows of so-called "negro huts" 0:07:12.024,0:07:14.855 where hundreds of slaves[br]were penned up together. 0:07:16.043,0:07:20.626 In this brutal work camp, human beings[br]were but one tool among others. 0:07:21.484,0:07:24.590 Each became a mechanized, emaciated body, 0:07:24.590,0:07:27.487 consumed by work until their final breath. 0:07:29.103,0:07:32.337 - Both the time in which the slaves[br]were digging the cane holes 0:07:32.337,0:07:34.555 and the times in which they're harvesting 0:07:34.555,0:07:37.229 were really the peak of the labor[br]on a plantation. 0:07:37.229,0:07:39.435 You could almost see the slaves[br]wasting away 0:07:39.435,0:07:42.865 when they were digging these cane holes[br]because the work was so strenuous 0:07:42.865,0:07:44.921 and they were getting fed so poorly. 0:07:51.482,0:07:53.274 You found women in all of the gangs, 0:07:53.274,0:07:57.274 often times doing the hardest,[br]dirtiest labor on the plantation. 0:07:57.274,0:07:59.607 Alongside the men, or even before the men. 0:07:59.607,0:08:01.500 And one of the things that means, 0:08:01.500,0:08:04.440 when you find young women doing[br]this quite debilitating labor, 0:08:04.440,0:08:07.640 is that the birth rates are very low[br]and the mortality rates, 0:08:07.640,0:08:10.166 the infant mortality[br]rate is shockingly high. 0:08:10.166,0:08:12.511 In the mid-18th century,[br]people talked about 0:08:12.511,0:08:16.520 9 out of 10 infants born [br]to enslaved Jamaican women 0:08:16.520,0:08:19.324 dying, right, within the first year. 0:08:20.048,0:08:23.168 So, there's no way in which the plantation[br]can reproduce itself 0:08:23.168,0:08:24.919 under those kinds of conditions. 0:08:27.830,0:08:29.250 - [speaking French] 0:08:29.250,0:08:32.357 - (English voiceover) The plantations[br]were managed by overseers 0:08:32.357,0:08:34.767 who saw the slaves[br]in purely functional terms. 0:08:37.035,0:08:40.146 This was absolute exploitation[br]of the workforce. 0:08:40.146,0:08:42.186 It was a very particular society 0:08:42.186,0:08:47.132 because the average rate[br]of life expectancy on a plantation 0:08:47.132,0:08:48.739 was extremely low, 0:08:48.739,0:08:51.592 about 8 to 10 years after arriving. 0:08:54.912,0:08:56.332 - [speaking French] 0:08:56.332,0:08:58.803 - (English voiceover)[br]The logic of the slave system 0:08:58.803,0:09:02.246 was one where the availability[br]of the workforce had to be absolute. 0:09:03.658,0:09:07.043 And for this, man was conceived[br]as an accessory of the land. 0:09:08.957,0:09:10.944 He appeared as such in house inventories. 0:09:13.307,0:09:17.567 Slaves are listed next to records[br]for livestock or manufacturing implements. 0:09:23.254,0:09:25.938 That's the archaic aspect, 0:09:25.938,0:09:28.599 which was put to use[br]by a capitalist system, 0:09:28.599,0:09:31.511 and which largely met[br]market supply and demand, 0:09:31.511,0:09:34.373 with its fluctuations, needs,[br]and competition; 0:09:34.373,0:09:35.772 free competition. 0:09:40.284,0:09:44.161 - (Narrator) The sugar plantations[br]saw slavery enter a new era. 0:09:44.161,0:09:47.886 The stronger the demand for sugar,[br]the more the slave trade expanded, 0:09:47.886,0:09:51.193 and the more the slave traders[br]sought support from banks 0:09:51.193,0:09:53.292 to finance their expeditions. 0:09:55.142,0:09:58.676 London is one of the oldest centers[br]of global finance. 0:09:58.676,0:10:03.349 The city of London was the first[br]to create a commodities exchange, 0:10:03.349,0:10:07.664 to develop credit markets,[br]and to issue banknotes on a massive scale. 0:10:07.664,0:10:10.704 Without the invention[br]of a centralized banking system, 0:10:10.704,0:10:13.663 the explosion of the slave trade[br]in the 17th century 0:10:13.663,0:10:15.534 would not have been possible. 0:10:15.534,0:10:18.483 Preparing for a slave expedition[br]was expensive, 0:10:18.483,0:10:20.179 and having a financial arsenal 0:10:20.179,0:10:23.379 gave England a decisive advantage[br]over its competitors. 0:10:24.598,0:10:28.571 - You've got to remember that the State[br]is getting a tremendous amount of revenue 0:10:28.571,0:10:30.780 from the plantation complex, 0:10:30.780,0:10:34.386 so they had a very strong,[br]vested interest in the slave trade. 0:10:35.357,0:10:40.151 If you had gone to the king of England[br]in 1680 and said, 0:10:40.151,0:10:41.950 "Look, I'm gonna give you a choice. 0:10:41.950,0:10:46.062 "You can either have these 13 colonies[br]in North America, 0:10:46.062,0:10:48.942 "or you can have this one little island[br]called Barbados." 0:10:48.942,0:10:51.605 He would have taken Barbados[br]in a split second 0:10:51.605,0:10:53.746 because of the sugar revenues. 0:10:53.746,0:10:56.135 And this is something[br]that's going to persist 0:10:56.135,0:10:59.583 as a very important interest[br]for European states 0:10:59.583,0:11:01.830 up until the very end of slavery. 0:11:04.271,0:11:08.333 - (Narrator) To support the sugar war,[br]the city lent money on a colossal scale. 0:11:08.333,0:11:11.642 In the midst of these[br]steel and glass buildings, 0:11:11.642,0:11:15.395 the two pillars of the English economy[br]that financed the slave trade 0:11:15.395,0:11:17.813 are still prominent on the London skyline. 0:11:20.908,0:11:24.754 At the heart of the financial district[br]is the venerable bank of England, 0:11:24.754,0:11:26.528 the world's first central bank. 0:11:27.624,0:11:30.234 A couple of blocks away[br]is Britain's most powerful 0:11:30.234,0:11:33.912 insurance company,[br]the prestigious Lloyd's of London. 0:11:33.912,0:11:37.118 Atlantic slave traders[br]had to take on heavy debts 0:11:37.118,0:11:39.295 to charter their ships. 0:11:39.295,0:11:40.952 Without an insurance company, 0:11:40.952,0:11:43.993 most would risk ruin[br]on their first expedition. 0:11:48.236,0:11:52.509 The slave traders made investments[br]as if playing a game of poker. 0:11:52.509,0:11:55.613 The risks were high, but if successful, 0:11:55.613,0:11:59.865 the return would far outweigh[br]any other type of investment. 0:11:59.865,0:12:02.560 Insurers like Lloyd's[br]had everything to gain 0:12:02.560,0:12:04.788 by participating in this game of chance. 0:12:05.724,0:12:09.680 A successful expedition could yield[br]up to three times the initial stake. 0:12:10.642,0:12:13.443 In the Lloyd's archives,[br]little evidence remains 0:12:13.443,0:12:17.626 of the profits amassed by insuring[br]these high-risk expeditions. 0:12:17.626,0:12:21.629 Most accounting records were lost[br]in a fire in 1838, 0:12:21.629,0:12:25.320 the same year that slavery[br]was abolished in the British Caribbean. 0:12:29.916,0:12:32.794 Ports had to adapt[br]to this initial scramble 0:12:32.794,0:12:35.055 for Africa and the Caribbean. 0:12:35.055,0:12:39.151 In London, Blackwall became[br]the slave trade's principal wharf. 0:12:39.151,0:12:41.863 All manner of goods were sold here. 0:12:41.863,0:12:45.549 Precious fabrics, jewels, porcelain,[br]weapons, and brandy. 0:12:45.549,0:12:48.599 All bought on credit [br]with the bank's money. 0:12:48.599,0:12:51.620 A giant port complex gradually evolved; 0:12:51.620,0:12:55.595 a city within a city,[br]entirely devoted to this new business. 0:12:58.478,0:13:01.311 Following London in 1663, 0:13:01.311,0:13:05.688 other seaports rushed to take advantage[br]of this lucrative trade. 0:13:05.688,0:13:08.756 Lorient, Copenhagen, La Rochelle, 0:13:08.756,0:13:11.109 Bristol, Nantes, Liverpool, 0:13:11.109,0:13:13.055 Bordeaux, Antwerp. 0:13:13.055,0:13:17.195 From all over Europe,[br]slave ships set sail for Africa. 0:13:17.195,0:13:19.740 - When I began to see slave ships leaving 0:13:19.740,0:13:23.518 from not just Liverpool and Nantes, 0:13:23.518,0:13:25.591 but from every port in the Atlantic. 0:13:25.591,0:13:31.344 As soon as a port becomes big enough[br]to contemplate a transoceanic voyage, 0:13:31.344,0:13:34.843 there's a good chance that voyage[br]is going to be a slave trade voyage. 0:13:34.843,0:13:39.639 And we've got like 170 separate ports, [br]tiny places. 0:13:39.639,0:13:42.406 Today, they've got no idea [br]that once upon a time, 0:13:42.406,0:13:44.799 they sent out slave voyages. 0:13:44.799,0:13:47.772 Saint Peter's Port in the Channel Islands,[br]charming place. 0:13:47.772,0:13:50.484 And yet, it's a slave trade port. 0:13:50.719,0:13:52.434 [drum cadence] 0:13:55.473,0:13:59.358 Over a period of two centuries,[br]more than 3,500 expeditions 0:13:59.358,0:14:01.926 set sail from French ports. 0:14:01.926,0:14:04.804 More than half of them[br]left from the port of Nantes, 0:14:04.804,0:14:07.165 the main French hub of triangular trade. 0:14:10.667,0:14:14.402 The sculpted figures along[br]the Quai de la Fosse, or Feydeau Island, 0:14:14.402,0:14:15.823 are reminders of an era 0:14:15.823,0:14:19.003 when the great slave trading families[br]displayed their pride 0:14:19.003,0:14:22.055 in being the main architects[br]of the city's wealth. 0:14:22.055,0:14:25.894 It was they who made Nantes[br]France's leading commercial port. 0:14:25.894,0:14:27.309 - [speaking French] 0:14:27.309,0:14:29.638 - (English voiceover)[br]Wealth came from slavery. 0:14:29.638,0:14:33.364 There were negotiators, ship owners,[br]and all those who produced foodstuffs. 0:14:34.354,0:14:39.746 Vintners, flour producers,[br]fabric producers, hardware producers. 0:14:39.746,0:14:41.096 [speaking French] 0:14:42.893,0:14:44.296 - [speaking French] 0:14:44.296,0:14:47.297 - (English voiceover) The Atlantic ports[br]also generated wealth 0:14:47.297,0:14:49.631 for areas that stretched very far inland, 0:14:49.631,0:14:52.869 as far as Orléans, in the case of Nantes. 0:14:55.049,0:14:58.223 Goods were also transported along rivers. 0:15:00.310,0:15:04.063 So the wealth that slavery[br]produced was essential for France. 0:15:04.063,0:15:06.173 [speaking French] 0:15:08.418,0:15:13.514 - (Narrator) 1669. From Nantes,[br]Bordeaux, La Rochelle and Le Havre, 0:15:13.514,0:15:15.904 slavery money flowed back up rivers 0:15:15.904,0:15:19.144 to Rouen, Orléans and Angoulême. 0:15:19.144,0:15:24.016 It had such repercussions on inland areas[br]that it became a national objective. 0:15:25.126,0:15:28.118 Louis XIV knew that to win the Sugar War, 0:15:28.118,0:15:29.893 he would need a powerful fleet. 0:15:32.403,0:15:35.486 The king ordered the construction[br]of 500 galleons. 0:15:35.486,0:15:38.151 The Atlantic became the theater[br]of a naval war 0:15:38.151,0:15:40.782 between France, England and[br]the Netherlands. 0:15:40.782,0:15:44.870 A bitter fight, in which each sunken ship[br]was a total loss 0:15:44.870,0:15:46.967 for the respective country's economy. 0:15:48.641,0:15:49.917 - [speaking French] 0:15:49.917,0:15:52.850 - (English voiceover) It was[br]very expensive to build and equip 0:15:52.850,0:15:55.248 a 74-gun ship and pay its crew. 0:15:57.791,0:16:00.185 Ultimately, who bore the cost? 0:16:00.185,0:16:05.237 The bill for financing these wars,[br]the financing of ships and arsenals, 0:16:05.237,0:16:07.692 was mainly footed by French peasants. 0:16:11.187,0:16:13.758 - (Narrator) The slave trade fleets[br]were protected. 0:16:13.758,0:16:17.831 16,000 galleons were already protecting[br]Dutch commercial ships, 0:16:17.831,0:16:21.137 while the 3,000 light and fast[br]Royal Navy cruisers 0:16:21.137,0:16:22.965 terrified their adversaries. 0:16:22.965,0:16:25.737 France paled in comparison[br]to these armadas. 0:16:29.496,0:16:32.104 Each nation needed a fortress[br]in Africa 0:16:32.104,0:16:34.886 if it were to compete[br]in the Atlantic race. 0:16:34.886,0:16:37.064 Just like on the Caribbean islands, 0:16:37.064,0:16:40.307 these forts were the bastions of [br]triangular trade. 0:16:41.321,0:16:43.112 As military bases, 0:16:43.112,0:16:46.790 they offered a secure store[br]for bartered goods and captives 0:16:46.790,0:16:48.348 before departure by sea. 0:16:52.983,0:16:54.738 In less than 80 years, 0:16:54.738,0:16:58.512 43 such forts were built[br]from Senegal to the Niger Delta. 0:16:58.512,0:17:02.106 Every stone, every beam,[br]every element of masonry 0:17:02.106,0:17:04.190 was transported by boat from Europe. 0:17:06.513,0:17:09.554 - Most of these fortresses[br]are built by states. 0:17:09.554,0:17:14.093 Individual capitalists[br]or even groups of trading capitalists 0:17:14.093,0:17:16.577 did not have that kind of money 0:17:16.577,0:17:19.234 in order to build[br]those sorts of fortresses. 0:17:20.038,0:17:22.359 - (Narrator) The English[br]already had thirteen, 0:17:22.359,0:17:24.217 the Dutch ten, the Danish five. 0:17:24.217,0:17:26.471 Even the Prussians,[br]with their three forts, 0:17:26.471,0:17:28.102 surpassed the French. 0:17:28.102,0:17:30.754 On the Gold Coast, in today’s Ghana, 0:17:30.754,0:17:35.385 the Fante and Ashanti rented Europeans[br]plots of land to build their forts. 0:17:35.385,0:17:38.868 The Europeans established[br]trading posts and fortresses 0:17:38.868,0:17:40.555 all along the Atlantic coast, 0:17:40.555,0:17:43.223 from the Ewé territory[br]to the Kongo Kingdom. 0:17:44.154,0:17:47.821 Equatorial Africa became[br]the world’s principal source of slaves. 0:17:52.785,0:17:56.830 In this accounting document[br]written in 1688, 0:17:56.830,0:18:02.538 we learn that over an 8-year period,[br]it shipped 60,783 slaves. 0:18:03.480,0:18:08.038 Each cost the Royal African Company[br]8 to 12 pounds sterling, 0:18:08.038,0:18:13.071 the equivalent of between [br]€950 and €1500 today. 0:18:13.071,0:18:15.343 They were all bought with trade goods. 0:18:15.343,0:18:17.765 The demand for slaves was so high 0:18:17.765,0:18:21.352 that the Europeans pressured their[br]African partners to help them 0:18:21.352,0:18:26.173 plan, rationalize, and industrialize[br]their system of mass deportation. 0:18:30.450,0:18:33.977 - Slaves were often bought on credit. 0:18:33.977,0:18:38.067 And so that meant that European ships[br]would come, 0:18:38.067,0:18:42.809 they would have a whole cargo[br]full of textiles, different metal ware, 0:18:42.809,0:18:47.319 rum, tobacco, whatever. 0:18:47.319,0:18:51.201 And these would be given[br]to the local merchants, 0:18:51.201,0:18:53.080 extended to them on credit. 0:18:53.080,0:18:55.733 And then the merchants[br]would go inland with those goods 0:18:55.697,0:18:57.501 and buy slaves and come back. 0:18:57.501,0:19:02.384 - The biggest impact[br]was the level of violence, 0:19:02.384,0:19:04.263 the rising level of violence, 0:19:04.263,0:19:09.933 the level of uncertainty[br]that permeated society everywhere, 0:19:09.933,0:19:16.134 and also the opportunity [br]for new "big men" to emerge, 0:19:16.134,0:19:17.930 new powerful leaders. 0:19:17.930,0:19:21.370 Somebody gets a hold of more firearms,[br]somebody gets more aggressive, 0:19:21.370,0:19:24.911 they build their own personal chieftain[br]and, suddenly, they’re powerful. 0:19:27.191,0:19:29.924 - (Narrator) Among these leaders[br]was Antera Duke, 0:19:29.924,0:19:34.161 a major African trader [br]from Calabar in what is now Nigeria. 0:19:34.161,0:19:39.004 In his diary, he spoke of the methods[br]he used to terrorize captives: 0:19:39.004,0:19:42.022 kidnapping, detention, and murder. 0:19:50.179,0:19:52.668 [fire roars and crackles] 0:19:56.872,0:20:00.031 - (Man) "About 4am, I got up. 0:20:00.031,0:20:01.673 "Awful rain. 0:20:01.673,0:20:03.867 "I walked up to the city trading house, 0:20:03.867,0:20:06.379 "where I met all the gentlemen. 0:20:06.379,0:20:08.310 "We got ready to cut off heads. 0:20:16.220,0:20:19.785 "5am, we began decapitating slaves. 0:20:27.379,0:20:29.527 "50 heads fell that day." 0:20:43.460,0:20:48.130 - Very clearly, these sacrifices[br]were intended as a form of terrorism 0:20:48.130,0:20:51.582 that were meant to make it very clear[br]to the population 0:20:51.582,0:20:53.632 who was the boss and who was not, 0:20:53.632,0:21:00.064 in very much the way[br]the Mafioso type organizations behave 0:21:00.927,0:21:04.279 in terms of making sure[br]that the members of the association 0:21:04.279,0:21:06.465 respect whoever the Godfather is, 0:21:06.465,0:21:10.802 and if anybody steps out of line[br]they can be assassinated or killed. 0:21:10.802,0:21:13.408 And so they don't[br]step out of line, obviously. 0:21:14.438,0:21:18.938 - (Narrator) For the benefit of a handful[br]of enterprising & unscrupulous profiteers, 0:21:18.938,0:21:22.613 the entire continental economy[br]was transformed. 0:21:22.613,0:21:26.903 On the coast, African brokers [br]knew all of the inner workings 0:21:26.862,0:21:28.530 of the sugar plantation. 0:21:30.677,0:21:34.044 A slave ship from Saint-Malo,[br]“Le Marie Séraphique”, 0:21:34.044,0:21:36.955 docked at Loango in the Kingdom of Kongo. 0:21:42.395,0:21:45.298 Its captain’s drawings provide[br]exceptional details 0:21:45.298,0:21:49.017 of the negotiations[br]between Europeans and Africans. 0:21:49.017,0:21:51.245 The merchants from the coast knew 0:21:51.245,0:21:54.231 that the Marie Séraphique’s captain[br]was in a hurry: 0:21:54.231,0:21:57.759 he had to arrive in the West Indies[br]before harvest time. 0:21:57.759,0:22:01.062 This was the time of year[br]when slaves sold best, 0:22:01.062,0:22:03.704 and when the best sugar was available. 0:22:03.704,0:22:06.194 So they deliberately [br]prolonged negotiations 0:22:06.194,0:22:08.227 to drive prices up. 0:22:08.227,0:22:12.735 312 captives were rounded up[br]in 116 days. 0:22:15.058,0:22:18.729 The Marie Séraphique arrived[br]in Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, 0:22:18.729,0:22:20.882 one year after leaving France. 0:22:20.882,0:22:23.311 Only nine captives had perished: 0:22:23.311,0:22:26.680 a good ratio for the crew,[br]who celebrated their success. 0:22:27.652,0:22:29.852 In the drawings of the[br]Marie Séraphique, 0:22:29.852,0:22:32.977 no allusion to the[br]slaves’ suffering appears. 0:22:32.977,0:22:35.472 They were dehumanized shadows, 0:22:35.472,0:22:39.338 tallied and lined up like barrels[br]at the bottom of the hold, 0:22:40.382,0:22:44.302 the transportation of human beings[br]turned into a nightmare. 0:22:48.013,0:22:52.063 - It’s very important to understand[br]that violence onboard slave ships 0:22:52.063,0:22:53.806 would be used selectively. 0:22:53.806,0:22:55.406 In other words, no captain 0:22:55.406,0:22:59.829 wanted to kill the entire allotment[br]of people on board 0:22:59.829,0:23:02.328 because that voyage[br]would then have no profit. 0:23:02.328,0:23:06.248 So when there was resistance,[br]what the captains would do, 0:23:06.248,0:23:09.697 is organize a spectacle 0:23:09.697,0:23:14.378 in which a small number of people[br]would be executed 0:23:14.378,0:23:17.285 in extremely vicious, horrific ways 0:23:17.285,0:23:21.655 as a means of terrorizing everybody else. 0:23:21.655,0:23:24.598 All of the enslaved would be forced[br]to come up on deck 0:23:24.598,0:23:26.636 in order to view these executions. 0:23:26.636,0:23:31.107 One slave ship surgeon[br]said that frequently the decks, 0:23:31.107,0:23:34.875 the main deck of the ship[br]would just be completely awash in blood 0:23:34.875,0:23:37.760 in the aftermath of one of these[br]failed revolts. 0:23:37.760,0:23:41.417 Revolts were common, and they were[br]almost always suppressed. 0:23:41.417,0:23:46.696 But the captains would use that situation[br]to kill a small number, 0:23:46.696,0:23:49.097 in order to intimidate everybody else, 0:23:49.097,0:23:53.502 sending the message that if you resist us,[br]this will be your fate. 0:23:53.801,0:23:56.110 [flute and bass drum playing slowly] 0:24:04.421,0:24:09.443 I’ve also suggested that the slave ship[br]created categories of race. 0:24:10.645,0:24:14.106 For example, the multi-ethnic Africans 0:24:14.106,0:24:17.386 who are loaded on board a slave ship 0:24:17.386,0:24:24.201 go aboard as Ebo or Fante or Mende, 0:24:24.201,0:24:26.300 but when they come off the ship, 0:24:26.300,0:24:31.235 they are unloaded as members[br]of a “negro race”. 0:24:31.236,0:24:35.173 And the same parallel process[br]goes on among the sailors. 0:24:35.173,0:24:41.692 These motley crews, they are English,[br]Irish, also in some cases African. 0:24:41.692,0:24:44.381 They leave their European port, 0:24:44.381,0:24:47.402 but when they arrive[br]on the West coast of Africa, 0:24:47.402,0:24:49.354 they become the White people. 0:24:55.897,0:24:57.840 - (Narrator) On Caribbean beaches, 0:24:57.840,0:25:02.445 captives disembarked as “Blacks”[br]in a world dominated by “Whites”. 0:25:04.780,0:25:06.839 [singing in unison and cracking whips] 0:25:06.839,0:25:10.806 Providing an outlet for a society[br]founded on violence and race, 0:25:10.806,0:25:13.431 the Carnival maintains[br]the memory of the days 0:25:13.431,0:25:17.071 when the sugar industry imposed[br]its rhythms, rites, and seasons, 0:25:17.071,0:25:19.430 and set the pace for island life. 0:25:20.997,0:25:29.925 [singing in unison] 0:25:29.925,0:25:33.330 It was an era when drummers[br]announced the end of winter 0:25:33.330,0:25:35.435 and the resumption of cutting; 0:25:35.435,0:25:38.268 when fleeing slaves[br]covered themselves in molasses 0:25:38.268,0:25:40.531 to help prevent their re-capture. 0:25:43.061,0:25:45.761 - [speaking French] 0:25:45.761,0:25:49.385 - (English voiceover) What progressively[br]distinguished Atlantic slavery, 0:25:49.385,0:25:52.139 what made it different[br]from other systems of slavery, 0:25:52.139,0:25:53.992 was the construction of race. 0:25:57.552,0:26:00.376 It was precisely this superimposition[br]that developed 0:26:00.376,0:26:04.018 between physical appearance,[br]with its own term, and status. 0:26:08.006,0:26:12.287 At the extremities of this continuum [br]of both status and color, 0:26:12.287,0:26:15.578 there was the white master[br]and the black slave. 0:26:24.808,0:26:28.708 The term "White” did not exist[br]prior to slave societies. 0:26:33.166,0:26:36.630 The term "White" developed[br]specifically in the Antilles. 0:26:37.580,0:26:40.900 So you can see how vital[br]this Atlantic slave area was 0:26:40.900,0:26:43.152 to the construction [br]of the racial categories 0:26:43.152,0:26:44.657 that we still use now. 0:26:46.031,0:26:49.404 We use them as though they hadn't[br]changed throughout time, 0:26:49.404,0:26:51.146 when, in fact, they have. 0:26:57.339,0:26:59.814 - (Narrator) Race was[br]a weapon of submission, 0:26:59.814,0:27:04.465 meant to carve into flesh[br]the supposed inferiority of some people, 0:27:04.465,0:27:07.266 and the infinite superiority of others. 0:27:08.368,0:27:10.862 Cut off from their roots[br]and their families, 0:27:10.862,0:27:13.960 the Black slaves were reduced[br]to a servile mass, 0:27:13.960,0:27:16.644 without names and without orientation. 0:27:19.245,0:27:23.326 The plantation was a machine[br]that devoured its workforce. 0:27:23.326,0:27:26.244 It needed a constant supply[br]of new arrivals. 0:27:27.062,0:27:30.797 Landowners wanted to transform[br]the slaves’ bodies into tools. 0:27:31.828,0:27:34.261 On plantations, whipping and torture 0:27:34.261,0:27:36.690 were used to deprive them[br]of their humanity. 0:27:38.433,0:27:43.106 In this garden of torture,[br]the master’s authority was absolute. 0:27:52.649,0:27:56.308 - So you take, for example,[br]a character like Thomas Thistlewood. 0:27:56.308,0:28:00.261 And you can almost see in his diaries[br]the escalation in the violence 0:28:00.261,0:28:01.710 that he has to mete out, 0:28:01.710,0:28:04.432 or that he thinks he has to mete out [br]to the enslaved 0:28:04.432,0:28:06.488 to keep them working on the plantation. 0:28:13.970,0:28:17.033 - (Male voice) "I arrived as a foreman[br]on the new plantation 0:28:17.033,0:28:18.445 "barely two weeks ago. 0:28:19.490,0:28:22.653 "We had to carry out justice[br]on a negro who had escaped. 0:28:24.231,0:28:25.756 "We severely whipped him 0:28:25.756,0:28:29.602 "and rubbed pepper, salt,[br]and lime juice into his wounds. 0:28:34.268,0:28:37.879 "Three days later, the body[br]of another slave who had escaped 0:28:37.879,0:28:39.336 "was brought to us. 0:28:39.336,0:28:43.021 "I cut off his head[br]and we burned the body in public. 0:28:43.021,0:28:46.370 "That was the only way[br]to exert our control over the negroes. 0:28:49.241,0:28:53.169 "In this affair, my reasoning[br]was adopted by all the colonies. 0:28:54.200,0:28:58.762 "The unfortunate condition of the Negro[br]naturally led to us being hated. 0:28:58.762,0:29:01.950 "Only strength and violence[br]can hold them back." 0:29:27.108,0:29:30.672 - These kinds of tortures[br]and these kinds of punishments, 0:29:30.672,0:29:32.163 this kind of brutality, 0:29:32.163,0:29:35.051 actually became common-place[br]on these plantations 0:29:35.051,0:29:38.083 where you had white people[br]working out among armies of slaves 0:29:38.083,0:29:40.039 who they feared they could not control. 0:29:40.039,0:29:43.435 The sound of the screaming[br]and the stench of the burning bodies, 0:29:43.435,0:29:47.278 that also became a fundamental feature[br]of the Jamaican landscape, right? 0:29:47.278,0:29:49.493 That is what plantation society is. 0:29:49.493,0:29:52.955 It’s that smell, it’s that sound,[br]it’s that fear and terror 0:29:52.955,0:29:56.392 that’s compelling people to work[br]and to obey their masters. 0:29:56.392,0:29:59.479 There is no way to separate[br]that kind of terror 0:29:59.479,0:30:01.384 from the labor on the plantation, 0:30:01.384,0:30:04.025 from the profits that labor produced. 0:30:05.324,0:30:08.186 - (Narrator) But the plantation owners[br]could not squander 0:30:08.186,0:30:10.388 the slaves they had bought on credit. 0:30:10.388,0:30:12.919 The state had financed[br]the shipment of slaves, 0:30:12.919,0:30:15.249 and wanted[br]its return on investment. 0:30:22.735,0:30:26.310 The plantation society relied[br]solely on market forces. 0:30:26.310,0:30:30.815 Violence was a necessary cost,[br]and thus included in balance sheets. 0:30:31.825,0:30:35.262 It took 4 years to amortize[br]the price of a slave. 0:30:35.262,0:30:39.861 After that, they were valuable only[br]insofar as that they could hold a machete. 0:30:39.861,0:30:43.895 This was the price to pay[br]so that Europe could eat sugar. 0:30:47.715,0:30:49.532 - I don’t think that it’s possible 0:30:49.532,0:30:52.360 to reduce another human being[br]to a mere cypher, 0:30:52.360,0:30:54.246 to a mere extension of your will. 0:30:54.246,0:30:56.550 And that’s where a lot of the tension 0:30:56.550,0:31:00.398 and the possibilities for slave revolt[br]and resistance come in, 0:31:00.398,0:31:05.239 because if my purpose[br]is to subject you absolutely, 0:31:05.239,0:31:08.280 but you can never be subjected absolutely, 0:31:08.280,0:31:10.225 we're always gonna have conflict. 0:31:10.225,0:31:13.361 At the extremes of human domination,[br]even in slavery, 0:31:13.361,0:31:15.646 we find there is always resistance, 0:31:15.646,0:31:18.412 there is always tension,[br]and there is always struggle. 0:31:20.134,0:31:22.078 - (Narrator) Throughout the Caribbean, 0:31:22.078,0:31:26.357 escaped slaves took refuge[br]in the heart of the most remote forests. 0:31:26.357,0:31:29.161 They were called “maroon slaves”, 0:31:29.161,0:31:31.922 in reference to the Spanish word[br]“cimarrón”, 0:31:31.922,0:31:35.655 which originally designated cattle[br]that had escaped into the wild. 0:31:35.655,0:31:40.165 In these isolated places,[br]they began to organize resistance. 0:31:40.165,0:31:41.867 In Jamaica they included 0:31:41.867,0:31:44.831 Captain Leonard Parkinson,[br]the leader of the maroons, 0:31:44.831,0:31:48.757 and Grandy Nanny, an Ashanti,[br]known as the “maroon priestess”; 0:31:49.887,0:31:53.253 in Barbados, Boussa, an Igbo war chief. 0:31:53.253,0:31:57.712 Through rebellion, the insurgents[br]found a name and an identity. 0:32:05.941,0:32:08.614 - All throughout the mountainous areas[br]of Jamaica, 0:32:08.614,0:32:11.885 you have these communities[br]of formerly enslaved people 0:32:11.885,0:32:13.507 who have escaped, 0:32:13.507,0:32:18.288 and they learn the territory,[br]they learn to cultivate crops there, 0:32:18.288,0:32:21.929 and they learn to fight, as well:[br]harassing plantations, 0:32:21.929,0:32:24.379 taking gun powder, getting new recruits, 0:32:24.379,0:32:27.743 and maintaining and building communities[br]in the mountains, right? 0:32:27.743,0:32:30.375 This becomes increasingly[br]a problem for the British, 0:32:30.375,0:32:33.779 and by the second/third decade[br]of the 18th century, 0:32:33.779,0:32:35.769 it breaks out into major war. 0:32:35.769,0:32:38.446 And the British aren’t even sure[br]they're going to be able 0:32:38.446,0:32:39.940 to maintain the Island. 0:32:40.980,0:32:43.449 - (Narrator) The uprisings[br]spread to other islands, 0:32:43.449,0:32:45.676 and then to the coast of Africa. 0:32:45.676,0:32:49.048 Wars raged in the slave capturers'[br]hunting grounds, 0:32:49.048,0:32:52.878 notably in Senegambia,[br]where Muslim religious leaders 0:32:52.878,0:32:56.138 blamed slave-trade goods[br]for corrupting society. 0:32:58.112,0:33:03.038 These outbursts of violence[br]plunged the sugar industry into a crisis, 0:33:03.038,0:33:05.732 which also had an impact in Europe. 0:33:05.732,0:33:08.746 A growing number of voices[br]expressed outrage 0:33:08.746,0:33:10.615 at the horrors of the slave trade. 0:33:12.579,0:33:14.969 - In all of the major slave trading ports, 0:33:14.969,0:33:17.107 everybody knew the truth[br]of the slave trade. 0:33:17.107,0:33:19.506 And I’ll tell you one way[br]in which they knew it. 0:33:20.326,0:33:25.433 Slave-trading vessels[br]had a very specific smell, 0:33:25.433,0:33:29.347 and you could never[br]get the smell out of the wood. 0:33:30.242,0:33:35.605 In fact, it was said[br]in Charleston, South Carolina, 0:33:35.605,0:33:37.361 which was the major port 0:33:37.361,0:33:40.820 for the importation of slaves[br]into North America, 0:33:40.820,0:33:45.146 that when the wind was blowing[br]off the water a certain way, 0:33:45.146,0:33:48.678 you could smell a slave ship[br]before you could see it. 0:33:49.995,0:33:55.346 What that meant was that[br]in every port, these ships, 0:33:55.346,0:34:00.982 these ships of horror[br]that stank of human misery, 0:34:01.923,0:34:04.581 that this was all very well known. 0:34:11.837,0:34:16.231 - Certainly information about[br]the slave trade and its characteristics, 0:34:16.231,0:34:20.333 the experiences of enslaved Africans[br]in the course of the Middle Passage 0:34:20.333,0:34:24.315 came increasingly to public attention[br]in the late 1780s. 0:34:24.315,0:34:29.237 Abolitionist campaigners placed[br]particular emphasis on the Middle Passage. 0:34:29.237,0:34:34.306 - That’s when[br]the polemical arguments begin, 0:34:34.306,0:34:39.069 and many pamphlets being published,[br]and the case being argued, 0:34:39.069,0:34:42.878 slave owners realizing for the first time, 0:34:42.878,0:34:45.393 that they’re going to have[br]to make an argument 0:34:45.393,0:34:48.437 about the legitimacy of colonial slavery. 0:34:55.758,0:34:58.862 - (Narrator) Within this context,[br]in 1783, 0:34:58.862,0:35:02.055 a court case involving Lloyd's[br]and a slave trade company 0:35:02.055,0:35:04.531 enjoyed significant publicity in Britain. 0:35:05.716,0:35:08.041 Abolitionists used it as a platform 0:35:08.041,0:35:10.963 to reveal the slave traders’[br]barbaric practices. 0:35:12.645,0:35:18.350 - The so-called Zong Massacre,[br]which took place in the early 1780s, 0:35:18.350,0:35:20.929 was a very important event. 0:35:20.929,0:35:24.777 It basically consisted[br]of a slave ship captain 0:35:24.777,0:35:29.039 throwing a group[br]of living Africans overboard 0:35:29.039,0:35:32.021 in an effort to collect insurance money. 0:35:33.263,0:35:36.394 Now this was...this voyage went on, 0:35:36.394,0:35:40.340 and it only came to court[br]a couple of years later 0:35:40.340,0:35:44.028 because the insurance company[br]refused to pay. 0:35:44.028,0:35:46.521 And when this event came to court, 0:35:46.521,0:35:51.308 an abolitionist named Granville Sharp[br]shows up at this court case, 0:35:51.308,0:35:55.556 and the question being:[br]“Were they actually property or not?” 0:35:55.556,0:35:58.572 and Sharp’s answer is:[br]“This is mass murder. 0:35:59.482,0:36:02.604 "This is just plain mass murder. 0:36:02.604,0:36:04.533 "This is not about property rights. 0:36:04.533,0:36:06.197 "These are human beings.” 0:36:11.831,0:36:15.112 - The judge actually upheld[br]the insurance companies, 0:36:15.112,0:36:19.691 which refused to pay insurance[br]on the murdered Africans. 0:36:19.691,0:36:24.497 And it was Vassa who brought this[br]to attention of Granville Sharp, 0:36:24.497,0:36:27.537 and it was Granville Sharp[br]who then turned it into a big issue 0:36:27.537,0:36:30.624 that helped to mobilize[br]public opinion in Britain. 0:36:32.476,0:36:34.842 - (Narrator) Gustavo Vassa[br]was one of England's 0:36:34.842,0:36:36.805 most fervent abolitionists. 0:36:36.805,0:36:41.278 Born in Nigeria, he was deported[br]to the Caribbean at the age of 11. 0:36:41.278,0:36:45.127 At the age of 21,[br]he managed to buy his freedom 0:36:45.127,0:36:47.180 while passing through England. 0:36:47.180,0:36:50.628 In his autobiography published in 1789, 0:36:50.628,0:36:54.878 he recounted his experience[br]of the Middle Passage down in the hold, 0:36:54.878,0:36:58.148 and delivered an impassioned plea[br]against slavery. 0:36:58.148,0:37:00.331 Vassa held up a mirror to the nations 0:37:00.331,0:37:03.863 that had reduced him[br]to the rank of a marketable object. 0:37:03.863,0:37:07.331 - (Male voice) "Gentlemen, such a tendency 0:37:07.331,0:37:09.776 "has the slave-trade [br]to debauch men's minds, 0:37:09.776,0:37:12.724 "and harden them[br]to every feeling of humanity! 0:37:15.511,0:37:18.277 "It is the fatality[br]of this mistaken avarice, 0:37:18.277,0:37:20.742 "that it corrupts the milk[br]of human kindness 0:37:20.742,0:37:22.470 "and turns it into gall. 0:37:24.270,0:37:30.283 "Which violates that first natural right[br]of mankind, equality and independency, 0:37:30.283,0:37:32.865 "and gives one man[br]a dominion over his fellows 0:37:32.865,0:37:35.281 "which God could never intend! 0:37:40.838,0:37:44.440 "Yet how mistaken is the avarice[br]even of the planters? 0:37:44.440,0:37:46.055 "Are slaves more useful 0:37:46.055,0:37:49.361 "by being thus humbled[br]to the condition of brutes, 0:37:49.361,0:37:52.861 "than they would be if suffered to enjoy[br]the privileges of men?" 0:38:07.856,0:38:11.950 - (Narrator) By the time Gustavo Vassa[br]spoke out in 1789, 0:38:11.950,0:38:15.765 7.7 million Africans had been deported: 0:38:15.765,0:38:19.347 1 million from Senegambia, 0:38:19.347,0:38:22.637 3.4 million from Benin and Biafra, 0:38:22.637,0:38:25.763 3.2 million from Central Africa, 0:38:25.763,0:38:28.911 and close to 73,000 from eastern Africa. 0:38:40.994,0:38:44.605 While David Eltis[br]and the Emory University research team 0:38:44.605,0:38:47.415 have established[br]precise deportation figures, 0:38:47.415,0:38:51.621 the income amassed by the slave trade[br]is still being estimated. 0:38:51.621,0:38:56.161 Historians are trying to assess today[br]how much profit the slave trade yielded 0:38:56.161,0:38:59.010 for banks and insurance companies. 0:39:04.441,0:39:07.766 - The slave trade is not only[br]a foundation of American capitalism; 0:39:07.766,0:39:12.265 it is a foundation of all of European[br]and Atlantic capitalism 0:39:12.265,0:39:18.897 because it created[br]this massively profitable economic system 0:39:18.897,0:39:22.017 that linked the countries[br]of Northwestern Europe 0:39:22.017,0:39:25.361 to the Americas[br]through the plantation system. 0:39:25.361,0:39:31.564 The great scholar-activist C. L. R. James[br]pointed out that the slave system 0:39:31.564,0:39:36.734 created the greatest[br]planned accumulation of wealth 0:39:36.734,0:39:40.816 the world had ever seen[br]up to that moment in time. 0:39:40.816,0:39:44.830 And this, of course, is a very important[br]part of Western prosperity. 0:39:46.926,0:39:48.968 - (Narrator) Between 1633 0:39:48.968,0:39:52.434 and Britain's abolition[br]of the slave trade in 1807, 0:39:52.434,0:39:54.375 English and then British companies 0:39:54.375,0:40:00.587 deported 2,755,830 African captives. 0:40:00.587,0:40:03.244 Most of them died on the plantations, 0:40:03.244,0:40:06.085 worn out from working[br]in the sugar cane fields. 0:40:06.085,0:40:08.681 All of this, for the sake of profit. 0:40:10.299,0:40:15.518 In 2007, London's Westminster Abbey[br]hosted a bicentennial commemoration 0:40:15.518,0:40:17.700 of the abolition of the slave trade 0:40:17.700,0:40:20.188 in the presence of[br]then-Prime Minister Tony Blair 0:40:20.188,0:40:22.558 and Queen Elizabeth II. 0:40:22.558,0:40:25.825 One guest,[br]human rights activist Toyin Agbetu, 0:40:25.825,0:40:27.359 disrupted the ceremony. 0:40:27.359,0:40:30.114 - (Toyin Agbetu, angrily)... 0:41:23.160,0:41:25.718 The plantation owners and slave traders 0:41:25.718,0:41:28.646 could not accept losing[br]the hard-won Caribbean, 0:41:28.646,0:41:33.484 the immensely lucrative driving force[br]behind the rise of global capitalism. 0:41:34.711,0:41:36.712 At the beginning of the 19th century, 0:41:36.712,0:41:40.089 they sought to thwart[br]the wave of protest in civil society. 0:41:41.078,0:41:42.907 By that time, slavery, 0:41:42.907,0:41:45.596 a practice that dated back[br]to the dawn of humanity, 0:41:45.596,0:41:48.590 seemed immoral,[br]and to belong to the past. 0:41:49.313,0:41:51.994 Britain had understood this[br]before the others, 0:41:51.994,0:41:54.987 and was thus one step[br]ahead of its rivals. 0:41:55.894,0:41:59.470 It was preparing itself[br]for world domination. 0:42:05.097,0:42:08.685 [slow string music with heavy bass drum]