There is no way we can blame a single person for something as barbarous as slavery. Whether one was a captain of a slave ship, a slave auctioneer, a consumer, or simply a guy who bought cheap cotton in Liverpool – they all contributed to the slave trade in one way or another. It could’ve been a direct influence, maybe indirect, but the fact that those people participated in the cycle of slavery already makes them responsible for this inhumane movement in history.
Personally, I believe that the person in charge to bring a large group of dark-skinned people together, as an intention to capture them and sell in the future, is the one who provoked slave trade in the first place. When people recognized the existence of slave trafficking, the demand for slaves increased. It became a trend to “own” a slave, therefore events such as the slave auctions took place in the places all over the world. People who sold the slaves played a huge role in the support of the slave trade, and so did the people who bought those slaves (aka the owners). A foreman at the plantation who was in charge of managing the slaves, a politician in the British government who voted against the abolition of slavery – those are the examples of people who had a direct influence on slavery.
However, in spite of all the people who are the conspicuous supporters of the slave trade, there are others who perhaps unintentionally contributed to this activity. For example, a mill owner who bought cheap cotton and spun it into cloth in his factory. By buying that cheap cotton, that was produced at the plantations by the slaves, the mill owner pays the plantation owners money, thus encouraging slave trafficking. Another example of an indirect influence on slave trade would be a gunsmith who manufactured the guns that were sold in Africa. Those guns could be possibly going into the hands of the slave captures, who would then catch the dark-skinned people and take away their freedom.
As I’ve mentioned before, we can’t put all the blame on a single person: a conflict always has more people involved. The white people had a big part in the slave trade, yes, but so did the black people, who physically captured the slaves. The truth is the damage was done, and there is nothing we can do about it but to reflect on it.
This blog post is highly engaging. It flows smoothly and is easy to understand. I especially enjoyed how you mentioned that the customers are at fault as well because this is often something that is overlooked. This topic is very relevant because often as consumers we forget to look into where our stuff truly comes from. It is important that people consume responsibly because they have a lot of power to influence change.
I completely agree that fixating on who to pin the blame on, is counterproductive. As I am sure you know, slavery still exists all over the globe. I would be curious to know what you think should be done about that…