Enjoying these very educational and eye opening facts. This is something I've discussed with friends on a couple of occasions. Self-serving lies and half Truth by those outside of our community are another method of control. You are or you will become what you think you are. And even until today, those outside of us are still telling us who and what we are. Thank you for posting this. Passing it on
If you believe the white man has control, he does. (BTW you should only be passing on the black success stories (not the victim garbage!) if you want positive change!)
Thank you for this video. I always roll my eyes whenever someone mentions that Africans also owned slaves, as if this fact is enough to absolve the Europeans/Americans of all the atrocities that occurred during the slave period. They also keep quiet about all the atrocities that happened after slavery was abolished, the most famous example being Jim Crow's laws. It would be interesting seeing you cover the discrimination that occurred after the end of slavery.
I once saw a fascinating video by a history teacher in which he argued that slavery didn't end when the history books say it ended because the embedded powers, at least in southern states, made it impossible for black people to live as free people. If I'm not mistaken, these circumstances were far worse than what are generally considered Jim Crow laws. In any event, this channel is about Africa, not the USA. I'd like the channel owner to come clean with the fact that African societies were rife with horrors of their own, rather than constantly spinning Africa as a perfect paradise, superior in every way, and yet simultaneously victimized and exploited by anybody who came along wanting to do so.
@@jimmy.r.minnelli First and foremost. This channel is about Africa and the African diaspora(which is why he made a video on the Afro Argentinians for example), so logically places like the U.S will have to be discussed eventually. Secondly, the reason why he focuses on Africa’s strengths isn’t to cause it’s audience to view it as a “perfect paradise” until the Europeans came and ruined everything, it’s because in the mainstream media and mainstream history, Africa is often depicted as not having any trace of civilization(with the exception of Egypt) until they were colonized and developed by the Europeans. He’s trying to debunk and challenge that view, so keep this in mind when watching his videos. Lastly, he does touch the dark side of Africa, for example, in one video he admits that there’s evidence that some African societies sold members within their own ethnic group during the slave trade, however, this practice is blown out of proportion by racists, and isn’t exclusive to Africans either. I really recommend you continue following this channel, when it comes to Sub-saharan African history no other channel compares, at least in my opinion.
Great upload, showing the complexities of the institution, one more thing, I find a very strong similarity with the institution in Africa adjacent nations of the frequency rise to power with court or elite slaves.
As one who has done prior research on "slavery" in Africa, I have to say that this is THE most intelligent take on the subject. Anyone who does honest research in this area will see that there's no comparison between slavery in Africa and slavery in America.
@@realblackmedia3528 Why you cant admit slavery sucks no matter what kind and you wouldn't want to be a slave in either forms. Did Americans sacrifice slaves ? Because Africans did..
"Africa is not a monolith". That statement rings so true for me as a Cameroonian student in South Africa. West African culture is so vastly different from South Africa's. Even the sheer number of racial groups in South Africa are so diverse and when one flies via Ethiopian Airlines, the culture in East Africa has a tinge of some Arabic touch to it from the food to the music and dressing. Even geographically,there is also so much diversity
Key point: History is complicated. Why? Because any individual’s history over time is complicated, this complexity is only multiplied with each individual included in that story. Proof: if I ask you what ways you are improving or your goals and why you are not there yet, as I dig in for more and more answers, you will feel compelled to say, “It’s complicated.” That's the truth…each of us deals with our history and current culture, plus personal needs…and it is complicated and demanding. I appreciate actual historians who admit this complexity and shun “simple stories.” Thank you for all that you do to increase our knowledge!
Nice video. Word studies are very important. It's important to understand the context of the word. For example, the word slave in other context means employee. Also slavery doesn't count more based on color or the region that it takes place. My point is we have to understand how the word has been used to divide us and create an inferiority complex based on color, physical features, and power. Please continue to expose lies and share the truth to free minds and give hope.
Great video. I have studied this topic heavily and as has been said it is complicated. The biggest factor for me personally has always been the particular views of the society involved. We don’t heavily discuss the human rights views of the Vikings, or the Spartans, or the Zulus. Their goals and thinking were clear. The issue with the later European societies of the transatlantic slave trade was that they initially claimed religious kindness and especially later a belief in human rights. This pushes them into the realm of hypocrisy. All that said I’m not interested in being anyone’s slave. Not Moroccan, not Yoruba, not English, not Portuguese. I’m continually proud of my ancestors for fighting and surviving so that I might be here.
This is beautifully done, Information shared, purpose driven, and differences brought out clearly. My main response whenever someone tries to bring up the fact that Afrikans had slaves too it that they still treated people as people. The atrocity of the US did everything possible to build a belief that Afrikans were not human, justifying their actions through slavery. My response aside, you brought out an amazing video that lays a great foundation to start from for those who don't understand but want to know. keep going
Great video brother. I would offer for your consideration that language is the most comprehensive encapsulation of culture. When we enplou the English word "slave", we necessarily imbue our understanding of the word with European enslavement of Africans which is defined by its history. When folks attempt to apply the word slave to other cultures, it is a choice of words. Other descriptives could be, and in my estimation should be, applied in order to more accurately explain the nature of people serving people in other cultures. The greatest and most basic difference is in our experience as Africans under European enslavement was that we were considered PROPERTY . In all African societies, theae various servants of others were considered PEOPLE. There personhood was valued. Nobody owned anybody. In your explanation, you actually said that slaves could own other slaves. This sincere misrepresentation is due to the misapplication of an English word necessarily imbued with all of its cultural and historical meaning to an indigenous African cultural dynamic. This in my judgment arises from your exclusive study of scholarship from those whose cultural perspectives are white, even if the author is not. The publishing and distribution of these texts from which you study are the property of white socierty. The rules of writing are established in such a way as to affirm their dominance over others. I would recommend that to more accurately understand and explain our history and perspectives, you consult with those within our indigenous African societies who are carriers of the very ancient knowledge of our peoples. These sages are often able to explain our perspectives in such a way as to address the inherent cultural gap and concurrent gap in understanding necessarily resulting from our removal to the lands on this side of the great water. Again much thanks on a thorough job. Keep on keepin on. Peace and Life
Excellent video. The real crime here is deliberate the use of the word "slave" by European historians to lump together hundreds of different systems of social organisation. Military, agriculture, sanitation, labour systems in Africa are all conflated as "slavery" simply because Africans did not practice the European systems of wage labour or serfdom and had their own system. Somehow, by using the word "slave" to encompass all forms of social organisation, Europeans can claim that "slavery was endemic in Africa....we just plugged into it" which is the goal. But when you realise that the majority of these so-called "slaves" were not in fetters or under the whip, and in many cases had power over free-born people, you begin to scratch your head. I mean the Moroccans defeated Spain with an army of.....slaves? What did they do, flog the slaves so hard they totally kicked the arse of the Spanish army? How did they take down their sword wielding opponents with chains around their necks ? What did the Moroccan oberseers use mind control to not get totally chopped to pieces while training their "slaves" to utterly butcher their Spanish opponents? Clearly something isn't adding up, and someone can't reconcile the fact that the black almoravid army was motivated to fight on behalf of the Moors and defeat the spanish by something other than wages. Among the Yoruba there were "slave soldiers" who were legally allowed to carry weapons while the "Freeborn" were not! Imagine slaves having the right to bear arms and free people don't! Does using the word "slave" to describe that condition even make sense? Anna Hinderer describes how "slaves" would travel hundreds of miles to the coast on behalf of their masters to trade and would then bring back the profits.... With zero oversight. How is that the same as slavery? Clearly there is a different system of social organisation going on here, but the simple definition that says "when there are no wages in the European sense, the condition is slavery" means such people should be dehumanised as "slaves" in order to inflate numbers and justify a brutal racist crime. Mungo park describes the most abject conditions which are similar to the American institution of slavery- where people are bought and sold in chains and forced to work until they die. A fate, he mentioned, that typically befell the prisoner of war taken far from his own land. If only this condition was not arbitrarily expanded to include all forms of labour, we would get a clearer image of the true state of society at the time.
The pen is mightier than the sword. Whomever writes the story, can also rewrite the history- even to the point the villain is deemed a hero. Even today they’re trying to eliminate the entire part of history- change up the wording so white children don’t feel guilty. It’s pure evil, and definitely a tactic used us as the boogeyman politicians use whenever their ratings dip. When you really research history, you seem to learn that Europeans(the caucus mountain men/women) are historically phenomenal backstabbers.
What this video has succeeded in reaffirming is there really was no slavery in Africa. I mean there is a saying in my culture that I'd rather be a slave than a thief And the dehumanisation has nothing to do with slavery but everything to do with the master/boss. We still have people here who lock up, starve and do all sorts of wicked stuff on their domestic workers and even relatives for making minor mistakes on the job
@@wtice4632 he's talking about chattel slavery, American style. And he's correct. Even the most dehumanising forms of slavery in most of Africa where POWs were worked to death in salt mines didn't compare to the American idea of reducing humans to livestock, which never happened in Africa, even in North Africa where several million white slaves were put to work.
The biggest difference between indigenous slavery in Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is that the former didn’t require any rationalization that would result into a new racial identity, which would become our racial identity.
So basically in africa society was completly based on and intertwined with the concept of slavery that affected every part and every echelon of it, while in the west it was restricted to fringe cases such as plantations because it was viewed far more negatively. No wonder African leaders sent a desperate plea to the Brits asking them not to make slavery illegal, their whole kingdoms depended on it for everything.
Slavery in Africa was no different than how America is today. It was basically a system of the wealthy, the rich and the working class. As you can see they didn’t have basic employment as we do today so yes it did depend on it because it would mean they had to alter their entire community structure based on western standards. Although being a slave in Africa wasn’t the most honorable thing, it still was nowhere near as gruesome and dehumanizing as it was in America or any other region of the world, furthermore they were still able to maintain in their land, keep their history, traditions, identity and their language.
The British til this day are still some of the most demonic and disingenuous people in the world and they didn’t end slavery for noble reasons because of they were that noble they would’ve never partook in slavery in the first place.
As an African American, I have done extensive research on slavery on and off the continent. I am an absolute realist. I feel there is no need to sugarcoat history to satisfy my own narrative. Slavery of Africans in the Middle East or slavery in Europe and the Americas could not have been successful without the compliance of the African leaders. I don't see the need to minimize their participation in the slave trade. This was a practice for hundreds of years. Africa is still paying the price as slavery fueled the "economy " in Africa. The economy suffered when the Europeans abolished it. Portugal is the European country that most benefited from its African slaves as they trafficked the most slaves and they enslaved them for almost 450 years. Most going to Brazil and Cape Verde. The area that is considered modern-day Nigeria was the biggest supplier of slaves to the Europeans. Selling each other out has been a part of a history that has done nothing but harmed us, yet others have been able to benefit for it, mostly financially. Look at Africa and look at Europe. Europe's wealth was built off the backs of Africans. Europe and the Americas benefited from hundreds of years of free labor. How did Africa benefit?
Another point missed in the distinction between african-enslavement an non-african enslavement is that black people enslaved in ancient west an central africa had more opportunity of escape an blending easily into other african tribes or city-state permanently depending on that enslaved individual personal experience with that tribal captors territory an ways of living While black people enslaved in the americas or middle-east as a whole.......overwhelming couldn't escape said bondage or blending easily if at all into european or arab spheres of dominances you most likely had to rebel, work your life away, or kiss azz sadly
Has anybody been paying attention to the moves being made in Burkina Faso. It’s new President in transition, ibrahim traoré has been a breath of fresh air. In my opinion him and his office has spearheaded major reform in Africas foreign relations with France and other Capitalist style countries.
I would like to add that the Manden Charter talks about treating slaves with respect. Even though being a slave in Africa could be terrible, I do think overall Africans treated their slaves better.
great video! i would also like to add another class of slaves which were spaces captured from war. in a lot of african empires like the ashanti and dahomey, war slaves and their descendants would remain slaves with no chance to get their freedom back
Selling people as DH, mercenary or concubine is not dehumanized as being traded for gun??? Good moral point to take. Two side of Atlantic trade should be blamed, you could not said African was tricked by other counterparts.
As a descendent of US chattel slavery , there is no excuse for any form of slavery period. Whether it is manual labor or sex work/trafficking. Whether you are at the bottom of the barrel as a slave or a slave from a “royal lineage”. It is no excuse for that behavior and the institution and complacency of slavery on the continent even until today has now led to the global black community being a permanent underclass worldwide. Every form of slavery is barbaric. No more excuses…..the sad part is that those wounds from the transatlantic slave trade were self inflicted. Again, no more excuses…I say this with LOVE for all black people globally. There is no “better picture” of slavery. That outlook has lead to unimaginable pain. Again, no more excuses… It’s important to look at the mistakes from the past, admit the error, learn from it, change those ways, and repair the damage done….not make more excuses or “sugarcoat it”.
Strongly agreed brother, more people need to understand that there are things that are always wrong no matter who does them also that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it again.
The institution of slavery on the continent is not what led to us being the permanent underclass of the western world. The transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy. Slavery is terrible everywhere and in ever place it exists, but most forms of slavery don't have the lasting generational ramifications.
Hes not sugarcoating it hes distinguishing it from the US slave trade. Like it or not both cannot be compared even though they are both bad. Theres a degree to everything, ignoring that and lumping them both together would be intellectually dishonest
They wasn't slaves they were servants of Kings and Queens an political & rich people and they was paid for service.. THING THT MANY PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT SLAVES IN AFRICA IS ALOTTA PEOPLE WAS IN JAIL FOR CRIMES.. They didn't need slaves. But the middle eastern, european etc did
Slavery was bad in both continents...I don't think it benefits us to make excuses for Africa slave sellers and traders. It doesn't mean all Africans were selling/owning slaves. But shame on the ones who did. I'm sure the Africans who were captured and made slaves would appreciate us not giving them a pass just because they are Melinated people. Either way slavery suck regardless who does it.
I believe one of the biggest, if not the biggest difference is the dehumanization of enslaved people… And the codification and enactment into law of that dehumanization. Africans had slaves, a large number of them Europeans but at no point that I have studied in west or central Africa were enslaved people not considered human. And it was that lack of humanity that set the stage for the barbaric slavery experienced in the Americas.
There were certainly abuses in African slavery. And think of all the many abuses the Arabs perpetrated in Northern Africa! (some examples persist even to this day!)
@@jonothandoeser Slavery in of itself is an abuse however, it did not relegate people to the status of cattle in the eyes of the law. And even the Trans Saharan trade, as terrible as it was and is, did not LEGALLY remove the humanity from any group of people.
@@un1QueTheGod Well... that's an argument you'd have to make to the exact kind of slavery. Because there were forms of slavery that people volunteered themselves into all around the world. As for dehumanization, as long as people are TREATED like cattle (no matter what the laws. may say) it is the same thing, and no better.
The United States is the only country where slavery was written in its constitution. The so-called civilized west invented a type of slavery where human beings were reduced to property, they created a system where slavery was based solely on skin color. And once a slave always a slave including your descendants, the west invention of unspeakable cruelty from one human being to another, forced fed a religion, and forced to forget your gods, your language and your culture. Personally I don't see too much of a comparison.
@jonothandoeser dehumanization of enslaved people on the African continent by other tribes/Africans was definitely present. Selling hundreds of slaves for a bottle of liquor, mirrors, umbrellas is not dehumanizing? It does not get more foolish than that…no more excuses. It’s important to look at the mistakes from the past, admit the error, learn from it, change those ways, and repair the damage done….not make more excuses or “sugarcoat it”. Be blessed…
Can you do a video about the Barbary slave trade when Africans they went to get the Europeans to bring them to Africa so they could be slaves in the Middle East and around the continents !?
There are more people in bondage today than at any point in history. It ain't in the US and Europe either .... You're living at the height of human slavery. Right now. You can buy a slave in Africa, right now. Nothing has changed. Slavery is human history. Europe and the US are the exception to the rule.
There are letters written by Africans cheifs pleading for the British to let them continue practicing slavery. Think about the slave dungeons built in west Africa. You think the Africans didn't know what was going on? Everyone must take blame for the the trans atlanic slave trade , Africans and Europeans. Black Americans stop making excuses for people who sold you're ancestors for trinkets...
Exactly. My oldest ancestor was a Hausa Female who ended up on an English ship. We all know the Hausa and Fulani were in the mix with Any European Nation(especially the Portuguese) willing to trade and participate in the Atlantic and Saharan(Arab) slave trades. Non-Muslim converts were handed over and eventually Muslim converts were being prepped for slavery as well. Traded our people for guns and other BS like spices and Mirrors lol smh Greed became the name of the game and that's how some families became wealthy. They cut a deal and Accepted colonialism which backfired on them. Even when the English tried to shut it down to end the competition with other Euro kingdoms, as stated above, certain Chiefs, Kings, Queens, and other random people insisted on continuing the trade. It shouldn't Matter what 'kind' of slavery it was.
He's referring to general African slaves before colonialism. The ones that sold their people to the Westerners were fully wrong and had been corrupted by the idea of wealth from the white man. This form of slavery is far different from what is described in the video although slavery is still bad in general
I like this video you explain the details of the nature about slavery IN Africa but it's true that white people were also slaves in Africa I heard that the first slaves were white people and they were also slaved buy Africans 0:02 Can you do a video about the Barbary about when white people were taken from Europe and they got brought in Africa to be slaved by The barbers 0:02
I'd like to add that it was the Europeans who ended slavery in the world, changed the course of humanity forever, ended multiple millennia of slavery, including in Africa. The Largest abolitionist movement in human history was carried out by the British in Africa against the wishes of the African rulers, with a few exceptions. So in regards to slavery, it's abolition that is European culture and custom.
"Abolishing" slavery and institutionalise colonization is not abolishing slavery. It's just replacing it by something with a more acceptable name. Colonization was almost not different from slavery. Moreover the first abolitionists were the very Africans. And I'm not the one who said it, but a French historian (I forgot her name, I'll look for it). And do I even need to mention that some of the so-called "abolitions" were the result of the fight of many diverse people, including black people ?
@@silverking2181 In some instances Colonialism was horrible and yes similar to slavery but because of Colonialism slavery was abolished in most of Africa. I don't know your source or who you're talking about but I believe it would be difficult to determine who the 1st abolitionist were. However the 1st country to abolish slavery was Haiti. And yes obviously many black people were abolitionist but the vast overwhelming majority of the people who fought, protested, enacted into law, forced others to enact into law, and died for abolition were Europeans. I'd also like to add that I have a buddy in the Army of a North African country, a few months ago he was on the Border with a Black African country and could see over the border black people still selling each other, women and men being sold in 2023. Also Sudan was doing slave raids up into the early 2000s. And Mauritania outlawed slavery in 2008.... But they still have a lot of slaves.
@@kevinsuggs1 If colonialism is almost identical to slavery, then there's nothing to praise in the abolishing of slavery by Europeans. Especially given that in addition, most of the time, they did it for economic reasons, not by philanthropy. The historian's name is Nelly Schmidt. According to her, the very first abolitionists were the very slaves, who fought relentlessly against the system, but are completely ignored by scholars. I'm really curious about the identity of those Europeans who died for abolition. By the way, it's normal that Europeans are the most known for fighting slavery. They were fighting against the system they had established themselves, and the Africans who were against slavery were not known in Europe. But that doesn't mean they were the ones who fought the most against slavery (that doesn't mean they weren't either). Slavery is still practiced in Europe as well. More precisely, in Spain. And we can find other forms of abuses in France, with migrants illegally working in France while not having some of the most basic consideration and protection. That's not very different from slavery.
@@silverking2181 I disagree that Colonialism is identical to slavery, I agreed it could be similar, in some situations. I believe it's safe to assume that many enslaved people tried to free themselves before Nelly Schmidt, off the top of my head I think of Spartacus before Nellys time. I personally can't name a single person who died ending slavery but for an example all the Ethnic Europeans who died in the American civil war, the men who died on the ships ending slavery in Africa, or all the men fighting the African slavers/Kings. Europeans didn't establish slavery. Slavery was just how people were since history was recorded, Like The Epic of Gilgamesh. The only Africans I know who helped end slavery were the ones helping the Europeans. As far as Slavery in Europe is concerned the only slaves I've heard of are Nigerians pimping women and men out as sex slaves in Italy. They pay for their way to Europe, pimp them out, and if they run away they beat them and if they get away they kill their family members back home.
Why are we defending enslavement on any level? Y'all are trying to say there's humane SLAVERY? Why complain others take advantage of a system we supposedly value so highly? 🙃😂 We are convoluted and refuse to take responsibility for our part in this.
The nature of slavery in Africa does it mean that African slaves in Africa were treated better than the West well there are some people in the Middle East that treat them bad so I know for a fact that the Middle easterns are not the true indigenous African because the origin of the Middle East normally the Middle East are descended from oriental people and from East Asia and also they are a mix with the Europeans so this is why you can see that there are some Middle easterns who are Arabs that are pale ore turned but they're not the true indigenous of Africa even though some black Africans did participated in the slavery trafficking because they also traffic slaves from Europe and from Asia but they were also Vikings that were involved in the slave trade and they sold their own people they sold them to Africa
What does it mean that in the nature of slavery in Africa before the Atlantic slave trade where they treated much better in Africa I know that for a fact that today slavery still continues you have younger women in Africa are being trafficked and being sold in Saudi Arabia and this is why I despise Arabs because I don't feel like the Middle East there are two indigenous to the continent there are more oriental people
We've heard the theory over and over that slavery in the USA was a completely different thing than slavery in Africa. In truth, this is a stretch designed to exonerate those who invented it and then farmed it out. Whatever the particulars, African societies used their own people as marketable commodities, selling and trading them, using them as the prizes of war, and abusing them in as many ways as the human mind can fathom. It was big business, and not surprising that the African power-brokers then started selling their product to outsiders to take with them to other parts of the world. There is no way this could ever have been invented or perpetrated by outsiders, and anyone who thinks otherwise is ignorant. Malaria alone would have prevented it. It's also the case that the decision of African societies to market their own people is largely what prevented them from developing a robust competitive economy based on goods and technologies because it was far more profitable to simply sell people. This channel is all about trying to put a positive spin on African history, but real history isn't about spin. It's about truth. At least is should be.
Slavery is bad even if there is a hierarchy. I love African History and a lot of videos on this channel are good. But there is definitely a tone in this ideo of "It was better, more ethical slavery." While only covering a small portion of Africa and a couple testimonies. My studies of Ancient Egypt alone have pretty horrific accounts of slavery.
First of all, while I’m sure you’ve spent time learning about African history, I suggest you review the points presented in the video. It fundamentally doesn’t make sense to state that American and African slavery were exactly the same when HomeTeam(HT) points out how things like the one drop rule didn’t exist, and how it was possible for slaves to climb up the ladder and even own property through merit. Secondly, you ironically make the same mistake that HT points out at the start of the video. Treating Africans as a single monolithic entity. The Benin Empire , for example, traded other valuables such as gold and ivory with Europeans. The slaves they traded weren’t their own, but rather captured enemies, which is a practice that wasn’t exclusive to Africa either. I’d ultimately recommend you watch more of HT videos, as you look like the type that loves to learn more about the past and he’s a good place to start when it comes to Africa.
@@mindbodysoul-musictherapy4550 HT makes it clear in the video that his goal wasn't to cover all of the African continent in a single video. So of course Egypt wouldn't be mentioned. He also acknowledges how his sources has his flaws, so I'm not sure how you got the impression/tone of him saying "It was better, more ethical slavery."
I always appreciate your balanced and nuanced approach to these topics.
The channel seems balanced, but look at the racists this channel attracts. Lots of anti white comments.
Absolutely, very discerning and thoughtful.
Enjoying these very educational and eye opening facts. This is something I've discussed with friends on a couple of occasions. Self-serving lies and half Truth by those outside of our community are another method of control. You are or you will become what you think you are. And even until today, those outside of us are still telling us who and what we are. Thank you for posting this. Passing it on
If you believe the white man has control, he does. (BTW you should only be passing on the black success stories (not the victim garbage!) if you want positive change!)
Yes, I would most definitely like to know more about this topic as it relates to other areas and eras in Africa. Thank you in advance!
Thank you for this video. I always roll my eyes whenever someone mentions that Africans also owned slaves, as if this fact is enough to absolve the Europeans/Americans of all the atrocities that occurred during the slave period. They also keep quiet about all the atrocities that happened after slavery was abolished, the most famous example being Jim Crow's laws. It would be interesting seeing you cover the discrimination that occurred after the end of slavery.
I once saw a fascinating video by a history teacher in which he argued that slavery didn't end when the history books say it ended because the embedded powers, at least in southern states, made it impossible for black people to live as free people. If I'm not mistaken, these circumstances were far worse than what are generally considered Jim Crow laws. In any event, this channel is about Africa, not the USA. I'd like the channel owner to come clean with the fact that African societies were rife with horrors of their own, rather than constantly spinning Africa as a perfect paradise, superior in every way, and yet simultaneously victimized and exploited by anybody who came along wanting to do so.
@@jimmy.r.minnelli what horrors? Give an example, historical example not those instigated by the global north
😂😂 massive cope
@@jimmy.r.minnelli First and foremost. This channel is about Africa and the African diaspora(which is why he made a video on the Afro Argentinians for example), so logically places like the U.S will have to be discussed eventually. Secondly, the reason why he focuses on Africa’s strengths isn’t to cause it’s audience to view it as a “perfect paradise” until the Europeans came and ruined everything, it’s because in the mainstream media and mainstream history, Africa is often depicted as not having any trace of civilization(with the exception of Egypt) until they were colonized and developed by the Europeans. He’s trying to debunk and challenge that view, so keep this in mind when watching his videos. Lastly, he does touch the dark side of Africa, for example, in one video he admits that there’s evidence that some African societies sold members within their own ethnic group during the slave trade, however, this practice is blown out of proportion by racists, and isn’t exclusive to Africans either. I really recommend you continue following this channel, when it comes to Sub-saharan African history no other channel compares, at least in my opinion.
@@jimmy.r.minnelliSlavery didn't end in Africa either, the British had to force the Africans to stop but it still continued even to modern times.
Great upload, showing the complexities of the institution, one more thing, I find a very strong similarity with the institution in Africa adjacent nations of the frequency rise to power with court or elite slaves.
As one who has done prior research on "slavery" in Africa, I have to say that this is THE most intelligent take on the subject. Anyone who does honest research in this area will see that there's no comparison between slavery in Africa and slavery in America.
Would you want to be a slave in either. ?
@@soda8736 Yes, I would love that.
@@realblackmedia3528 sure you would
@@realblackmedia3528 Why you cant admit slavery sucks no matter what kind and you wouldn't want to be a slave in either forms. Did Americans sacrifice slaves ? Because Africans did..
@@soda8736 do you have specific african that did this?
as always you bring the best....i'm from east africa and would like to know what was going on in that region during those times....cheers.
"Africa is not a monolith". That statement rings so true for me as a Cameroonian student in South Africa. West African culture is so vastly different from South Africa's. Even the sheer number of racial groups in South Africa are so diverse and when one flies via Ethiopian Airlines, the culture in East Africa has a tinge of some Arabic touch to it from the food to the music and dressing. Even geographically,there is also so much diversity
Key point: History is complicated. Why? Because any individual’s history over time is complicated, this complexity is only multiplied with each individual included in that story.
Proof: if I ask you what ways you are improving or your goals and why you are not there yet, as I dig in for more and more answers, you will feel compelled to say, “It’s complicated.” That's the truth…each of us deals with our history and current culture, plus personal needs…and it is complicated and demanding.
I appreciate actual historians who admit this complexity and shun “simple stories.”
Thank you for all that you do to increase our knowledge!
Nice video. Word studies are very important. It's important to understand the context of the word. For example, the word slave in other context means employee. Also slavery doesn't count more based on color or the region that it takes place. My point is we have to understand how the word has been used to divide us and create an inferiority complex based on color, physical features, and power. Please continue to expose lies and share the truth to free minds and give hope.
Looks like a opportunity for behavioral economics. Tell 100 blacks they can, and tell another 100 they cannot. See who wins.
Yes, agree, the word slave contains many distinct nuances and cultural differences, as well as evolutionary changes.
Thank you for sharing a little insight into this particullary sensitive topic ❤
Another banger from tha hometeam 🔥🔥Can you do a video on the kingdom of nri?
Once again Thank you. And yes more information is always welcome
Great video. I have studied this topic heavily and as has been said it is complicated. The biggest factor for me personally has always been the particular views of the society involved. We don’t heavily discuss the human rights views of the Vikings, or the Spartans, or the Zulus. Their goals and thinking were clear. The issue with the later European societies of the transatlantic slave trade was that they initially claimed religious kindness and especially later a belief in human rights. This pushes them into the realm of hypocrisy.
All that said I’m not interested in being anyone’s slave. Not Moroccan, not Yoruba, not English, not Portuguese. I’m continually proud of my ancestors for fighting and surviving so that I might be here.
I would like to learn more of those other regions
As a west African I appreciate this video
Thank you so much for explaining these important differences in terms of location and those in power.
Your videos are amazing! Keep it up!
This is beautifully done, Information shared, purpose driven, and differences brought out clearly. My main response whenever someone tries to bring up the fact that Afrikans had slaves too it that they still treated people as people. The atrocity of the US did everything possible to build a belief that Afrikans were not human, justifying their actions through slavery.
My response aside, you brought out an amazing video that lays a great foundation to start from for those who don't understand but want to know.
keep going
i want to thank you for all of your work
Great video brother.
I would offer for your consideration that language is the most comprehensive encapsulation of culture. When we enplou the English word "slave", we necessarily imbue our understanding of the word with European enslavement of Africans which is defined by its history. When folks attempt to apply the word slave to other cultures, it is a choice of words. Other descriptives could be, and in my estimation should be, applied in order to more accurately explain the nature of people serving people in other cultures. The greatest and most basic difference is in our experience as Africans under European enslavement was that we were considered PROPERTY . In all African societies, theae various servants of others were considered PEOPLE. There personhood was valued. Nobody owned anybody.
In your explanation, you actually said that slaves could own other slaves. This sincere misrepresentation is due to the misapplication of an English word necessarily imbued with all of its cultural and historical meaning to an indigenous African cultural dynamic. This in my judgment arises from your exclusive study of scholarship from those whose cultural perspectives are white, even if the author is not. The publishing and distribution of these texts from which you study are the property of white socierty. The rules of writing are established in such a way as to affirm their dominance over others.
I would recommend that to more accurately understand and explain our history and perspectives, you consult with those within our indigenous African societies who are carriers of the very ancient knowledge of our peoples. These sages are often able to explain our perspectives in such a way as to address the inherent cultural gap and concurrent gap in understanding necessarily resulting from our removal to the lands on this side of the great water.
Again much thanks on a thorough job. Keep on keepin on.
Peace and Life
Excellent video. The real crime here is deliberate the use of the word "slave" by European historians to lump together hundreds of different systems of social organisation. Military, agriculture, sanitation, labour systems in Africa are all conflated as "slavery" simply because Africans did not practice the European systems of wage labour or serfdom and had their own system. Somehow, by using the word "slave" to encompass all forms of social organisation, Europeans can claim that "slavery was endemic in Africa....we just plugged into it" which is the goal.
But when you realise that the majority of these so-called "slaves" were not in fetters or under the whip, and in many cases had power over free-born people, you begin to scratch your head.
I mean the Moroccans defeated Spain with an army of.....slaves? What did they do, flog the slaves so hard they totally kicked the arse of the Spanish army? How did they take down their sword wielding opponents with chains around their necks ? What did the Moroccan oberseers use mind control to not get totally chopped to pieces while training their "slaves" to utterly butcher their Spanish opponents? Clearly something isn't adding up, and someone can't reconcile the fact that the black almoravid army was motivated to fight on behalf of the Moors and defeat the spanish by something other than wages.
Among the Yoruba there were "slave soldiers" who were legally allowed to carry weapons while the "Freeborn" were not! Imagine slaves having the right to bear arms and free people don't! Does using the word "slave" to describe that condition even make sense?
Anna Hinderer describes how "slaves" would travel hundreds of miles to the coast on behalf of their masters to trade and would then bring back the profits.... With zero oversight. How is that the same as slavery? Clearly there is a different system of social organisation going on here, but the simple definition that says "when there are no wages in the European sense, the condition is slavery" means such people should be dehumanised as "slaves" in order to inflate numbers and justify a brutal racist crime.
Mungo park describes the most abject conditions which are similar to the American institution of slavery- where people are bought and sold in chains and forced to work until they die. A fate, he mentioned, that typically befell the prisoner of war taken far from his own land. If only this condition was not arbitrarily expanded to include all forms of labour, we would get a clearer image of the true state of society at the time.
The word "slavery" is also misapplied by apologists to make the claim that there are more slaves today than there was at any time prior
The pen is mightier than the sword. Whomever writes the story, can also rewrite the history- even to the point the villain is deemed a hero.
Even today they’re trying to eliminate the entire part of history- change up the wording so white children don’t feel guilty. It’s pure evil, and definitely a tactic used us as the boogeyman politicians use whenever their ratings dip. When you really research history, you seem to learn that Europeans(the caucus mountain men/women) are historically phenomenal backstabbers.
What this video has succeeded in reaffirming is there really was no slavery in Africa. I mean there is a saying in my culture that I'd rather be a slave than a thief
And the dehumanisation has nothing to do with slavery but everything to do with the master/boss. We still have people here who lock up, starve and do all sorts of wicked stuff on their domestic workers and even relatives for making minor mistakes on the job
@@MrMathoks😂 "no slavery in africa" massive cope
@@wtice4632 he's talking about chattel slavery, American style. And he's correct. Even the most dehumanising forms of slavery in most of Africa where POWs were worked to death in salt mines didn't compare to the American idea of reducing humans to livestock, which never happened in Africa, even in North Africa where several million white slaves were put to work.
Great video!! Extremely informative and interesting
Every continent practiced SLAVERY
No one in the history of mankind practiced slavery like america
The biggest difference between indigenous slavery in Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade is that the former didn’t require any rationalization that would result into a new racial identity, which would become our racial identity.
Really what about Egyptians enslaving Amazighs And Nubians as well as Bantus enslaving Pygmies as well as Khois enslaving Sans etc?
@@matthewmann8969These still to this day haven’t created new identities.
can you put the book references in the description please
thank you!💯🤍👍✊✌!
Thank you!
This was story, was a good explanation of the styles of slavery.
So basically in africa society was completly based on and intertwined with the concept of slavery that affected every part and every echelon of it, while in the west it was restricted to fringe cases such as plantations because it was viewed far more negatively. No wonder African leaders sent a desperate plea to the Brits asking them not to make slavery illegal, their whole kingdoms depended on it for everything.
Slavery in Africa was no different than how America is today. It was basically a system of the wealthy, the rich and the working class. As you can see they didn’t have basic employment as we do today so yes it did depend on it because it would mean they had to alter their entire community structure based on western standards. Although being a slave in Africa wasn’t the most honorable thing, it still was nowhere near as gruesome and dehumanizing as it was in America or any other region of the world, furthermore they were still able to maintain in their land, keep their history, traditions, identity and their language.
The British til this day are still some of the most demonic and disingenuous people in the world and they didn’t end slavery for noble reasons because of they were that noble they would’ve never partook in slavery in the first place.
Thanks
As an African American, I have done extensive research on slavery on and off the continent. I am an absolute realist. I feel there is no need to sugarcoat history to satisfy my own narrative.
Slavery of Africans in the Middle East or slavery in Europe and the Americas could not have been successful without the compliance of the African leaders.
I don't see the need to minimize their participation in the slave trade. This was a practice for hundreds of years. Africa is still paying the price as slavery fueled the "economy " in Africa. The economy suffered when the Europeans abolished it.
Portugal is the European country that most benefited from its African slaves as they trafficked the most slaves and they enslaved them for almost 450 years. Most going to Brazil and Cape Verde.
The area that is considered modern-day Nigeria was the biggest supplier of slaves to the Europeans.
Selling each other out has been a part of a history that has done nothing but harmed us, yet others have been able to benefit for it, mostly financially.
Look at Africa and look at Europe. Europe's wealth was built off the backs of Africans. Europe and the Americas benefited from hundreds of years of free labor. How did Africa benefit?
Another point missed in the distinction between african-enslavement an non-african enslavement is that black people enslaved in ancient west an central africa had more opportunity of escape an blending easily into other african tribes or city-state permanently depending on that enslaved individual personal experience with that tribal captors territory an ways of living
While black people enslaved in the americas or middle-east as a whole.......overwhelming couldn't escape said bondage or blending easily if at all into european or arab spheres of dominances
you most likely had to rebel, work your life away, or kiss azz sadly
Has anybody been paying attention to the moves being made in Burkina Faso. It’s new President in transition, ibrahim traoré has been a breath of fresh air. In my opinion him and his office has spearheaded major reform in Africas foreign relations with France and other Capitalist style countries.
Just wanted to speak on current day happenings in the continent.
I would like to add that the Manden Charter talks about treating slaves with respect. Even though being a slave in Africa could be terrible, I do think overall Africans treated their slaves better.
The only holds for moe west and center very different in east southern and north.
Consider doing a video on Trokosi.
What would happen if a slave decided to just walk away in an African society? I mean no slave wants to be a slave.
great video! i would also like to add another class of slaves which were spaces captured from war. in a lot of african empires like the ashanti and dahomey, war slaves and their descendants would remain slaves with no chance to get their freedom back
Where can I read about this?
So being enslaved in Africa was better? How about not being a slave at all?
Selling people as DH, mercenary or concubine is not dehumanized as being traded for gun??? Good moral point to take. Two side of Atlantic trade should be blamed, you could not said African was tricked by other counterparts.
As a descendent of US chattel slavery , there is no excuse for any form of slavery period. Whether it is manual labor or sex work/trafficking. Whether you are at the bottom of the barrel as a slave or a slave from a “royal lineage”. It is no excuse for that behavior and the institution and complacency of slavery on the continent even until today has now led to the global black community being a permanent underclass worldwide. Every form of slavery is barbaric. No more excuses…..the sad part is that those wounds from the transatlantic slave trade were self inflicted. Again, no more excuses…I say this with LOVE for all black people globally. There is no “better picture” of slavery. That outlook has lead to unimaginable pain. Again, no more excuses…
It’s important to look at the mistakes from the past, admit the error, learn from it, change those ways, and repair the damage done….not make more excuses or “sugarcoat it”.
Strongly agreed brother, more people need to understand that there are things that are always wrong no matter who does them also that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it again.
When did he say that some forms weren't barbaric ?
The institution of slavery on the continent is not what led to us being the permanent underclass of the western world.
The transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacy.
Slavery is terrible everywhere and in ever place it exists, but most forms of slavery don't have the lasting generational ramifications.
Brilliant. Well said.
Hes not sugarcoating it hes distinguishing it from the US slave trade. Like it or not both cannot be compared even though they are both bad. Theres a degree to everything, ignoring that and lumping them both together would be intellectually dishonest
Interesting 🤔
They wasn't slaves they were servants of Kings and Queens an political & rich people and they was paid for service.. THING THT MANY PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT SLAVES IN AFRICA IS ALOTTA PEOPLE WAS IN JAIL FOR CRIMES.. They didn't need slaves. But the middle eastern, european etc did
Slavery was bad in both continents...I don't think it benefits us to make excuses for Africa slave sellers and traders. It doesn't mean all Africans were selling/owning slaves. But shame on the ones who did. I'm sure the Africans who were captured and made slaves would appreciate us not giving them a pass just because they are Melinated people. Either way slavery suck regardless who does it.
I believe one of the biggest, if not the biggest difference is the dehumanization of enslaved people… And the codification and enactment into law of that dehumanization. Africans had slaves, a large number of them Europeans but at no point that I have studied in west or central Africa were enslaved people not considered human. And it was that lack of humanity that set the stage for the barbaric slavery experienced in the Americas.
There were certainly abuses in African slavery. And think of all the many abuses the Arabs perpetrated in Northern Africa! (some examples persist even to this day!)
@@jonothandoeser Slavery in of itself is an abuse however, it did not relegate people to the status of cattle in the eyes of the law. And even the Trans Saharan trade, as terrible as it was and is, did not LEGALLY remove the humanity from any group of people.
@@un1QueTheGod Well... that's an argument you'd have to make to the exact kind of slavery. Because there were forms of slavery that people volunteered themselves into all around the world.
As for dehumanization, as long as people are TREATED like cattle (no matter what the laws. may say) it is the same thing, and no better.
The United States is the only country where slavery was written in its constitution. The so-called civilized west invented a type of slavery where human beings were reduced to property, they created a system where slavery was based solely on skin color. And once a slave always a slave including your descendants, the west invention of unspeakable cruelty from one human being to another, forced fed a religion, and forced to forget your gods, your language and your culture. Personally I don't see too much of a comparison.
@jonothandoeser dehumanization of enslaved people on the African continent by other tribes/Africans was definitely present. Selling hundreds of slaves for a bottle of liquor, mirrors, umbrellas is not dehumanizing? It does not get more foolish than that…no more excuses. It’s important to look at the mistakes from the past, admit the error, learn from it, change those ways, and repair the damage done….not make more excuses or “sugarcoat it”. Be blessed…
The lebron James comment 😮 lollll
Can you do a video about the Barbary slave trade when Africans they went to get the Europeans to bring them to Africa so they could be slaves in the Middle East and around the continents !?
✊🏿✊🏿🔥🔥
There are more people in bondage today than at any point in history. It ain't in the US and Europe either .... You're living at the height of human slavery. Right now. You can buy a slave in Africa, right now. Nothing has changed. Slavery is human history. Europe and the US are the exception to the rule.
5:05 Oh, like serfs then? (I understand that from an Austrian context)
🤎🤎🤎✊🏽❤
You didn't talk about the salary in America in which children of slave are automatically slave too while this exists in Africa
There are letters written by Africans cheifs pleading for the British to let them continue practicing slavery. Think about the slave dungeons built in west Africa. You think the Africans didn't know what was going on? Everyone must take blame for the the trans atlanic slave trade , Africans and Europeans. Black Americans stop making excuses for people who sold you're ancestors for trinkets...
Right. Idk what these people are talking bout in these comments because slavery in Africa was way worse
Exactly. My oldest ancestor was a Hausa Female who ended up on an English ship. We all know the Hausa and Fulani were in the mix with Any European Nation(especially the Portuguese) willing to trade and participate in the Atlantic and Saharan(Arab) slave trades. Non-Muslim converts were handed over and eventually Muslim converts were being prepped for slavery as well. Traded our people for guns and other BS like spices and Mirrors lol smh Greed became the name of the game and that's how some families became wealthy. They cut a deal and Accepted colonialism which backfired on them. Even when the English tried to shut it down to end the competition with other Euro kingdoms, as stated above, certain Chiefs, Kings, Queens, and other random people insisted on continuing the trade. It shouldn't Matter what 'kind' of slavery it was.
@@kamara6392that’s simply not true
He's referring to general African slaves before colonialism. The ones that sold their people to the Westerners were fully wrong and had been corrupted by the idea of wealth from the white man. This form of slavery is far different from what is described in the video although slavery is still bad in general
@@kamara6392 You would say this but wouldnt be able to back it up.
I like this video you explain the details of the nature about slavery IN Africa but it's true that white people were also slaves in Africa I heard that the first slaves were white people and they were also slaved buy Africans 0:02
Can you do a video about the Barbary about when white people were taken from Europe and they got brought in Africa to be slaved by The barbers 0:02
🙄
I'd like to add that it was the Europeans who ended slavery in the world, changed the course of humanity forever, ended multiple millennia of slavery, including in Africa. The Largest abolitionist movement in human history was carried out by the British in Africa against the wishes of the African rulers, with a few exceptions. So in regards to slavery, it's abolition that is European culture and custom.
"Abolishing" slavery and institutionalise colonization is not abolishing slavery. It's just replacing it by something with a more acceptable name. Colonization was almost not different from slavery.
Moreover the first abolitionists were the very Africans. And I'm not the one who said it, but a French historian (I forgot her name, I'll look for it).
And do I even need to mention that some of the so-called "abolitions" were the result of the fight of many diverse people, including black people ?
@@silverking2181 In some instances Colonialism was horrible and yes similar to slavery but because of Colonialism slavery was abolished in most of Africa. I don't know your source or who you're talking about but I believe it would be difficult to determine who the 1st abolitionist were. However the 1st country to abolish slavery was Haiti. And yes obviously many black people were abolitionist but the vast overwhelming majority of the people who fought, protested, enacted into law, forced others to enact into law, and died for abolition were Europeans. I'd also like to add that I have a buddy in the Army of a North African country, a few months ago he was on the Border with a Black African country and could see over the border black people still selling each other, women and men being sold in 2023. Also Sudan was doing slave raids up into the early 2000s. And Mauritania outlawed slavery in 2008.... But they still have a lot of slaves.
@@kevinsuggs1 If colonialism is almost identical to slavery, then there's nothing to praise in the abolishing of slavery by Europeans. Especially given that in addition, most of the time, they did it for economic reasons, not by philanthropy.
The historian's name is Nelly Schmidt. According to her, the very first abolitionists were the very slaves, who fought relentlessly against the system, but are completely ignored by scholars.
I'm really curious about the identity of those Europeans who died for abolition.
By the way, it's normal that Europeans are the most known for fighting slavery. They were fighting against the system they had established themselves, and the Africans who were against slavery were not known in Europe. But that doesn't mean they were the ones who fought the most against slavery (that doesn't mean they weren't either).
Slavery is still practiced in Europe as well. More precisely, in Spain. And we can find other forms of abuses in France, with migrants illegally working in France while not having some of the most basic consideration and protection. That's not very different from slavery.
@@silverking2181 I disagree that Colonialism is identical to slavery, I agreed it could be similar, in some situations. I believe it's safe to assume that many enslaved people tried to free themselves before Nelly Schmidt, off the top of my head I think of Spartacus before Nellys time. I personally can't name a single person who died ending slavery but for an example all the Ethnic Europeans who died in the American civil war, the men who died on the ships ending slavery in Africa, or all the men fighting the African slavers/Kings. Europeans didn't establish slavery. Slavery was just how people were since history was recorded, Like The Epic of Gilgamesh. The only Africans I know who helped end slavery were the ones helping the Europeans. As far as Slavery in Europe is concerned the only slaves I've heard of are Nigerians pimping women and men out as sex slaves in Italy. They pay for their way to Europe, pimp them out, and if they run away they beat them and if they get away they kill their family members back home.
Haiti ended slavery and trading in African slaves first.
Ok so how did they become slaves in the first place ? Did I miss something?
As a punishment or People who didn't pay their debts or prisoners of war from other cultures, nations, and tribes.
@@Raccon_Detective. Also influence from islamic culture inspired from the arab slave trade
I think we need to difference in words. Slave is a white eastern European. This word did not exist then.
Why are we defending enslavement on any level?
Y'all are trying to say there's humane SLAVERY?
Why complain others take advantage of a system we supposedly value so highly? 🙃😂
We are convoluted and refuse to take responsibility for our part in this.
He literally did the opposite of what you're claiming he did. You must be stupid, or English isn't your first language.
The nature of slavery in Africa does it mean that African slaves in Africa were treated better than the West well there are some people in the Middle East that treat them bad so I know for a fact that the Middle easterns are not the true indigenous African because the origin of the Middle East normally the Middle East are descended from oriental people and from East Asia and also they are a mix with the Europeans so this is why you can see that there are some Middle easterns who are Arabs that are pale ore turned but they're not the true indigenous of Africa even though some black Africans did participated in the slavery trafficking because they also traffic slaves from Europe and from Asia but they were also Vikings that were involved in the slave trade and they sold their own people they sold them to Africa
What does it mean that in the nature of slavery in Africa before the Atlantic slave trade where they treated much better in Africa I know that for a fact that today slavery still continues you have younger women in Africa are being trafficked and being sold in Saudi Arabia and this is why I despise Arabs because I don't feel like the Middle East there are two indigenous to the continent there are more oriental people
We've heard the theory over and over that slavery in the USA was a completely different thing than slavery in Africa. In truth, this is a stretch designed to exonerate those who invented it and then farmed it out. Whatever the particulars, African societies used their own people as marketable commodities, selling and trading them, using them as the prizes of war, and abusing them in as many ways as the human mind can fathom. It was big business, and not surprising that the African power-brokers then started selling their product to outsiders to take with them to other parts of the world. There is no way this could ever have been invented or perpetrated by outsiders, and anyone who thinks otherwise is ignorant. Malaria alone would have prevented it. It's also the case that the decision of African societies to market their own people is largely what prevented them from developing a robust competitive economy based on goods and technologies because it was far more profitable to simply sell people. This channel is all about trying to put a positive spin on African history, but real history isn't about spin. It's about truth. At least is should be.
Best comment
@@Fister-kw5un thanks
Slavery is bad even if there is a hierarchy.
I love African History and a lot of videos on this channel are good. But there is definitely a tone in this ideo of "It was better, more ethical slavery." While only covering a small portion of Africa and a couple testimonies.
My studies of Ancient Egypt alone have pretty horrific accounts of slavery.
First of all, while I’m sure you’ve spent time learning about African history, I suggest you review the points presented in the video. It fundamentally doesn’t make sense to state that American and African slavery were exactly the same when HomeTeam(HT) points out how things like the one drop rule didn’t exist, and how it was possible for slaves to climb up the ladder and even own property through merit.
Secondly, you ironically make the same mistake that HT points out at the start of the video. Treating Africans as a single monolithic entity. The Benin Empire , for example, traded other valuables such as gold and ivory with Europeans. The slaves they traded weren’t their own, but rather captured enemies, which is a practice that wasn’t exclusive to Africa either.
I’d ultimately recommend you watch more of HT videos, as you look like the type that loves to learn more about the past and he’s a good place to start when it comes to Africa.
@@mindbodysoul-musictherapy4550 HT makes it clear in the video that his goal wasn't to cover all of the African continent in a single video. So of course Egypt wouldn't be mentioned. He also acknowledges how his sources has his flaws, so I'm not sure how you got the impression/tone of him saying "It was better, more ethical slavery."
Bruh Slavery in Africa was worse. Don’t sugarcoat it.