Commemorating The 200th Anniverary Of The Abolition Of The Transatlantic Slave Trade

Floor Speech

COMMEMORATING THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ABOLITION OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE -- (Extensions of Remarks - May 02, 2007)

* Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, I am proud to be a cosponsor of H. Res. 272, a resolution commemorating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic slave trade was a crime against the humanity of Africans, mostly from Western, Central, and Eastern Africa, who were kidnapped and sent to the United States and the colonies that became the United States which occurred between the 15th and late 19th centuries. Millions of Africans were literally kidnapped and shipped like chattels to the Americas. In the process many were physically abused and raped. Many perished as a result of torture, malnutrition, disease and resistance in transit. Those who survived were forced into slavery. Slavery in the United States during and after British colonial rule included the sale and acquisition of Africans as chattel property in interstate and intrastate commerce.

* Humans of African origin here in the United States were robbed of their homes, family, language, culture, religion, and above all their freedom. The transatlantic slave trade is characterized as the largest forced migration in world history. What made the institution of slavery in the United States unique was that this particular form of slavery was in fact race based with `black' or `Negro' becoming synonymous with the word `slave'. Slaves were
prevented by law from learning to read and marriage between two slaves was not recognized by the state. It is argued that the effects of slavery have affected African-Americans and American society to this very day.

* In 1807, Britain became the first European nation to ban the slave trade. France, Holland, and the United States soon thereafter passed legislation banning the trade. However, since Spain and Portugal did not follow this example, African slaves continued to be sent to countries in South America until near the end of the 19th century. Even with the end of the slave trade slavery would still be legal across a large part of the United States until the end of the Civil War.

* I am compelled to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade because we as a country cannot ever forget this legalized horror and crime against humanity that was allowed to exist in our Nation. A horror that made our American union a less perfect one than it was initially set out to be. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support and commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

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