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According to the Jewish writer Solomon Grayzel in “A History of the Jews” “Jews were among the most important slave dealers” in European society. Jews were the major ship chandlers in the Caribbean. Jews were expelled from many places for their business practices in this trade. In Curacao in the 17th century and Barbados and Jamaica in the 18th century and in most of the French, British and Dutch colonies the Jews dominated the slave trade or were major traders. When their host country was at war with one of their trading partners the Jews would continue to trade, merely changing the names of their ships as the port of call required.
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Portuguese Jews, who had developed their mastery of the slave trade off the west coast of Africa on the island of Sao Thome where they employed up to 3,000 black slaves. They arrived in Brazil in 1503 and by 1600 the bulk of the slave trade and up to 100 plantations in Brazil, with some 10,000 black slaves, were in the hands of the Jews. In the mid 1600,s slave revolts and war with Portugal caused many Jews to leave for the Caribbean, Amsterdam and New Amsterdam (later New York).
Jews could buy slaves cheaper from their co-religionists (there was one price for the Jew and one price for the other or goim) and then sell them to the plantation owners at profits of up to 300% with interest of 3-4% monthly. Slaves were also rented at exorbitant rates to non-Jews to the extent that Adrian Lems, on June 13, 1643 wrote to his company that non-Jewish planters could not prosper because the price and interest on slaves was too high. According to Arnold Wiznitzer in “Jews in colonial Brazil “if it happened that the date of such an auction fell on a Jewish holiday the auction had to be postponed. This occurred on Friday, October 16th, 1644.”
Slavery was a major feature of Jewish life in Surinam where slaves, often kept nearly naked and fed only yams and bananas. Slaves were often given away as gifts. By 1730 there were some 1,300 Jews in Surinam, a third of the white population. There were 400 plantations where some 80,000 black slaves toiled. Tortures included flogging, mutilations such as slitting of noses or cutting off ears, hanging and quartering, drowning, starvation and burning alive. Slaves sometimes chose suicide and would swallow their tongues or jump into boiling sugar cane. When the government considered passing a law to idle slaves on the Sabbath the Jews protested saying it would be a “crippling disability”.
The English explorer Captain John Gabriel Stedman wrote in his narrative of his expeditions of witnessing an execution of a slave presided over by a Jew named De Vries in Surinam. The Black man was laid upon a wooden cross with arms and legs expanded and was fastened by ropes and his hand chopped off. Then they
“next took up a heavy iron bar, with which, by repeated blows, he broke his bones to shivers, til the marrow, blood, and splinters flew about the field; but the prisoner never uttered a groan nor a sigh. The ropes being next unlashed, I imagined him dead, and felt happy; till the magistrates stirring to depart, he writhed himself from the cross, when he fell on the grass, and (*)(*)(*)(*)ed them all, as aset of barbarous rascals; at the same time removing his right hand by the help of his teeth, he rested his head on part of the timber, and asked the by-standers for a pipe of tobacco, which was infamously answered by kicking and spitting on him; till I, with some American seamen, thought proper to prevent it. He then begged that his head might be chopped off; but to no purpose. At last, seeing no end to his misery, he declared, "that though he had deserved death, he had not expected to die so many deaths: however, (said he) you Christians have missed your aim at last, and I now care not, were I to remain thus one month longer." After which he sung two extempore songs (with a clear voice) the subjects of which were, to bid adieu to his living friends, and to acquaint his deceased relations that in a very little time he should be with them, to enjoy their company for ever in a better place. This done, he calmly entered into conversation with some gentlemen concerning his trial; relating every particular with uncommon tranquility - "But," said he abruptly, "by the sun it must be eight o'clock; and by any longer discourse I should be sorry to be the cause of your losing your breakfast." Then, casting his eyes on a Jew, whose name was De Vries, "A-propos, sir," said he, "won't you please to pay me the ten shillings you owe me?" (*)"For what to do?" - "To buy meat and drink, to be sure - don't you perceive I am to be kept alive?" Which speech, on seeing the Jew stare like a fool, this mangled wretch accompanied with a loud and hearty laugh. Next, observing the soldier that stood sentinel over him biting occasionally on a piece of dry bread, he asked him "how it came to pass, that he, a white man, should have no meat to eat along with it?" - "Because I am not so rich," answered the soldier. (*)"Then I will make you a present, sir," said the negro; "first, pick my hand that was chopped off clean to the bones, next begin to devour my body, till you are glutted; when you will have both bread and meat, as best becomes you"; which piece of humor was followed by a second laugh; and thus he continued, until I left him, which was about three hours after the dreadful execution. Wonderful it is indeed, that human nature should be able to endure so much torture, which assuredly could only be supported by a mixture of rage, contempt, pride, and the glory of braving his tormentors, from whom he was so soon to escape.
Stedman wrote: "At Demerary, so late as October, 1789, thirty-two wretches were executed in three days, sixteen of whom suffered in the manner just described, with no less fortitude, and without uttering one single complaint."
The slaves of Surinam revolted between 1690 and 1772 and some 6,000, known as Maroons, escaped into the jungle and waged a guerilla war for over 70 years and were not defeated. Herbert Bloom in his book “The Economic Activities of the Jews of Amsterdam in the 17th and 18th Centuries” said the slave revolted against their plantations and slave masters “especially those in Jewish hands”. The abolition of the slave trade in 1819 brought about the economic decline of the Jewish community.
In Barbados the Jews made up 22% of the white population of 20,000. Jewish business practices (not paying taxes on their slaves or imported items and not serving in the defense of the island) caused the legislature to pass an act in 1679 to limit their commerce in the slave trade. In 1741 on May 7th a special tax was passed for the Jews with the legislature enumerating the reasons for such actions.
"...That the Jews in this island are a very wealthy body, their gains considerable, and acquired with great ease and indolence, and with little risk, and their fortunes so disposed, that the usual methods of laying taxes will not affect them; they are generally concerned in, nay have almost entirely engrossed, the whole retail trade of this island, furnish people with materials of luxury, tempt them to live and dress above their circumstances, carry on a traffic with our slaves greatly prejudicial to the planter and fair trader, encouraging the negroes to steal commodities from their masters, which they sell to or barter with the Jews, at inconsiderable and under values; and, when by such means they have amassed great wealth, they layout their money at interest, by which the public stock is no way increased; and it must ever be against the interest and policy of every country, to encourage the heaping up of such riches among them: That it is in this light the Jews are taxed separately, and not on account of religion or country, nor does the present tax exceed what they have paid forty years ago, when their riches were not so great as they are at present, and their numbers have been daily increasing under a taxation of this sort ever since. . ."
The Jews were in the slave trade on the islands and in the communities of Curacao, Martinique, Nevis, Saint Dominique, Saint Eustatius, Saint Thomas, and others.
There were numerous Jewish slave owners in the earliest Jewish communities in America in Rhode Island, Newport and New York. In some Jewish communities in New York Jews would pay their dues to the Synagogue by sending a black slave to clean it. In the south, Jews were heavily engaged in the slave trade. In 1826 the estimated value of slaves in the south was about 300 million dollars. The wealthiest Jewish community in the nation was in Charleston S.C. Jews made up a disproportionate number of slave owners, slave traders and slave auctioneers.
In Los Angeles in 1861 after Secessionists victory in the elections The News accused the Jewish community of voting the Secessionist ticket and was branded anti-Semitic by the Jews for its article. During the speculation in gold papers such as The New York Tribune, Herald, Commercial, Patterson Press, Missouri Republican Chicago Tribune and the Detroit Commercial Advertiser noted that the great majority of those involved in the speculation were of the Jewish race.
In 1898 the newspaper Jewish Sentiment editorialized “The laws of nature cannot be reversed by an act of Congress and the white man is not only superior to the black man but will assert his suprimacy (sic) at the proper time and in the proper manner.
Estimates vary as to the number of slaves that died transiting to the New World during the centuries of the slave trade. 6-12 million would probably be low.
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03-03-2008, 05:56 AM
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