If one were foolish enough to believe sanctimonious leftist loonies he would think the institution of slavery started in the American South in 1619 as a way for nasty white Southerners to oppress blacks and for no other reason. Thankfully, such leftist drivel is far from the truth, though not nearly enough people today realize that, thanks to the balderdash that is passed off as history in most public schools.

I was fortunate, recently, to come across a book that dealt with much of this. The name of it is Slavery 101 written by Lochlainn Seabrook and published by Sea Raven Press, recently relocated to Cody, Wyoming, a town I have pleasant memories of. Mr. Seabrook has done an excellent job of dealing with the issue of slavery and dispelling many of the myths that have surrounded it for decades.

One of the myths he demolished was that slavery was solely a “white” institution and invention which is what most of us were taught. In regard to blacks participating in slavery Mr. Seabrook noted, on page 15 that: “No region on earth has been more dependent on slavery over a longer period of time, practiced slavery more aggressively and widely on its own populace, or allowed slavery to become more entrenched, than Africa. Africa has been so intimately involved with slavery over such an immense duration–with slave majorities thought to be as high as 90 percent of the population in some regions–that its name today is synonymous with the institution. ‘The great womb of slavery,’ Yankee abolitionist Charles Sumner correctly called it.”

Mr. Seabrook noted: “Slavery was so intrinsic to the early African way of life that at one time slaves, known by their own people as ‘black ivory,’ could be found in nearly every African society,…These were not merely ‘insignificant traces of slavery’ as African apologists maintain, but rather true African slave societies, built on and around the bondage of their own people, employing some of the most brutal and sadistic forms of slavery ever recorded. Africans were practicing slavery on themselves for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. In point of fact, ‘African slavery was coeval with the existence of the African race….(and thus) has existed in Africa since its first (negro) settlement,’ predating even the founding of ancient Egypt over 5,000 years ago…”

Seabrook observed: “Thus indigenous African slavery is nearly as old as Africa itself. Indeed, not only were slaves an integral part of the commerce of prehistoric and ancient Africa but just, as in early Sudan, as only one example, slave ownership was an accepted sign of wealth, and so was considered no different than owning precious metals or gems..It can be truly said then that early Africa literally revolved around the enslavement of its own people by its own rulers upon its own soil.”

And so, restated by Seabrook: “Pre-European Africa had been practicing slavery, servitude, vassalage, and serfdom on its own people for thousands of years (in forms far more brutal than anything found in the American South), ..In fact, Africa is the only region that engaged continually in the West African-European-American slave trade for its full 424 years from start to finish.”

I realize this is not what the left wants to hear, but it seems that Mr. Seabrook has done the homework. He’s got a pretty fair bibliography at the back of the book. African slavery was, for a very large part, by and for Africans. Everybody rails about the European and American part in the African slave trade. Well, what about the African involvement in it? European and American slave traders (who were almost all from the North) bought slaves from black African chiefs and brought them over here. Where’s the guilt for the Africans that sold those slaves to begin with? Mentioning them doesn’t do much for the “white guilt” part of this scenario, so we’ll just neglect to mention them! In fact, to remove the black guilt, lets just change the history! And so the leftist “historians” play word games and hope we don’t notice, but with books like Mr. Seabrook’s out there there’s no hope they can cover it all up, so some of us will find the truth and we will pass it along, even though the present regime labels the truth as “hate speech and misinformation.”

July 6, 2023

~ The Author ~
Al Benson Jr. is the editor and publisher of “The Copperhead Chronicle“, a quarterly newsletter that presents history from a pro-Southern and Christian perspective. He has written for several publications over the years. His articles have appeared in “The National Educator,” “The Free Magnolia,” and the “Southern Patriot.” I addition he was the editor of, and wrote for, “The Christian Educator” for several years. In addition to The Copperhead Chronicles, Al also maintains Revised History.

He is currently a member of the Confederate Society of America and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and has, in the past, been a member of the John Birch Society. He is the co-author, along with Walter D. Kennedy, of the book “Lincoln’s Marxists” and he has written for several Internet sites as well as authoring a series of booklets, with tests, dealing with the War of Northern Aggression, for home school students.

Mr. Benson is a highly respected scholar and writer and has graciously allowed the family of Kettle Moraine Publications to publish his works. We are proud to have his involvement with each of our projects.

He and his wife now live in northern Louisiana.