posted
Five people are still being questioned by police over the discovery of 24 men suspected of being held against their will at a Bedfordshire traveller site.
Four men and a woman were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of committing slavery offences at Greenacre caravan site in Leighton Buzzard.
The men, some English and some from eastern Europe, were found in "filthy and cramped" conditions, police said. Detectives believe some may have been there for up to 15 years.
Those arrested, all residents of the caravan park, are being held on suspicion of committing offences under section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.
They are being held at police stations across Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.
Horse boxes
Weapons, drugs and money were also found at the site, police said.
Detectives said they had become aware of 28 people previously making "similar accusations" after investigating the site since 2008.
The raid was launched as part of a long-running investigation by Bedfordshire Police after intelligence a number of men were being held against their will in poor conditions and forced to work for no pay.
The raid on the site, which involved more than 200 police officers and representatives of various agencies including welfare charities, began at 05:30 BST on Sunday.
The 24 men believed to be victims of slavery, were found in sheds and horse boxes, and were taken from the site to a medical centre.
Dozens of police vans remained at the site, which consists of a series of gated properties set off a winding road, until late Sunday afternoon.
Det Ch Insp Sean O'Neil said: "The men we found at the site were in a poor state of physical health and the conditions they were living in were shockingly filthy and cramped.
"We believe that some of them had been living and working there in a state of virtual slavery, some for just a few weeks and others for up to 15 years.
"Because of the number of victims and suspects and the size of the site, we needed the assistance of many officers from specialist units."
'Hair cut off'
The major crime unit was assisted by dog sections, helicopter and firearms support, and officers from the UK Human Trafficking Centre.
Mr O'Neil said the men appeared to have been "recruited" from soup kitchens and benefits offices and included people with problems such as alcoholism.
He said: "They're recruited and told if you come here we'll pay you Ł80 a day, we'll look after you give you board and lodgings.
"But when they get here, their hair is cut off them, they're kept in in some cases [in] horseboxes, dog kennels and old caravans, made to work for no money, given very, very small amounts of food.
"That's the worse case. Some are treated a little bit better but they were told they could not leave and if they did they would be beaten up and attacked.
"But in fact some people did leave and told us what was going on and when we looked back since 2008 we were aware of 28 people who had made similar accusations." Police have appealed for help and asked anyone with any information to contact them in confidence.
Source: BBC.
Posts: 22235 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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Even tough you have a long history as being slaves and enslaved. Basically Romans enslaved most of Europe. And Greeks have enslaved East Europeans as is well historically documented.
You also were enslaved in North Africa.
But, in the Americas you weren't, you have been taken there as servants, who got freedom after a while. Just like in Australia.
In the Americas you enslaved Amerindians first then Africans. Then Asians came in as servants.
quote:Originally posted by alurubenson:
Here is your history of slavery,
Introduction:
Slaves
Not everyone was free to come and go as he or she liked. Some people were slaves or 'thralls'. Slaves did the hardest, dirtiest jobs. People could be born slaves. The child of a slave mother and father was a slave too, but the child of a slave mother and a free father was free. Many slaves were people captured in a Viking raid. Viking traders sold slaves in markets, but slave-trading in England was stopped in 1102.
The Aristocracy - The Anglo-Saxon territory was divided into seven separate kingdoms commonly referred to as the heptarchy. Each kingdom was ruled by a king, the king's sons who were called aethlings and the ruling nobility known as the eoldermen. (Anglo-Saxon village) The basic unit of land was called the hide which was enough land to support one family and varied in size from 40 acres to 4 square miles. Approximately one hundred hides formed the unit known as the 'hundred', and each village or shire contained many hundreds. (another Anglo-Saxon village) For each hundred, one leader known as the 'hundred eolder' was responsible for administration, justice, and supplying military troops, as well as, leading its forces. The office was not hereditary, but by the tenth century the office was selected from among a few outstanding families.
The thane, similar to the knight, stood at the lowest echelon of the aristocracy. Good service by a thane resulted in gifts, the granting of lands, and elevation to eolderman. Members of the clergy held the title of thane as they were considered one of 'God's thanes', and bishops generally held the position of eolderman.
The Middle Class - The middle class was divided into three main classes of freemen, also known as ceorls: The geneatas, a peasant aristocracy who paid rent to their overlord, the kotsetlas, and the geburs, or lower middle class. All ceorls had the right and duty to serve in the fyrd, which was the Anglo-Saxon military. Ceorls won promotion through economic prosperity or military service. If a ceorl possessed five hides of land, he became entitled to the rights of a thane, but could not be elevated to the position of thane or eolderman.
The lower class - At the lowest end of the social strata was the slave or bondsmen, also known as the theow. Although they were slaves or bondsmen, they were entitled to certain provisions, such as grain. The slaves were allowed to own property and could earn money in their spare time which allowed them to buy their freedom. When times were difficult people sold themselves into slavery to ensure they were provisioned.
The early Anglo-Saxon society was organized around clans or tribes and was centered around a system of reciprocity called comitatus. The eoldorman expected martial service and loyalty from his thanes, and the thanes expected protection and rewards from the lord. By the middle of the ninth century the royal family of Wessex was universally recognized as the English royal family and held a hereditary right to rule. Succession to the throne was not guaranteed as the witan, or council of leaders, had the right to choose the best successor from the members of the royal house.
The military organization - As stated above, the military organization was called the fyrd, which consisted of highly trained thanes chosen from each hundred. Thanes became 'professional' warriors because their position within the society depended upon it. In peace time the thanes had to serve one month out of every three in rotation, so there was always a sizeable force on call. Loyalty to a lord was the greatest virtue for the thane, and if their lord or king died in battle, his men were expected to die avenging his death, as it was considered dishonorable to leave the battlefield on which the military leader had been slain. Those who did were executed by their lord's successor for their disloyalty. The Fyrd also served as a police force when not at war.
Religion and the role of the church - (St Alpheges church) (St. Wereburg) Besides the spiritual functions of the church, the Church also fulfilled the functions of a 'civil service', and for the nobility, an educational system. The Church and the government needed men who could read and write in English and Latin to write letters and keep accounts. (illuminated manuscripts) The words 'cleric' and 'clerk' have the same origin, and every nobleman would have at least one priest to act as a secretary.
Economy - The economy of the early middle ages was not cash based. (Anglo-Saxon clothing) Even though coins were minted, their use was not widespread, and most goods were bartered. (jewelry and pottery) Trade relied upon transport to be effective, and water was the preferred method of transport. For this reason, the most successful markets were near rivers.
Slavery was an important part of the Anglo-Saxon economy. Almost all the slaves traded in the early middle ages were captured in raids or warfare. It seems to have been the practice to kill the leaders of the losing army and enslave the local villagers. The English conquest of Cornwall led to the enslavement of many of the indigenous Celts. At the Westminster Council of 1102ce, slavery was abolished.
David Wyatt, Ph.D. (2003) in History, Cardiff University, is the Co-ordinating Lecturer in History at Cardiff University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning.
Slaves and Warriors in Medieval Britain and Ireland,800-1200
Modern sensibilities have clouded historical views of slavery, perhaps more so than any other medieval social institution. Anachronistic economic rationales and notions about the progression of European civilisation have immeasurably distorted our view of slavery in the medieval context. As a result historians have focussed their efforts upon explaining the disappearance of this medieval institution rather than seeking to understand it. This book highlights the extreme cultural/social significance of slavery for the societies of medieval Britain and Ireland c. 800-1200. Concentrating upon the lifestyle, attitudes and motivations of the slave-holders and slave-raiders, it explores the violent activities and behavioural codes of Britain and Ireland’s warrior-centred societies, illustrating the extreme significance of the institution of slavery for constructions of power, ethnic identity and gender.
The Vikings in Ireland
The Vikings first attacked Ireland in 795. They looted monasteries. They also took women and children as slaves. However the Vikings were not only raiders. They were also traders and craftsmen. In the 9th century they founded Ireland's first towns, Dublin, Wexford, Cork and Limerick. They also gave Ireland its name, a combination of the Gaelic word Eire and the Viking word land. In time the Vikings settled down. They intermarried with the Irish and accepted Christianity.
Around 940 the great High King Brian Boru was born. At that time the Danes had conquered much of the kingdom of Munster. Brian defeated them in several battles. In 968 he recaptured Cashel, the capital of Munster. After 976 Brian was king of Munster and in 1002 he became the High King of Ireland. However in 1014 Leinster, the people of Dublin and the Danes joined forces against him. Brian fought and defeated them at the battle of Clontarf on 23 April 1014, although he was killed himself. This victory ended the Viking threat to Ireland.
The Vikings in Iceland
The first people to settle in Iceland were probably Irish monks who came in the 8th century. However in the 9th century they were driven out by Vikings.
According to tradition the first Viking to discover Iceland was a man named Naddoddur who got lost while on his way to the Faeroes. Following him a Swede named Gardar Svavarsson circumnavigated Iceland about 860. However the first Viking attempt to settle was by a Norwegian named Floki Vilgeroason. He landed in the northwest but a severe winter killed his domestic animals and he sailed back to Norway. However he gave the land its name. He called it Iceland.
Then in the late 9th century many settlers came to Iceland from Norway and the Viking colonies in the British Isles. A Norwegian named Ingolfur Arnarson led them. He sailed with his family, slaves and animals.
When he sighted Iceland Ingolfur dedicated his wooden posts to his gods then threw them overboard. He vowed to settle at the place where the sea washed them up. He then explored Iceland. When the posts were found in the southwest Ingolfur and his household settled there. He called the place Reykjavik, meaning Smokey bay. Many other Vikings followed him to Iceland.
The land was free to whoever wanted it. A man could claim as much land as he could light fires around in one day while a woman could claim as much land as she could lead a heifer round in one day.
There were very good fishing grounds around Iceland and the land was well suited to sheep. Many Vikings brought flocks with them and soon sheep became a major Icelandic industry. The population of Iceland soared. By about 930 there were about 60,000 people living in Iceland.
The Peasant's Life.
Villages consisted of from 10-60 families living in rough huts on dirt floors, with no chimneys or windows. Often, one end of the hut was given over to storing livestock. Furnishings were sparse; three legged stools, a trestle table, beds on the floor softened with straw or leaves. The peasant diet was mainly porridge, cheese, black bread, and a few home-grown vegetables.
Peasants had a hard life, but they did not work on Sundays or on the frequent saints' days, and they could go to nearby fairs and markets. The lot of serfs was much harsher.
The Serf's Life.
Although not technically a slave, a serf was bound to a lord for life. He could own no property and needed the lord's permission to marry. Under no circumstance could a serf leave the land without the lord's permission unless he chose to run away. If he ran to a town and managed to stay there for a year and a day, he was a free man. However, the serf did have rights. He could not be displaced if the manor changed hands. He could not be required to fight, and he was entitled to the protection of the lord.
Posts: 22235 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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Here are databases of account of the European servants who were captured convicts. Who became prisoners then servants.
IRISH CONVICTS IN AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA
By Thomas F. Magner
In recent centuries crime and punishment linked Great Britain to America and Australia in a most curious way: the actual crimes occurred in England, Ireland and Scotland but for punishment thousands upon thousands of the criminals were banished to the American colonies and later to Australia. In the case of Ireland, social protest and political dissent were sometimes construed as criminal activity and the court's harshest sentence – transportation to the colonies - could be handed down for dissent as well as for common theft.
The Transportation System
The historical record is this: in the 17th and 18th centuries England transported some 50,000 convicts to the American colonies where they were sold into servitude, usually for seven years. Of that number the historian A. Roger Ekirch estimates that 36,000 came from England, 13,000 from Ireland and 700 from Scotland (Bound for America. The Transportation of British Convicts to the Colonies, 1718-1775, Oxford, 1987, p. 27). Convict transportation to the American colonies was effectively ended by the American Declaration of Independence in 1776 which forced England to use the newly "discovered" land of Australia as a dumping ground for convicts. For 81 years, beginning in 1787, England transported some 160,000 manacled convicts in sailing ships on a 16,000 mile voyage to Australia; in the dark holds of the ships which ferried this human cargo there were 39,000 convicts from Ireland, 30,000 men and 9,000 women (Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore, New York, 1987, p. 195).
In his history of Maryland Robert J. Brugger describes the arrival of convicts in America: "Typically males of humble origins, the convicts arrived at either Annapolis or Baltimore chained in groups of ninety or more men,'wretched, ragged and lean', as one of them recalled. Buyers came aboard, looked in mouths, and haggled over prices." (Maryland. A Middle Temperament, 1634-1980, Baltimore, 1989, p. 86). Irish convicts were the least desirable to the American planters, a situation later repeated in Australia; as the Australian writer Robert Hughes notes, "It was taken for granted that all Irishmen were 'wild' and 'lawless', and the authorities in Sydney, who had enough trouble with the relatively tractable English prisoners, were never glad to see them." (Hughes, p.184).
The transportation of convicts, so inhumane on the surface, was ironically an attempt to mitigate the severity of the British Criminal Code, popularly called the Bloody Code, which listed 167 capital crimes, offenses for which a convicted felon could be hanged. The Bloody Code prescribed death for crimes ranging from murder to the theft of property worth a shilling or more; a shilling was not an insignificant amount: in Ireland: during the 1800s it was the daily wage of a farm labourer.
Though most of the Irish felons were convicted of crimes against persons or property, the offences of a substantial minority of them were of a political nature. Hughes writes that "Australia was the official Siberia for Irish dissidents... Between 1800 and 1805 their influx began in earnest, swollen by political exiles transported for their role in the rebellion of 1798, when Ireland tried unsuccessfully to ally with France in revolt against England." (Hughes, p.181).
It is safe to say that the average American knows nothing about the 50,000 convicts transported here in colonial times and the reasons seem clear: the number of convicts was small compared to that of black slaves (some 721,000 in our 1790 census) and also because the institution of slavery endured until 1863 whereas the flow of convicts ended in 1776. Australians, however, desperately wanted to forget the fact that their country was founded as a convict settlement and so it was only in recent decades that serious studies of the historical role of Australia's 160,000 convicts have appeared. One such study is the book, The Fatal Shore, by Robert Hughes. About the memory problem he writes: "By the 1880s, when the Protestant majority in Australia had all but sublimated the 'hated stain' of convictry, the Irish still kept the memory of the System alive. Naturally, they also fostered the delusion that most Irish convicts had been sent to the Fatal Shore for political offenses..." ( p.195).
Over the course of several days in January, 1788, 11 ships from the British First Fleet delivered their cargo of 732 British, North American, West Indian and African convicts to Sydney Cove. As the prisoners disembarked, they knew there was little chance of seeing their homeland or loved ones again. Were your ancestors on board?
Over the next 80 years more than 165,000 convicts were transported the 15,000 mile journey to Australia and it has recently been estimated that two million Brits have convict ancestors and four million Australians are of convict descent. We invite you to search this collection and discover your convict ancestors. After all, they’re still family.
The British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database has been compiled from the British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm. You can find details for over 123 000 of the estimated 160 000 convicts transported to Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries - names, term of years, transport ships and more.
Matra proposed that the prisoners, who would formerly have been sent to the American settlements should be sent, instead, to Botany Bay which Captain Cook had reported following his voyage of 1770. Matra considered that "with good management and a few settlers" the new colony would prove a great stimulus to British trade with the East. He saw Australia's links with Asia long before we did.
The settlement began its life as a penal colony, with a total of 568 male and 191 female convicts with 13 children, 206 marines with 26 wives and 13 children, and 20 officials having made the voyage.
Their earliest huts were composed of cabbage-tree palm, while the convicts were housed in huts made of boards wattled with slender twigs and plastered with clay. By 1790, however, there were 40 convicts employed making bricks and tiles, 50 brickie labourers, and 4 stonemasons.
In 1788, the eleven ships of the First Fleet landed their 'cargo' of around 780 British convicts at Botany Bay in New South Wales. Two more convict fleets arrived in 1790 and 1791, and the first free settlers arrived in 1793.
From 1788 to 1823, the Colony of New South Wales was officially a penal colony comprised mainly of convicts, marines and the wives of the marines.
You don't have to thank me, I am glade to help you out. On this confusing topic. Posts: 22235 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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This is very good. Outpaces the usual responses to Hoffman.
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
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I rally meant it when I said, helping out. Since many don't know of this and live in a hyphenated fantasy world.
quote:Originally posted by alTakruri: This is very good. Outpaces the usual responses to Hoffman.
It is also known that Cicero a Roman advisor, statesman and lawyer; who badly advised to buy British slave. Because they were too stupid to actually learn anything quickly.
The Dolaucothi Gold Mine
It’s guaranteed you’ll have a problem—keeping your eyes on the A482 road up the Cothi Valley—the scenery is just too distracting. The road winds between unpopulated high green hills and glides between wooded valleys.
The Dolaucothi Gold Mines, a scheduled ancient monument, are located in this scenic setting just outside the village of Pumsaint.
Archaeologists "believe" that mining took place here as early as the Bronze Age.
The gold was close to the surface and often found in crevasses.
They know the Romans took out over ˝ million ton of rock, leaving behind chasms and pits when they mined gold veins.
Rolling ground and humps in the landscape are a result of land that was dumped when the mines were excavated.
At first the mine was under the Roman military government, then went into private ownership. Gold was sent to the Roman mints after the emperor took his 50% cut.
The Romans used slaves rather than explosives to work the mine. The slaves spent their days hammering, chiseling and wedging through hard rock to get at the rim-like veins in the hills.
The Romans left in the 4th century, leaving barracks, bathhouses and other town remains—they’d built a fort above the river Cothi where it meets its western tributary.
Things were quiet until the 1930’s when a shaft was sunk to 480 ft. Mining didn’t last long and things were shut down for good until the National Trust took over the site. Many of the tunnels and sublevels are now cut off, due to water flooding them.
A visitor can take two tours of the mines: the Roman Tour and an Underground Tour. Each lasts one hour and is physically demanding. There are 75 steps to climb up the hillside to one of the mined caverns, but the view makes the climb worthwhile. Although there’s not a lot to see in the cavern, it does give you a picture of what it would be like to spend your days in this dark, dank place. The underground tour is not for those with claustrophobia. A note for parents bringing their children along—those under five are not allowed on the tours.
1930’s mining machinery from another site is on display. If you’re not physically able to go on the tours, you can still learn all the details and mining history from the informative exhibition and the AV presentation.
The Dolaucothi Estate has lots of waymarked walks. The Visitor Centre and shop have all the details. There’s a local history centre in the village of Pumsaint.
The village of Pumsaint belongs to the National Trust. The Red Kite Visitor Centre is located in the Old Coach House. There are displays on the oak woodlands, the traditional nesting place of the red kite. The red kite almost became extinct last century when they were considered vermin and eradicated in Scotland and England. Fortunately, they survived in Wales in small numbers and are now on the way back from extinction.
Source: National Trust.
Posts: 22235 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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Even the word 'slave' is derived from 'Slav' as in the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe who during the Middle Ages were seen as 'fair targets' since many at that time were pagan. Even Turkish Islamic empires captured many Slavic peoples especially women and sold them throughout the Islamic world. Many Muslims in the Middle East with fair skin, blue eyes, and light colored hair could very well be descendants of these slaves.
Ironic that the actual word 'Slav' meant 'glorious'.
Posts: 26285 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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