There were hundreds of thousands of Scots sold into slavery during Colonial America. White slavery to the American Colonies occurred as early as 1630 in Scotland.
According to the Egerton manuscript, British Museum, the enactment of 1652: it may be lawful for two or more justices of peace within any county, citty or towne, corporate belonging to the commonwealth to from tyme to tyme by warrant cause to be apprehended, seized on and detained all and every person or persons that shall be found begging and vagrant.. in any towne, parish or place to be conveyed into the Port of London, or unto any other port from where such person or persons may be shipped into a forraign collonie or plantation.
The judges of Edinburgh Scotland during the years 1662-1665 ordered the enslavement and shipment to the colonies a large number of rogues and others who made life unpleasant for the British upper class. (Register for the Privy Council of Scotland, third series, vol. 1, p 181, vol. 2, p 101).
The above accounting sounds horrific but slavery was what the Scots have survived for a thousand years. The early ancestors of the Scots, Alba and Pics were enslaved as early as the first century BC. Varro, a Roman philosopher stated in his agricultural manuscripts that white slaves were only things with a voice or instrumenti vocali. Julius Caesar enslaves as many as one million whites from Gaul. (William D Phillips, Jr. SLAVERY FROM ROMAN TIMES TO EARLY TRANSATLANTIC TRADE, p. 18).
Pope Gregory in the sixth century first witnessed blonde hair, blue eyed boys awaiting sale in a Roman slave market. The Romans enslaved thousands of white inhabitants of Great Britain, who were also known as Angles. Pope Gregory was very interested in the looks of these boys therefore asking their origin. He was told they were Angles from Briton. Gregory stated, “Non Angli, sed Angeli.” (Not Angles but Angels).
The eighth to the eleventh centuries proved to be very profitable for Rouen France. Rouen was the transfer point of Irish and Flemish slaves to the Arabian nations. The early centuries AD the Scottish were known as Irish. William Phillips on page 63 states that the major component of slave trade in the eleventh century were the Vikings. They spirited many ‘Irish’ to Spain, Scandinavia and Russia. Legends have it; some ‘Irish’ may have been taken as far as Constantinople.
Ruth Mazo Karras wrote in her book, “SLAVERY AND SOCIETY IN MEDEIVEL SCANDINAVIA” pg. 49; Norwegian Vikings made slave raids not only against the Irish and Scots (who were often called Irish in Norse sources) but also against Norse settlers in Ireland or Scottish Isles or even in Norway itself…slave trading was a major commercial activity of the Viking Age. The children of the White slaves in Iceland were routinely murdered en masse. (Karras pg 52)
According to these resources as well as many more, the Scots-Irish have been enslaved longer than any other race in the world’s history. Most governments do not teach White Slavery in their World History classes. Children of modern times are only taught about the African slave trade.
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Read more @: http://www.fsos.com/Hist%20PDFS/whiteslave.pdf
Now I understand why my “English” anscestors were upset when some married “Irish.” I always thought it was just the religious differences. I had heard of Irish slavery from my mother, who’s descendents were Irish, but never saw anything in writing before. I really appreciate this. I am all for knowledge, and have compassion for the African slaves, but wish this info was made widely available, so all people could see that skin colour and station in life are not related. So often I am embarrassed to BE white; I want to say “I would never treat anyone better or worse based on skin colour” but it’s a slow process.
This is definitely an eye opener. We are all aware of the atrocities of the the Black Slave Trade and the effects are still seen today. But very few are are aware of the European slave trade. As an African-American, I think it’s high time we as all people start learning the full truth. We have been lied to and deceived on a monumental level. We are all connected and share a common thread (which explains why my paternal grandmother (PBUH) had a Scottish and Ancestry). I am always seeking the truth and I hope this important piece of history is spread and to told to the masses. The The Elite have been using the ‘Divide and Conquer’ scheme for far too long. The more we learn, the more we should use this as a tool to stop the madness, separation, violence and ill will towards each other. Knowledge is truly key and crucial if we are to break the bonds of ignorance, stupidity and bigotry.
This would explain a lot about my mother’s side (Scot-Irish). Noone has ever found out how they got here. They just seem to always have been. Reading this makes me wonder.