Museum of London - Docklands

   

 

   Slavery means abusing of other populations to make them work without paying them. European nations developed a well-organized mechanism for supplying plantations with abudant labour. Slaves might have felt humiliated physically and mentally by brutal owners. They lost their own identity (replaced by "slaves" names), family members were separated, those speaking the same language were sent to different plantations. Moreover, permanent relationships between men and women were discouraged, and any signs of their culture was forbidden.

   Firstly, Africans resisted enslavement in different ways, from sabotage to armed uprising. Then Haitians, who broke out in the French colony of Saint Domingue, under the leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture. Abolitionnists fought in Europe by petitionning or speaking tours. Women also played a leading role radicalizing the movement, particularly by creating a network of societies which made pressure on the esclavagist. African writers such as Ottobah Cugogno, Olaudah Equiano or Ignatius Sanch played a crucial role, as well as the writing of the Declaration of Rights of Men and Citizens.

   Nowadays, slavery still exists. Children are particularly abused in some countries such as Haïti, where they must serve families and are called "restavecs". So even if progresses have been made, the fight against slavery must go on.