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The infamous and heinous conditions of the Transatlantic Slave trade of African slaves has become well notarized in modern readings of American history, on the other hand, white slavery is something you rarely hear of when the darker history of the American Colonies are talked about. Indentured servitude was a way for prospective colonists to work their way into a new life in the Americas. This form of slavery was particularly prevailing of Irish colonists. Prior to the colonization of America, England has been oppressive of the people of the Ireland for hundreds of years. The English greatly dehumanized the Irish depicting them as savages and not pure ethnically white; this practice was maintained in America until well into the 20th century. The Irish slave trade began with a proclamation in 1625 by King James II. It sent all Irish prisoners across the Atlantic to be sold to English settlers in the West Indies. After overthrowing the Crown in the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell would punish the Irish with famine and to be sold as slaves in retaliation for supporting the English royalty. In the end he was able to forcibly expel three hundred thousand Irish between 1641 and 1652. Ireland soon became the major hub of slave trade for merchants in the 17th century exceeding those from Africa mainly due to cheaper costs and distance transporting overseas. The number of Irish slaves would drop considerably in the latter half of the century after cries against the inhuman treatment of subjugation. Since many of the Irish indentured servant’s time in slavery limited seven to twenty years and were granted their own plots of land and a year’s worth of supplies after being freed. Their integration the landowning class in the colonies, gave way to voicing the society on their own race and human rights. The first black Africans were also treated as indentured servants, as well, with the same opportunity for freedom. However, harsh slave laws were soon passed taking away any promise of liberty or freedom for all. African slaves would not be viewed with the same humanism by the rest the society for a long time to come.
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