1. THE DARK HEART OF KING LEOPOLD II OF BELGIUM Kevin P. Dincher www.kevindincher.com Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at CSU East Bay

2. ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE Changed the conversation Kevin P. Dincher 2

3. Ancient Western World Slavery Rarely questioned Accepted as normal aspect of society Natural order (Aristotle) War/Conquest Not race-based Slaves Domestics Army/Navies Entertainment (Gladiators) Concubines and sex slaves Hard labor (e.g., mining) Kevin P. Dincher 3

4. Slavery in the Middle Ages (400 – 1400) Widespread practice Everyone enslaved everyone else and traded slaves Natural order Aristotle Not race-based White Europeans Enslaved White Europeans and Black Africans Christians Enslaved Muslims and European Pagans Muslims/Arabs: Enslaved Christians, European Pagans and Black Africans Black Africans Enslaved Black Africans Kevin P. Dincher 4

5. Slavery in the Middle Ages (400 – 1400) The Church Aristotle Augustine The Bible Prohibition: Christians could not enslave other Christians Don’t enslave unjustly Not racial But amounts to a prohibition against enslaving White Europeans Kevin P. Dincher 5

6. Age of Discovery (1400 – 1600) Kevin P. Dincher 6

7. Age of Discovery (1400 – 1600) Things Change Arab Slave Trade Black Africans to trade with Europeans/Americans, Russians, Ottomans No market for White slaves Black Africans Black Africans to trade with Arabs and Europeans/Americans Europeans/Americans Chinese to East Indies Natives in both N. and S. America to West Indies Black Africans in huge numbers to work the plantations in the New World Kevin P. Dincher 7

8. Age of Discovery (1400 – 1600) Enslaving Black Africans Becomes norm among White Europeans/Americans Justification: Natural Order (Aristotle) Kevin P. Dincher 8

9. Age of Discovery (1400 – 1600) Enslaving Black Africans No significant/successful dissenting voices 1462: Pope Pius II: “slavery is a great crime” Enslaving Christians Did not condemn the slave trade Kevin P. Dincher 9

10. Age of Discovery (1400 – 1600) Catholic Church Forbid enslavement of Christians by Christians Codified by European nations Approve enslavement of non-Christian native peoples and appropriation of their property Slavery is compatible with Natural Law 1815: Congress of Vienna urged suppression of the slave trade under pressure from the British Kevin P. Dincher 10

11. SLAVERY BECOMES ABOUT RACE Kevin P. Dincher 11

12. Slavery Becomes about Race Primary Slave Traders Shifts from N. African Arabs to White Europeans Primary Slaves Black Africans in huge numbers Illegal to enslave White Europeans But indentured servants are OK Justifications for Slavery Becomes Racial Second Wave of European Colonization (1830 – 1914) Africa/Asia US in Caribbean/Pacific Kevin P. Dincher 12

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14. PHILOSOPHY The Enlightenment (1600-1800) Kevin P. Dincher 14

15. The Enlightenment (Late 1600s – 1800) Kevin P. Dincher 15 Emphasis on Reason and Science Skepticism regarding tradition, religion and revelation Opposed to superstition Partially a consequence of the Age of Discovery Experiencing rapid changes Demographic, social, technological Old theological and philosophical understanding of the world no longer adequate Importance of the Individual Freedom; equality; human rights Voltaire

16. The Enlightenment (Late 1600s – 1800) Kevin P. Dincher 16 Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) Society = voluntary contract incompatible with slavery Rene Descartes (1596-1650) Silent on slavery John Locke (1632 – 1704) Natural state of “all” humans is freedom Slavery is a continuation of war Denis Diderot (1713 – 1784) Encyclopédie (1751 – 1772) Diderot

17. The Enlightenment (Late 1600s – 1800) Kevin P. Dincher 17 David Hume (1711-1775) Blacks have the same intelligence as orang-utans Voltaire (1694-1778) Candide “…at what price we eat sugar in Europe“ If all human beings have common origins as the Bible taught, it makes them cousins, concluding that "no one could treat their relatives more horribly". Polygenist Monogenism: Single common ancestors (Adam/Eve) Polygenism: Each race has separate origins Questioned if blacks fully shared in the common humanity or intelligence of whites The negro race is a species of men different from ours as the breed of spaniels is from that of greyhounds. Voltaire

18. The Enlightenment (Late 1600s – 1800) Thomas Jefferson Declaration of Independence (1776) All men are created equal Effort to include slavery in Declaration of Independence Notes on Virginia (1787) I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind. … This unfortunate difference of colour, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people Kevin P. Dincher 18

19. Polygenism Common in many ancient cultures 1500-1700 Biblical interpretation: Heretical (incompatible with original sin) Lucillio Vanini (1616) Blacks descended from monkeys; other races were not Hierarchy of races 1700s Scientific Polygenism Voltaire Hume: "Whites... Negroes... [and] the yellow races are not descended from the same man". Kevin P. Dincher 19

20. Polygenism 1700s: Scientific Polygenism Hume Whites... Negroes... [and] the yellow races are not descended from the same man. Voltaire It is a serious question among them whether the Africans are descended from monkeys or whether the monkeys come from them. Our wise men have said that man was created in the image of God. Now here is a lovely image of the Divine Maker: a flat and black nose with little or hardly any intelligence. A time will doubtless come when these animals will know how to cultivate the land well, beautify their houses and gardens, and know the paths of the stars: one needs time for everything Kevin P. Dincher 20

21. Polygenism 1830s/1840s: Mainstream scientific thought in America, Great Britain, France and Germany Georges Cuvier French naturalist and zoologist Major influenced scientific polygenism and scientific racism. 1. Fixity of species 2. Anatomical and cranial measurement of difference races 3. Physical and mental differences between races = worth 4. Human races are all distinct Kevin P. Dincher 21

22. Polygenism Indigenous Races of the Earth (1857) Josiah Clark Nott and George Robins Gliddon "Negroes" were a creational rank between "Greeks" and chimpanzees. Kevin P. Dincher 22

23. Harpers’ Weekly (1899) "The Iberians are believed to have been originally an African race, who thousands of years ago spread themselves through Spain over Western Europe. Their remains are found in the barrows, or burying places, in sundry parts of these countries. The skulls are of low prognathous type. They came to Ireland and mixed with the natives of the South and West, who themselves are supposed to have been of low type and descendants of savages of the Stone Age, who, in consequence of isolation from the rest of the world, had never been out-competed in the healthy struggle of life, and thus made way, according to the laws of nature, for superior races." Kevin P. Dincher 23

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25. Polygenism or Monogenism? Sparks Competing Evolutionary Theories From common ancestors or from different ancestors? Critical to imperialism of the 19 th century Kevin P. Dincher 25

26. Polygenism Pope Pius XII: Humani Generis (The Human Race, 1950) Conservative – but an openness to science Nouvelle théologie Evolution Polygenism Old Testament Kevin P. Dincher 26

27. Polygenism "The different human races developed from different breeds of ape... …the following eight pages show startling resemblances between types of ape and different human races" The Beginning Was the End (1974) Kevin P. Dincher 27

28. Kevin P. Dincher 28 Philosophical Threads Racial differences are insignificant All humans are by nature free/equal” Slavery violates human nature Racial differences may (or may not) be significant Races may (or may not) be different species of human Some races may (or not be) inferior to others, but still human All humans are by nature free/equal” Slavery violates human nature Racial differences are significant Races constitute different species of human Polygenism: races were never really related Monogenism: races originally related; evolved into different species Differences indicate that some races are inferior to others Slavery is not only ok, but good for the enslaved race

29. RELIGION The Great Awakenings Kevin P. Dincher 29

30. Polygenism/Monogenism Types of Mankind 1854: Josiah Clark Nott and George Robins Gliddon Kevin P. Dincher 30

31. The Great Awakenings First Great Awakening 1730s and 1740s Protestant Europe and British America England George Whitefield Methodism Scotland Revival Meetings Presbyterianism Kevin P. Dincher 31 Germany Pietism Moravian Church United States Jonathan Edward Revival Meetings

32. The Great Awakenings Second Great Awakening 1780s to 1830s American Protestants New American Religions Seventh Day Adventists Millerites Mormons Spiritualism Baptists (not new) Utopian Societies Shakers Oneida Community Kevin P. Dincher 32

33. The Great Awakenings Third Great Awakening 1850s to early 1900s American Protestants Republican Party New Religions Christian Science Salvation Army Jehovah’s Witnesses Social Gospel International Perspective Missions Peace Movement Prophecy Conferences Kevin P. Dincher 33

34. The Great Awakening Personalized Spirituality Personal revelation and introspection Emotional Personal morality Personal authority/independence Millennialism End times Evangelical Emphasis on the Bible “Return to Fundamentals” Kevin P. Dincher 34

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36. The Great Awakenings Millennialism Derived from Book of Revelations 20:1-6 Not the end of the world Jesus’ return and 1000 year reign prior to the final judgment and “New Heavens and New Earth” Kevin P. Dincher 36

37. The Great Awakenings Millennialism: Be Prepared! Kevin P. Dincher 37

38. The Great Awakenings Millennialism: Be Prepared! Personal Repentance Social Reform Social conscience Bible = blueprint (Evangelical) Kevin P. Dincher 38

39. The Great Awakenings: The Races Adam and Eve Common Ancestry St. Paul “He … has made of one blood all nations of men.” All humans = one species Original sin Salvation - missionaries Abolition Kevin P. Dincher 39

40. The Great Awakenings: The Races Adam and Eve Common Ancestry St. Paul “He … has made of one blood all nations of men.” All humans = one species Original sin Salvation - missionaries Abolition Noah Kevin P. Dincher 40

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42. The Great Awakenings: The Races Adam and Eve Common Ancestry St. Paul “He … has made of one blood all nations of men.” All humans = one species Original sin Salvation - missionaries Abolition Sons of Noah Curse of Ham Genesis 9:20-27 St. Paul 1 Corinthians:7-24 Letter to Philomen Kevin P. Dincher 42

43. Redemption of Ham Brazil, 1895 Kevin P. Dincher 43

44. The Great Awakenings: The Races The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity and Islam David Goldenberg The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart Peter J. Gomes Kevin P. Dincher 44

45. Kevin P. Dincher 45 Philosophical Threads Racial differences are insignificant All humans are by nature free/equal” Slavery violates human nature Racial differences may (or may not) be significant Races may (or may not) be different species of human Some races may (or not be) inferior to others, but still human All humans are by nature free/equal” Slavery violates human nature Racial differences are significant Races constitute different species of human Polygenism: races were never really related Monogenism: races originally related; evolved into different species Differences indicate that some races are inferior to others Slavery is not only ok, but good for the enslaved race

46. Kevin P. Dincher 46 Religious Threads Threads Mainline Churches Christians can’t enslave other Christians Christians can enslave non-Christian native peoples and appropriate their lands Consistent with Natural Law and Human Nature Adam and Eve Common ancestors, single set of parents, one family Original sin and universal need for salvation means all are descended from Adam Slavery is unjust Mark of Cain and Noah’s Curse Common ancestors, single set of parents, one family Mark of Cain Curse of Ham’s son Canaan condemns Black Africans to slavery

47. SCIENCE Phrenology and Evolution Kevin P. Dincher 47

48. Phrenology 1796: Franz Joseph Gall Popular in the 19th century, especially from about 1810 until 1840. 1820: Edinburgh Phrenological Society Kevin P. Dincher 48

49. Phrenology Mr. Burns: “…the sloping brow and cranial bumpage of the career criminal." Waylon Smithers: "Uh, Sir? Phrenology was dismissed as quackery 160 years ago." Kevin P. Dincher 49

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51. THE DARK HEART OF KING LEOPOLD II OF BELGIUM Kevin P. Dincher www.kevindincher.com Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at CSU East Bay