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Thursday, August 19, 2010

The Afrikan Slave Trade - pt. 4

Source: www.youtube.com
Dr. John Henrik Clarke Dr. Leonard Jeffries
John Hawkins/The Good ship Jesus'
First voyage (1555–1563)
John Hawkins formed a syndicate of wealthy merchants to invest in the
slave trade. In 1555, he set sail with three ships for the Caribbean
via Sierra Leone. They hijacked a Portuguese slave ship and traded the 301 slaves in the Caribbean. Despite having two ships seized by the Spanish authorities, he sold the slaves in Santo Domingo
and thus made a profit for his London investors. His voyage caused the
Spanish to ban all English ships from trading in their West Indies
colonies.[citation needed]

In 1563, John Hawkins brought the first slaves from Africa to both the Caribbean Isles and Lower Americas.[2]
[edit] Second voyage (1564–1565)
The second voyage was even more successful. In 1564, Queen Elizabeth I partnered with him by renting him the huge old 700-ton ship Jesus of Lubeck , and he set forth on his second longer and more extensive voyage along with three small ships. Hawkins sailed to Borburata,
privateering along the way. By the time he reached Borburata, he had
captured around 400 Africans. After Borburata, Hawkins sailed to Rio de la Hacha.
The Spanish officials tried to prevent Hawkins from selling the slaves
by imposing taxes. Captain Hawkins refused the taxes and threatened to
burn the towns. After selling his slaves, Captain Hawkins sailed to a
French colony in Florida for a respite. Captain Hawkins returned to
England in September 1566, his expedition a total success as his
financiers made a 60% profit.
[edit] Third voyage (1567–1569)
His third voyage began in 1567. Hawkins obtained many more slaves, and also augmented his cargo by capturing the Portuguese slave ship Madre de Deus (Mother of God) and its human cargo. He took about 400 slaves across the Atlantic on the third trip. At San Juan de Ulua (in modern Vera Cruz) he was chanced upon by a strong Spanish force that was bringing the new viceroy to the colony there. In the ensuing Battle of San Juan de Ulúa only two of the English ships escaped destruction, and Hawkins' voyage home was a miserable one. That of Hawkins' gunner, Job Hartop was equally so and took many years.
Although his first three voyages were semi-piratical enterprises, Queen Elizabeth I was in need of money and saw pirates as fighting her battles at their own cost and risk.
Hawkins would write about the details of his third voyage in An Alliance to Raid for Slaves.
Specifically he comments on how trading and raiding were closely
related in the English slave trade and how European success in the slave
trade directly depended on African allies who were willing to
cooperate. He also comments on the level of violence he and his men used
and encouraged in order to secure his captives. The title makes clear
the basis of his methodology.
[edit] 1570-1587
As part of the government's web of counter-espionage, Hawkins pretended to be part of the Ridolfi plot
to betray Queen Elizabeth in 1571. By gaining the confidence of Spain's
ambassador to England, he learned the details of the conspiracy and
notified the government so to arrest the plotters. (www.britannica.com)
He offered his services to the Spanish, in order to obtain the release
of prisoners and to discover plans for the proposed Spanish invasion of England.
His help in foiling the plot was rewarded, and in 1571 Hawkins entered Parliament to become a Member of Parliament. He became Treasurer of the Royal Navy on 1 January 1578 following the death of his predecessor Benjamin Gonson
(who was also his father-in-law, Hawkins having married Katherine
Gonson in 1567). Hawkins' Navy financial reforms upset many who had
vested interests, and in 1582 his rival Sir William Wynter
accused him of administrative malfeasance, instigating a Royal
Commission on Fraud against him. The Commission, under Burghley,
Walsingham and Drake, concluded that there was no undue corruption, and
that the Queen's Navy was in first-rate condition.[3]
John Hawkins was determined that his navy, as well as having the best
fleet of ships in the world, would also have the best quality of
seamen, and so petitioned and won a pay increase for sailors, arguing
that a smaller number of well-motivated and better-paid men would
achieve substantially more than a larger group of uninterested men.
Hawkins made important improvements in ship construction and rigging; he is less well known for his inventiveness as a shipwright, but it was his idea to add to the caulker's work by the finishing touch of sheathing the underside of his ships with a skin of nailed elm planks sealed with a combination of pitch
and hair smeared over the bottom timbers, as a protection against the
worms which would attack a ship in tropical seas. Hawkins also
introduced detachable topmasts that could be hoisted and used in good
weather and stowed in heavy seas. Masts were stepped further forward,
and sails were cut flatter. His ships were 'race-built', being longer and with forecastle and aftcastle (or poop) greatly reduced in size.
[edit] The Spanish Armada




The arms of Sir John Hawkins


Hawkins' innovative measures made the new English ships fast and highly manoeuvrable. In 1588 they were tested against the Spanish Armada. Hawkins was the Rear Admiral,
one of three main commanders of the English fleet against the Armada,
alongside Francis Drake and Martin Frobisher. Hawkins’ flagship was Victory. It is possible that Hawkins organised the fire-ship attacks at Calais. For his role in the great sea battle, Hawkins was knighted.
After the defeat of the Armada, Hawkins urged the seizure of Philip II's colonial treasure, in order to stop Spain re-arming. In 1589, Hawkins sailed with former apprentice Francis Drake in a massive military operation (the Drake-Norris Expedition)
with one of its goals being to try to intercept the Spanish treasure
fleet. The voyage failed, but the idea led many other English pirates to
make similar attempts.
In 1590 Drake and Hawkins founded a charity for the relief of sick and elderly mariners. This was followed by a hospital in 1592 and another in 1594, the Sir John Hawkins’ Hospital. The charity continues today.
[edit] Potatoes, tobacco and sharks
Potatoes were first imported to England (probably Ireland) in either 1563 or 1565 (sources differ) by Hawkins.
Some scholars suggest it was John Hawkins who introduced tobacco into England.
Some accounts say this was in 1569, others in 1564. The latter is more
likely, since he mentions 'Ltobaccoj' (meaning tobacco) in his journals
of the second voyage.
The Oxford English Dictionary notes that the word shark
appears to have been introduced by Hawkins' sailors, who brought one
back and exhibited it in London in 1569. It has recently been suggested
that the derivation is from xoc, the word for 'fish' in a Mayan language spoken in Yucatan.[4]
[edit] Death
In 1595 he accompanied his second cousin Sir Francis Drake, on a treasure-hunting voyage to the West Indies, involving two unsuccessful attacks on San Juan. During the voyage they both fell sick. Hawkins died at sea off Puerto Rico.
Drake succumbed to disease, most likely dysentery, on January 27th, and
was buried at sea somewhere off the coast of Porto Belo. Hawkins was
succeeded by his son Sir Richard Hawkins.
Hawkins came to the public's attention again in June 2006, almost
four and a half centuries after his death, when his descendant Andrew
Hawkins publicly apologized for his ancestor's actions in the slave
trade.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hawkins
The Afrikan Slave Trade - pt. 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEKnQP8h9o4&feature=related
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