Page 101 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

this fleeting world / our world: the modern era tfw-41

UN Commemoration of the Abolition of Slave Trade

While acknowledging that slavery has existed since on the historical causes, processes and consequences
antiquity and continues to exist in modern form, the of the unprecedented tragedy that was slavery and the
United Nations declared 2004 as International Year to slave trade, a tragedy that was concealed for many
Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its years and is yet to be fully recognized.
Abolition. Below are excerpts from a message delivered It also provides us with an opportunity to under-
by Koichiro Matsuura, director-general of UNESCO stand more clearly the interactions that the slave
(the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cul- trade generated throughout the world between the
tural Organization), on 23 August 2004. different peoples involved. It not only disrupted the
lives of millions of human beings uprooted from
The celebration of 23 August, International Day for
their land and deported in the most inhuman condi-
the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Aboli-
tions, but it brought about cultural exchanges which
tion, has particular symbolic value this year, 2004,
deeply and lastingly influenced morals and beliefs,
which was proclaimed International Year to Com-
social relations and knowledge on several continents.
memorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Aboli-
[...]
tion by the United Nations General Assembly. The
Beyond these retrospective dimensions, the Day
purpose of the Year is to remind humanity of the fight
aims to sensitize and alert public opinion to the new
of the slaves for freedom, justice and dignity, a fight
trade in human beings, for slavery, although abol-
that led to the independence of Haiti and the procla-
ished and penalized in international instruments, is
mation in 1804 of the first Black republic.
still practised in new forms, that today affect millions
The date of 23 August refers to the insurrection that
of men, women and children across the world.
started in the night of 22 to 23 August 1791 on the
I therefore call on the whole population in all
island of Saint-Domingue (today divided between Haiti
Member States, in particular intellectuals, political,
and the Dominican Republic), led by Toussaint Lou-
religious and community leaders, educators, artists
verture, the first Black major general.The insurrection
and young people, to mark the Day with acts of med-
was to lead to the first decisive victory for slaves against
itation, awareness-raising and exchange about the
their oppressors in the history of humanity.
tragedy of slavery that we cannot forget, and that we
On 23 August 2004, we are thus commemorating
can never again tolerate.
two key events: the revolt of 1791 and its culmination
Source: Message of the director-general of UNESCO. (August 23, 2004). Retrieved
in 1804. September 8, 2004, from http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=22385
The Day gives us the opportunity to reflect together &URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

outside a modern state, and their lifeways had been end of traditions, cultures, and lifeways that had shaped
transformed as they had been forcibly brought into the the lives of most humans throughout the earlier eras of
modern world. Peasant farming—the lifeway of most human history.
women and men throughout the agrarian era—declined
as peasant households were unable to compete with Explaining the Modern
large, industrial agribusinesses or the commercial farm- Revolution
ers of more industrialized countries. By the end of the The key to these momentous changes was a sudden rise
twentieth century peasant farming had vanished in much in the productivity of human labor caused by increasing
of the world. Even where it survived—in much of east rates of innovation. So, to explain modernity we must
Asia and Africa, for example, as well as in much of Latin explain why rates of innovation have risen so fast during
America—it was in decline. These changes marked the the modern era.As yet no general agreement exists on the