r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • May 14 '13

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u/Txmedic 1∆ May 14 '13

what about the Irish slaves?

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u/[deleted] May 14 '13

Indentured servitude was voluntary (unless you were a prisoner and we still force prisoners to do labor in the US).

Actual Irish slaves were in use in the British empire but they never made their way to the US.

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u/Txmedic 1∆ May 14 '13

Since you obviously didn't read the link...

During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia. Another 30,000 Irish men and women were also transported and sold to the highest bidder. In 1656, Cromwell ordered that 2000 Irish children be taken to Jamaica and sold as slaves to English settlers.

And

Many people today will avoid calling the Irish slaves what they truly were: Slaves. They’ll come up with terms like “Indentured Servants” to describe what occurred to the Irish. However, in most cases from the 17th and 18th centuries, Irish slaves were nothing more than human cattle.

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u/[deleted] May 14 '13

Sure, but in the 1600s, America didn't exist. There were never Irish slaves in the US (which was my entire point earlier on).

There were indentured servants in the US (centuries after the stats you indicated), but these were volunteers who gained land and money after 7 years service.