Reply #137: You are woefully ignorant of the facts.

[Jara sang]

The slaves were the economy. You could trade them like you could trade gold. You seem to ignore the interwoven tapestry of the global economy from 1492 to the late 18th century. First of all the Spanish intent was to use "Indians" as forced labor. However the Europeans introduced diseases to the Indians which wiped out their labor base. This forced the Spanish and later other European nations to turn to Africa as their source for labor. How can you honestly believe that slaves didn't contribute to the wealth of the European colonies and later the U.S.? Every single facade of the economy involved slavery, sure the North abolished slavery however, they still imported cotton for their textile mills, that was supporting slavery and those mills were opperating only becuse their was slave labor. Everything in the ecomy back then was tied to slavery, everything. You don't think it was genocide? What would you call it then? Not genocide? Tell that to this guy: