Slaver's descendant begs forgiveness
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2236871,00.html
Briton apologises to African nation for the exploits of his Elizabethan
ancestor
A DESCENDANT of England
Andrew Hawkins, 37, a youth worker from Liskeard, Cornwall,
offered his apologies during an ethnic festival in the former West African
British colony of The Gambia, as a gesture of reconciliation between Europeans
and Africans. He was forgiven by Isatou Njie Saidy, Vice-President of the
country, which remains a Commonwealth member and is now a popular tourist
destination.
Sir John Hawkins was an Elizabethan privateer and cousin of Sir
Francis Drake. He was the first to kidnap the native African population and
sell them in Europe or America
His descendant travelled to Africa under
the auspices of the Lifeline Expedition, a Christian charity based in southeast
London Greenwich Meridian Eastern Europe .
Mr Hawkins and a group of 20 friends locked themselves in chains
of the type used to imprison slaves. At the festival they knelt down in front
of a large crowd from across Africa and asked to be
forgiven for past sins.
“There was a huge procession of people representing cultural
groups from around Africa ,” Mr Hawkins said on his
return to England
“We made our apology in French, English and German. I apologised
on behalf of my family. I apologised for the adults and children taken. There
was a long pause and we didn’t really know what to expect. They could have
said: ‘We don’t accept your apology. Go away.’ ”
But the Vice-President was in a forgiving mood. “She came forward
and accepted the apology very graciously. She offered her forgiveness and then
came forward and took the chains off. That was entirely impromptu and very
moving,” Mr Hawkins said. “It was one of the most memorable things I have ever
done. You see just how deep the wounds left by the slave trade really are. As
someone with family links to the slave traders, it was a very difficult thing
to see the consequences of their actions.”
During their visit to The Gambia village of Juffureh
“I think they wanted to see an emotional connection from us, and
to see that we had gone there in humility,” Mr Hawkins said. “All I could say
was that we have got to do more listening and learning.”
He believes that not enough is taught about
PROFITABLE TRADE
· Sir John Hawkins
first captured natives of Sierra Leone in 1562 and sold them to Spanish
settlers in the Caribbean
· His cousin Francis
Drake joined him in the trade in 1563
· In 1571 Hawkins was
involved with Philip II of Spain in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth I but
changed sides and informed on his co-conspirators
· Between 1450 and
1850 an estimated 12 million Africans were sold
· At least four
million died from forced marches, disease, beatings or appalling conditions on
ships where they were chained below decks
· Muslim traders
exported at least as many, if not more, African slaves to India, the Middle East
and North Africa between 1500 and 1900
· The US outlawed slavery in 1865. It was
not banned throughout the Americas until Brazil did so in 1888
-------------------
ホーキンズ John Hawkins 1532〜95 イングランドの提督・私掠(しりゃく)船船長。
父はプリマスの大商人で、市長もつとめ、南アメリカへの航海にも従事した。
ホーキンズは1562年、64年、67年と、3度にわたって西アフリカの黒人を西インド諸島にはこんで売る奴隷貿易をおこなった。
イングランドがアメリカにあるスペインの植民地と貿易をおこなうことは、スペインにとっては違法であり、そのためホーキンズは帰国途中の68年、メキシコのベラクルス対岸の港でスペイン艦隊に襲撃された。かろうじて脱出したが、この襲撃は、イングランドとスペインとの戦争がいずれさけられないものであることを明らかにした。
1572年に国会議員となり、その後、海軍主計官に任命されて、造船技術や艤装を改良し、艦隊を増強してスペインとの戦争にそなえた。
88年、ビクトリー号の指揮官として、スペインの無敵艦隊との戦いに参加して功をあげ、ナイトに叙せられた。
95年、ドレークとともに航海についた西インド諸島への遠征中に死亡、ドレークも2カ月後に死去した。
Microsoft(R) Encarta(R)
Reference Library 2003. (C) 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved.
bicentenary
＝bicentennial
【発音】ba`isente'nэri、【変化】《複》bicentenaries、【レベル】9
【形】200年目の、200年続いた、200年記念の、200年ごとの
【名】200年祭