Compensation for the years of slavery


Oscars looming, awarding gold-plated statues of the American Academy of Film. There will be tears of gratitude and confused speech are moved by artists who received this highest recognition.
Now recognize not that, say, 40 years ago. Changing fashion accents. For example, 9 nominations received picture "12 Years a Slave," the story of a free Solomon Nordupa, enslaved in 1841.
Journalists remembered that two years ago found a letter, first published in the newspaper "New York Daily Tribune" in 1865.
In the last months of the Civil War Northern troops freed the slaves on a plantation in the state of Tennessee. Among them was Jordon Anderson, who worked there since childhood.
A few years later, when he settled in Ohio, Jordon received a letter from his former owner, Colonel Patrick Henry Anderson, whose name he bore, as was born as his property.

The colonel offered to come back and work on plantations, as when it only for a fee.

Jordon was illiterate, but he dictated his answer to Colonel and sent him a letter.

"I got a good idea - wrote Colonel its former slave - get 25 dollars a month. In 1864, in the Department of Nashville I got the paper and became free. My wife Mandi afraid to return, she would like some proof of the sincerity of your intentions - namely, the salary for the time that we have worked with. This would help to forgive him and to live in justice and friendship.

I served you faithfully for 32 years old, Mandi - 20 years. At the rate of 25 dollars a month for me and two dollars a week for Mandy, our salaries would amount to 11,680 dollars. To this must be added the interest came running over the years and deduct the cost of clothes, three call a doctor for me and tooth extraction in Mandi.

I hope that God opened your eyes to the truth that you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, making us free toil for you for generations. "

End quote.

The idea of ​​compensation, which seemed blackish humor in the 19th century, a century seemed so strange not. America has paid reparations to the Japanese, interned during the war, Germany has made billions of marks Holocaust victims, even the American Indians, "First Nation" compensated past infringement.

The question of compensation for former slaves is not worth it, if only because it is not clear - who is to blame. Slave owners, slave traders, dealers-Arabs from the slave markets of Africa or those who supplied them with slave product?

However, for the interest they estimated how much it needs money. Calculate that between 1619 year, the beginning of slavery, and in 1865, when it was canceled, the amount of forced labor amounted to 222 million, 49 505 000 man-hours.

Based on current average prices, plus compound interest at 6 per cent per year, this compensation would have been worth more than $ 100 trillion.

This is 20 times more than all the cash money on the ground.

I would suggest to count how many earned on the labor of serfs in Russia.

Understand - what alienated surplus value hangs over the country.
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