The myth of Irish slavery

The "proclamation that Irish slavery in America was as widespread as African slavery" is totally, even laughably untrue.


Something like 12.5 million Africans were transported in bondage from roughly Columbus through the 19th century. While bonded Irish labor was not unknown in the Americas, it was nowhere near as widespread as African slavery. Moreover, historians over the past two generations (roughly) have found in studying both African slaves and European indentures that it really doesn't make sense to think of Irish or other Europeans working in the Americas, even those in some sort of bonded arrangement, as "slaves." There are major categorical differences: indentures, even Irish political prisoners, had some kind of legal identity, while African slaves largely did not, and the large bulk of indentured servants received land or at least their freedom after a period of service; slaves obviously did not. This is true of convicts as well. They also did not pass their slave status on to their children, while the racialization of African slavery meant that the children of African slaves were also slaves.

As for the statement: "None" of these Irish "slaves" made it back. What? Not a single one? That's pretty ridiculous, since plenty of actual African slaves made it to Europe (Olaudah Equiano, for example). While it is difficult to prove that something did not happen, I think you would find absolutely no support in the professional historical literature for things like the deliberate breeding of Irish women and African men to produce certain skin tones. So, overall, things like this are basically bullshit.