Dueling Slave Trade Resolutions

• H.Res. 158
• H.Res. 272
  

H.Res. 158: Encouraging the people of the United States, particularly the youth of the United States, to observe the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade and remember the life and legacy of William Wilberforce, a member of the British House of Commons who devoted his life to the suppression and abolition of the institution of slavery, and to work for the protection of human rights throughout the world.

May 1, 2007.

Whereas in 1780, William Wilberforce was elected at the age of 21 years to the British House of Commons;

Whereas Mr. Wilberforce and his friends were active in at least 69 different projects focusing on issues such as prison reform, education, child labor conditions, animal cruelty, and the reformation of the culture;

Whereas Mr. Wilberforce was mentored and counseled by former slave trader and author of the hymn `Amazing Grace', John Newton, on the horrors of the slave trade;

Whereas at the time, 11 million human beings had been captured and taken from Africa to the Western hemisphere and forced into slavery and bondage;

Whereas at the time, the British Empire controlled the largest portion of the slave trade;

Whereas Mr. Wilberforce devoted his life to the suppression and abolition of the institution of slavery;

Whereas a dedicated group of like-minded reformers, the Clapham group, assisted, supported, and encouraged Mr. Wilberforce in his fight against the slave trade;

Whereas Mr. Wilberforce fought for 20 years in the House of Commons to pass legislation banning the slave trade;

Whereas on February 23, 1807, Britain passed a bill banning the slave trade;

Whereas Mr. Wilberforce helped inspire and encourage those who fought against slavery in the United States, including political leaders like John Quincy Adams, spreading a message of hope and freedom throughout America and the promise of the future;

Whereas Mr. Wilberforce labored 46 years to abolish the institution of slavery in the British Empire, ceaselessly defending those without a voice within society;

Whereas in 1833, Mr. Wilberforce was informed on his death bed that the House of Commons had voted to abolish slavery;

Whereas in 2006, the United States Department of State estimated that between 600,000 and 800,000 men, women, and children were trafficked across international borders;

Whereas the International Labour Organization estimates that there are more than 12 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude around the world; and

Whereas the people of the United States, particularly the youth of the United States, are called upon to form clubs and groups dedicated to working against the modern slave trade, human trafficking, and the degradation of human dignity: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) commends to the people of the United States the example of William Wilberforce and his commitment to each and every person's human dignity, value, and freedom in observation of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade;

(2) encourages the people of the United States, particularly the youth of the United States, to--

(A) observe the anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade;

(B) reflect on Mr. Wilberforce's selfless dedication to the fight against slavery and his commitment to the neediest in society;

(C) commit themselves to recognize the value of every person and to work actively against slavery in all its forms;

(D) work to educate themselves and others to recognize that individuals who are subject to slavery and human trafficking are victims of those who traffick such individuals; and

(E) form high school clubs and groups working against modern day slavery and the trafficking of persons; and

(3) condemns to the highest degree all forms of human trafficking and slavery which are an assault on human dignity and of which Mr. Wilberforce would steadfastly resist.

H.Res. 272: Commemorating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade

May 1, 2007.

Whereas the United Kingdom outlawed slavery in 1807, recognizing that `the African Slave Trade, and all manner of dealing and trading in the Purchase, Sale, Barter, or Transfer of Slaves, or of Persons intended to be sold, transferred, used, or dealt with as Slaves, practiced or carried on, in, at, to or from any Part of the Coast or Countries of Africa, shall be, and the same is hereby utterly abolished, prohibited, and declared to be unlawful';

Whereas the transatlantic slave trade was the capture and procurement of Africans, mostly from West Africa, to the United States and the colonies that became the United States for the purpose of enslavement between the fifteenth and late nineteenth centuries;

Whereas the Middle Passage was the forced migration through overseas transport of millions of Africans to the Americas, many of whom suffered abuses of rape and perished as a result of torture, malnutrition, disease and resistance in transit and those who survived were sold into slavery;

Whereas during the transatlantic slave trade more than 12,000,000 Africans were transported in bondage from their African homelands to the Americas, and those born in the Americas estimating 1,200,000 men, women, and children who were displaced in the forced migration that was the domestic slave trade;

Whereas it is important to acknowledge that as a result of the slave trade, approximately 80,000,000 to 150,000,000 persons of African descent live in Latin America and the Caribbean, making them the largest population of persons of African descent outside of Africa;

Whereas the transatlantic slave trade is characterized as the largest forced migration in world history;

Whereas Africans' resistance to the transatlantic slave trade culminated in revolts--collective acts of rebellion--against slave ships and their crews during the Middle Passage and on the colonial plantations;

Whereas the institution of slavery which enslaved Africans, their progeny and later generations for life was constitutionally and statutorily sanctioned by the Government of the United States from 1789 through 1865;

Whereas slavery in the United States during and after British colonial rule included the sale and acquisition of Africans as chattel property in interstate and intrastate commerce;

Whereas the General Assembly of Virginia passed in 1619 `an act declaring the Negro, Mulatto, . . . slaves within this dominion, to be real estate and shall descend unto the heirs and widows of persons departing this life, according to the manner and custom of land of inheritance';

Whereas the Great Compromise of 1787, a compromise under which representation in the House of Representatives would be based on the population of each State, prompted the Three-Fifths Compromise, a compromise between the Northern and Southern States under which only three-fifths of the population of enslaved Africans would be counted for purposes of enumerating a State's representation in the House of Representatives;

Whereas the slavery that flourished in the United States constituted an immoral and inhumane dispossession of Africans' life, liberty, and citizenship rights and denied them the fruits of their own labor;

Whereas the treatment of enslaved Africans in the colonies and the United States included the deprivation of their freedom, exploitation of their labor, psychological and physical abuse, and destruction of their culture, language, religion, and families;

Whereas the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, declared the slave trade and slavery a crime against humanity;

Whereas the slave trade and the legacy of slavery continue to have a profound impact on social and economic disparity, hatred, bias, racism, and discrimination, and continue to affect people of African descent today; and

Whereas March 25, 2007, marks the 200th anniversary of the Slave Trade Abolition Act enacted by the British Parliament: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) recognizes the historical significance of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade to the world;

(2) respects the memory of those who died as a result of slavery, including through exposure to the horrors of the Middle Passage and in revolt against and resistance to enslavement; and

(3) should educate current and future generations about this crime against humanity by honoring its significance in United States history with appropriate programs and activities.