{"product_id":"the-queens-slave-trader-john-hawkyns-elizabeth-i-and-the-trafficking-in-human-souls-9780066210896","title":"The Queen's Slave Trader: John Hawkyns  Elizabeth I  and the Trafficking in Human Souls","description":"\u003cp\u003eThroughout history  blame for the introduction of slavery to America has been squarely placed upon the male slave traders who ravaged African villages  the merchants who auctioned off humans as if they were cattle  and the male slave owners who ruthlessly beat both the spirits and the bodies of their helpless victims. There is  however  above all these men  another person who has seemingly been able to avoid the blame that is due her. The origins of the English slave trade -- the result of which is often described as Americas shame -- can actually be traced back to a woman  Englands Queen Elizabeth I. In The Queens Slave Trader  historian Nick Hazlewood examines one of the roots of slavery that until now has been overlooked. It was not just the money-hungry Dutch businessmen who traded lives for gold  forever changing the course of American and world history  but the Virgin Queen  praised for her love of music  art  and literature  who put hundreds of African men  women  and children onto American soil. During the 1560s  on direct orders from Her Majesty  John Hawkyns set sail from England. His destination: West Africa. His mission: to capture humans. At the time  Elizabeth was encouraging a Renaissance in her kingdom. Yet  being the intelligent monarch that she was  the queen knew her countrys economy could not finance the dreams she had for it. An early entrepreneur  she saw an open market before her and sent one of her most trusted naval commanders  Hawkyns  to ensure a steady stream of wealth to sustain all the beauty that was her passion. Like his fellow Englishmen  Hawkyns believed the African peoples dark skin stood for evil  filth  barbarity -- the complete opposite of the English notion of beauty  a lily white complexion and a virtuous soul  as exemplified by the queen. To him it was simple. If the white English were civilized and pure  the dark Africans must be savage. It was a moral license for Hawkyns to capture Africans. After landing on the African coast  he used a series of brutal raids  violent beatings  and sheer terror to load his ships. The reward for those who survived the attacks: seven weeks chained together in a space not meant for human beings  smallpox and measles  dehydration and malnourishment. Hawkyns realized the cruelty inflicted on these people  and he hoped they would survive. After all  a dead African was a dent in his profit margin. John Hawkyns was the first English slave trader  and his actions and attitudes toward his cargo set the precedent for how those following him  over the next two hundred years  would act. To fully understand the mind-set of the men who made their living trafficking human souls  one needs to look at the man who began it all -- and the woman behind him.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45953233813557,"sku":"ByrdShop_0066210895","price":43.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780066210896.jpg?v=1788182488","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-queens-slave-trader-john-hawkyns-elizabeth-i-and-the-trafficking-in-human-souls-9780066210896","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}