|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Slatting
| Морской словарь |
The flapping of sails when a vessel is almost becalmed.
|
|
|
Slave trade, английский
Holding human beings as property has been a worldwide phenomenon for as long as humankind has been “civilized.” for centuries, african kings, chiefs, and warlords captured members of rival tribes and sold them into slavery—northward across the sahara desert, southward through the red sea, and eastward over the indian ocean. then, in the fifteenth century, a westward route opened up to provide cheap labor for portuguese plantations in the atlantic islands (especially madeira which became the largest sugar producer in the western world). after they colonized brazil (1500) the portuguese increased their purchases of african slaves, operating essentially as a state monopoly. by contrast, the spanish introduced the “asiento” system which retained government control of the trade, but gave individual merchants exclusive licenses to import slaves into the south american colonies. late in 1562, english captain john hawkins bought 300 slaves in west africa and carried them to the west indies where he traded them for hides, ginger, sugar, and pearls, making a profit of 12 percent on his investment. other european countries were building slavedependent colonial empires in north america and the caribbean and soon denmark, france, the netherlands, and sweden joined portugal and spain as britain’s competitors for the inhumane but profitable trade. their burgeoning requirements changed trans– atlantic slave traffic from government monopolies to private enterprise and turned the trade from a steady flow into a virtual torrent, beginning the worst and longest-lasting maritime crime against humanity (see middle passage and triangular trade). finally, after almost two-and-a-half centuries, the british realized (in the words of prime minister william grenville) that the trade was “contrary to the principles of justice, humanity and sound policy” and parliament passed a bill to abolish the purchase and sale of slaves (but not the institution of slavery itself ). a special squadron of the royal navy was charged with enforcing the act, under which british vessels caught transporting slaves were fined ?100 per head— amounting to as much as ?70,000 for a full load— this was such a substantial amount in the early 19th century that most slaver captains ordered their krumen to throw the iron-fettered slaves overboard as soon as a naval vessel hove into view (without evidence, there was no fine). finally, in 1833 britain outlawed slavery throughout its empire, but it was decades before other european nations followed suit. the united states abolished the slave trade in march 1807, but illegal importation continued overland, while ships continued to smuggle slaves into the south. in 1820, congress passed a law making participation in the trade an act of piracy, punishable by death, but it was not strongly enforced. the british then asked for american cooperation in search and seizure, but congress opposed this, not out of desire to continue the trade, but to preserve the principle of freedom of the seas. this u.s. refusal to enforce its own laws or cooperate with other nations allowed the slave trade to continue, and it was not until ratification of the thirteenth amendment on december 18, 1865, that it finally ended. the last atlantic country to ban the trade was brazil in 1888. however, the practice continues to the present day; see human trafficking.
Sky pilot, английский
Naval slang for a chaplain (see holy joe, sin bosun, padre).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
