Scientific Revolution, another decisive proof of intense importance of intellectual health, part I

In our last edition, we highlighted the titanic importance of intellectual health.? The latter one, like several other fields, is so vast that it consists of various vital sub-areas like curiosity, creativity and cognitive abilities, among others. As promised in the last article and even highlighted by the headline, we are going to avail ourselves of the Scientific Revolution for us to again demonstrate the gargantuan importance of intellectual health. The Scientific Revolution rests upon those sub-areas. ?We use very strong words –such as titanic-to describe the field, especially because it actually deserves to be treated so, as you will also observe it yourself. We often utilize such words in our articles, though we are aware that they need to be used sparingly.

Yet we do so, while we are attempting to describe amazing or marvelous fields that really need such words trying to convey the message which attempts to match intensity or importance that these fields carry. Thus, the Scientific Revolution belongs in that category of amazing things which our world has experienced. As you will see, there occurred a bestial incident which the current astounding knowledge advancements in various fields couldn’t have allowed, though these achievements also pose a threat to the humanity. But, we won’t address the latter point. Meanwhile, one part of the incident is estimated to have inhumanly afflicted 10 to 12 million people including 2 million ones estimated to have died of it, as you will also learn more about it.? The Scientific Revolution has contributed to ending that phenomenon.

A study entitled “Quantifying the scientific revolution” and published online by the National Institutes of Health on 2023 April 13 reads “The Scientific Revolution represents a turning point in the history of humanity. In the space of a few decades, it transformed the nature of knowledge and the capacities of humankind (Cohen,?2012; Mokyr,?2016; Wootton,?2015).'Without it', writes historian of science David Wootton, 'there would have been no Industrial Revolution and none of the modern technologies on which we depend;?human life would be drastically poorer and shorter and most of us would live lives of unremitting toil' (Wootton, 2015).”

The deep meaning of lives of unremitting toil, as raised by Wotton

First, unremitting toil signifies continual or incessant exhausting work or labor. In its article titled ?“What has science done for you lately?” the University of California- Berkley first starts, answering the title question by saying “Plenty”, before adding “If you think?science?doesn’t matter much to you, think again. Science affects us all, every day of the year, from the moment we wake up, all day long, and through the night.

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Your digital alarm clock, the weather report, the asphalt you drive on, the bus you ride in, your decision to eat a baked potato instead of fries, your cell phone, the antibiotics that treat your sore throat, the clean water that comes from your faucet, and the light that you turn off at the end of the day have all been brought to you courtesy of science. The modern world would not be modern at all without the understandings and?technology?enabled by science.”

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Just for starters, as this university highlights, without modern science; for example, there would be no way to use electricity.?“From Ben Franklin’s studies of static and lightning in the 1700s, to Alessandro Volta’s first battery, to the key discovery of the relationship between electricity and magnetism, science has steadily built up our understanding of electricity, which today carries our voices over telephone lines, brings entertainment to our televisions, and keeps the lights on.”

Consequences of the lack of electricity can engender disastrous consequences in healthcare institutions. This is corroborated by a 24 October 2019 article by the BBC. The article focuses on the case of Venezuela which faced a five-day nationwide blackout at the beginning of the year.

The article reads "There was nothing the doctors could do. In almost total darkness, broken only by the beam of a couple of torches and the glow from their mobile phones, the hospital staff watched helplessly as their patient died in front of them. The elderly woman was suffering a blood clot in her lungs – a common, but life-threatening problem that can be treated with the right drugs and equipment.?

Everything the doctors needed to save the woman – including a mechanical ventilator – was tantalisingly close, in the intensive care unit several floors below. But with no power in the nine-floor hospital in Maracay, northern Venezuela, they had no way to reach it. Without electricity the lifts did not work. It was a situation being played out in hospitals dotted all over Venezuela in March. Unprepared for the sudden loss of power, back-up generators in some hospitals failed. By the end of the five days an estimated 26 people had died in the country’s hospitals as a result of the power outage"

This renowned medium adds that besides these deaths were stories of pregnant women who birthed babies in dark hospital wards. Doctors such as surgeons were then obliged to to conduct healthcare by means of mobile phones employed as torches. It means that surgeons performed operations by means of their telephones.

?Negative event which couldn’t have occurred on our planet

That is slavery. In this article we are going to concentrate on the transatlantic slave trade also referred to as Black People Slave Trade. It constitutes a segment of the global?slave trade?which carried between 10 million and 12 million enslaved Africans across the?Atlantic Ocean?to the Americas from the 16th century to the 19th one.

According to Getty Images, the above slave ship was engaged in illegal slave trade and was seized in 1838 by a lieutenant in the British Royal Navy who painted this scene from the ship. "He captured the trauma of the Middle Passage in images of malnutrition and overcrowding," says Getty Images.

In the 1480s, Portuguese?ships were already taking Africans to be used as enslaved laborers on? sugar plantations in the?Cape Verde?and?Madeira?islands in the eastern Atlantic.

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Spanish?conquistadors transported enslaved Africans to the Caribbean after 1502. Yet, Portuguese?traders?continued to dominate the transatlantic slave trade for another century and a half. They operated from their bases in the Congo-Angola area along the west coast of Africa.? Conquistadors are the sixteenth-century Spanish conquerors of Central and?South?America.

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Meanwhile, the Dutch?stood as the leading traders of enslaved people during the 1600s. English?and?French?traders dominated about half of the transatlantic slave trade? in the following century. They then carried a large percentage of their human cargo from the region of?West Africa?between?Sénégal?and?Niger?rivers. An agreement reached between Spain and Britain in 1713 furnished the British a monopoly on the trade of enslaved people with the Spanish colonies.?

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“The slave trade had devastating effects in Africa. Economic?incentives?for warlords and tribes to engage in the trade of enslaved people promoted an atmosphere of lawlessness and violence. Depopulation and a continuing fear of captivity made economic and agricultural development almost impossible throughout much of western Africa.

A large percentage of the people taken captive were women in their childbearing years and young men who normally would have been starting families. The European enslavers usually left behind persons who were elderly, disabled, or otherwise dependent—groups who were least able to contribute to the economic health of their societies,” says Britannica.

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Bestial and unspeakable treatment of the slaves

Britannica “The Atlantic passage, or?Middle Passage, usually to Brazil or an island in the Caribbean, was?notorious?for its brutality and for the overcrowded unsanitary conditions on slave ships, in which hundreds of Africans were packed tightly into tiers below decks for a voyage of about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) that could last from a few weeks to several months.

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They were typically chained together, and usually the low ceilings did not permit them to sit upright. The heat was intolerable, and the oxygen levels became so low that candles would not burn. Because crews feared insurrection, the Africans were allowed to go outside on the upper decks for only a few hours each day. Historians estimate that between 15 and 25 percent of the enslaved Africans bound for the Americas died aboard slave ships.

Atrocities and?sexual abuse?of the enslaved captives were widespread, although their?monetary?value as slaves perhaps?mitigated?such treatment. Ship captains could not ignore the health of their human cargo, because they were paid only for enslaved persons delivered alive.”

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Women and the American Story [WAMS] constitutes the key education initiative of the New-York Historical Society’s?Center for Women’s History. The latter one in the walls of a museum is?an institution dedicated to exploring and preserving the history and contributions of women in shaping the American experience. WAMS specifies “Records indicate that over two million people were forcibly transported across the Atlantic between 1500 and 1700. Only 1.7 million survived the journey. The horrors of the Middle Passage are well-documented.

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Cramped conditions, lack of food and water, widespread disease, and abuse at the hands of captors all led to a high mortality rate. But traditional historical narratives tend to leave out the specific horrors faced by female captives.? Women and girls were raped by crew members. Pregnant women received no medical care, and most women who went into labor aboard slave ships died.”

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Even ship captains and their crew members involved in the trade of enslaved people also sometimes died. For example, it arose an infamous incident on the slave ship?Zong?in 1781. Then, a contagious disease was killing both Africans and crew members. Capt. Luke Collingwood in a bid to halt the disease, ordered that more than 130 Africans be thrown into the Atlantic Ocean.

Some African captives sometimes managed to revolt and control the ships. The most famous incident happened in 1839. The slave,?Joseph Cinqué, then?ran a mutiny of 53 enslaved people bought illegally on the Spanish slave ship,?Amistad. They killed the captain and two members of the crew.

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The Bill of Rights Institute constitutes a nonprofit organization in the United States, whose mission is to educate individuals about the U.S. Constitution and the fundamental principles of American liberty. It states “After all, the business of slavery had existed in Africa and been controlled by the African elite since the seventh century. Some historians estimate that, before the arrival of the Europeans in the fifteenth century, Africans had sold upward of eleven million slaves to the Islamic world.

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When the Portuguese arrived on the coast of Africa, African merchants and rulers were more than happy to exchange enslaved Africans for various commodities. In other words, Europeans simply accessed the preexisting systems of slave trading and provided a new means of transport across the Atlantic to the Americas. The discovery of the Americas and the increased demand for the labor-intensive production of sugar led to an increased European demand for slaves, and Africa provided the perfect solution.”

This organization describes the process under which the traders conducted this ignoble business. It says that during the purchasing process, the crew outfitted the boat for its trans-Atlantic trip. It adds that they installed planks in the storage hold where to keep the slaves, and nets around the deck to stop them from escaping or committing suicide. “Enslaved people spent the hellish voyage across the Atlantic Ocean shackled together in the cramped, dark, and foul confines below deck. Approximately 10 to 15 percent of the 12 million Africans in the slave trade – more than one million people – died on the voyage of disease, mistreatment, or suicide."

"Known as the “Middle Passage” of the triangular trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, the ordeal took one to two months. After arriving in the Americas, the captain would sell his slaves for local goods including cotton, rum, sugar, dyes, and logwood. These goods would then be transported back to Europe for sale. Although European and African slavers saw the slave trade as beneficial and lucrative, the Africans who had been kidnapped and enslaved suffered inhumane exploitation, mistreatment, and denial of the fundamental individual rights to life, liberty, and ownership of their labor and themselves.”

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Once purchased and taken from Africa, slaves were taken to different destinations. A small portion went to Europe while virtually a third of slaves were carried to Brazil. The latter country got over four million slaves to be employed on its several sugar plantations, to mine and pan for gold, and eventually to grow coffee.

According to New Hampshire Historical Society, that photographic print of the U.S.S. Vermont includes "a group of 'contrabands', former slaves that were not yet citizens, standing and sitting on the deck." The society says that the image was taken by Henry P. Moore in Port Royal, SC, between 1862 and 1863.

During the American Civil War [1861 – 1865], a contraband was a Black slave captured by the Union forces or one who escaped to the Union lines. In fact, the term was commonly employed in the US military during the war, to describe a new status for certain people who escaped slavery or those who joined Union forces. The North was known as the Union in this war. The North defeated the South which was known as the Confederacy: the Southern states. The cause of the Civil War was slavery where the Union fought to maintain the nation together. Additional information around the cause is furnished at the end of the next section.

Role of the Scientific Revolution in ending the atrocious trade

Bill of Rights Institute first states “It is important to view slavery and its deep history not as a “white” versus “black” racial issue, but as a longstanding example of “us” versus “them” exploitation. Slavery has existed in various forms since at least ancient times and throughout many world cultures.

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Before the Industrial Revolution, the invention of advanced labor-saving technology, and the development of markets for free labor, forced or coerced human labor was used by civilizations from Sumeria, Egypt, and Greece to Rome, and eventually African and European nations. Cultures and nations routinely used other cultures and nations deemed different or inferior as sources of slaves. In other words, European and African involvement in a slave trade was just one link in an already long chain of examples”.

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The bold phrase already implies that the Scientific Revolution through the Industrial Revolution has played a key role in eliminating the intensely despicable trade. In other words, it is the Industrial Revolution which has contributed directly The Industrial Revolution couldn’t have materialized, without the Scientific Revolution. In this regard, both Scientific Revolution and Industrial Revolution are intellectual health’s child and grand-child respectively.

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While mentioning some other factors which have led to the abolition of the immensely appalling trade, the BBC says that the Industrial Revolution has fulfilled a major role in ending it. “William Wilberforce became a leading abolitionist, tirelessly lobbying public opinion and parliament. Abolitionists also got involved in?the Resettlement of Freed Slaves?in Africa.

There were a number factors which hastened the end of slavery:?the industrial revolution in Britain brought a new demand for efficiency, free trade and free labour; all this was out of step with slavery. Britain's ties with America were loosened when she lost her colonies in the American war of independence in 1776.”

We don’t believe that there is a person who can argue that such slavery or tragedy can happen again today. In the past, the Africans were enslaved to work in sugar and coffee plantations especially, and mining activities, among others but nowadays there abound technologies accomplishing the work of so numerous humans. Today a question which most people entertain is that technologies will dispossess humans of jobs, but there actually arises no need to enslave people to work in plantations or other professions.

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For example, robots and artificial intelligence complete jobs which humans usually occupy. For instance, there are robots which work in warehouses, in restaurants, and grocery stores. All this conspires to worry people.

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Nevertheless, there are people who reject this worry. One of them is Dr. Yosef Sheffi, an MIT engineering professor and author of "The Magic Conveyor Belt", a book that studies AI and the future of work. According to a 9th May 2023 story by CBS News, he said “The fear is unjustified.”

In this article Dr. Sheffi points out that new technology always creates workplace concerns, but that it always produces more jobs. He furnishes an example of the early 1900's when Ford created the first moving assembly line. CBS News says that fewer workers were needed. But, Dr. Sheffi said, "Cars became less expensive, people started driving, we started having highways, hotels, motels, restaurants. The whole hospitality industry developed. Millions of jobs!"

One tractor in the farming sector performs the work of numerous people. For instance, the University of Wisconsin-Madison says “Large and extremely heavy stationary steam engines transformed many industries and allowed a single machine to do the work of several hundred people or animals.”

We have already said that slavery constitutes the cause of the American Civil War. These details explain it.

The war was waged between the United States and 11 Southern states- such as South Carolina, Alabama and Florida- which seceded from the Union, to create the Confederate States of America.

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The economy of the Northern states was being quickly modernized and diversified during the period from 1815 to 1861. Industrialization had been established in the North. Besides, the North had invested immensely in an a robust transportation system which consisted of canals, roads, steamboats, and railroads. The North then owned financial industries like banking and insurance. It also possessed a large communications network which enabled newspapers, and magazines to function inexpensively and smoothly. The North had also developed the field of book authoring, along with the telegraph.

However, the Southern economy was mainly founded on large farms growing commercial crops. It signifies that that the South depended on slaves to work on the farms. Instead of investing in factories and railroads like the North, the South injected their money in slaves. A very stunning point is that the Southern states invested more in slaves than in land.

So, while the Northern states were determined to abolish slavery, especially since they no longer needed it, the Southern states were shocked by the determination; which then resulted in the war.

By Jean Baptiste Ndabananiye- Media, Empowerment& MBA.

Management and Journalism Professional/Consultant with a demonstrated history/experience of involvement in women’s empowerment, project/program management, peace-building/conflict transformation, training, public awareness campaigns, governance and budget transparency, advocacy, documentation, the broadcast media industry, and community justice, among others.

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He is skilled, among others, in English and French, Project& Program Management, Media Production, Peace-building, Leadership, Advocacy, and Kinyarwanda- English-French Translation, and Mind-Body Connection and its Link with Health through extensive reading and investigation about these two fields as well as Health Reporting and Communication. Strong management, media and communication professional with a Bachelor's and Master's focused in Journalism& Communication and MBA-Project Management respectively from University of Rwanda and Mount Kenya University.

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