Lookman_
Lookman_
Jul 22, 2017 · 2 min read

Also in the Anglo-Saxon world surnames are slave names tying a person to a village or a profession for taxation purposes. We forget slavery in European slavery ended in France in 1780’s and in Russia in the mid C19th. Slavery continued in England until mid C19th where children were sold and often died before reaching adulthood. Women were not emancipated in the UK until 1858 and it took 50 years to get the vote. Despite being, freed employers were legally allowed to beat employees until 1949 and children not until 1999. Only within the last 10 years were women freed from the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland. They had sinned against the church by showing an interest in the opposite sex or having an illegitimate child. They provide great income for the Catholic Church.

It is often thought African slaves got surnames from their masters, but nothing is that simple. At one time Britain populated its colonies by making free people requesting poor law relief into slaves and deporting then to America. The more persons you deported the larger the landowner got as a grant of land. He could include his family and those he bought as slaves from Britain. It does put a different complexion as to why so many Americans fought on the rebel side. It is estimated 50% of White Americans are of slave stock. It is something Americans are careful to forget. First African slaves were used as decoration in America, but the drive of plantations led to joining the Spanish and Portuguese slave trade. For a long time slave markets had both African and European slaves on sale and both were hunted if they escaped. This led to racial mixing. The only evidence I have is from the West Indies where the average Afro-American is 40% European. So a European name may be just a cohabitation name.

Slavery is a feature of European post Roman/ Christian Civilisation and before. It was abolished due to medieval Islamic influence through a process we now call the Enlightenment. In medieval Europe, the Church owned and worked between 30 to 40% of the slave serfs. Slaves are estimated to have been 95% of the population and lived a precarious life. Slaves funded by their labours the consistent warring. Their surnames were tied to villages and professions — unlike many family history researchers believe, their names are from the villages they belong to, not the lords who ruled those villages.

I commend anyone who seeks to change their surname because of identity. It might be a good idea to change Christian names as well, because Western and Russian Christianity has a lot to answer for, since it flattered Dark Age princes to become Christian.

Lookman_

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Lookman_

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