Episode

5/20 How New York Helped Keep the Slave Trade Thriving Before the Civil War w/ Jonathan Daniel Wells

May 20, 2021

Emma hosts today’s Majority Report, featuring an interview Sam recorded with Jonathan Daniel Wells, University of Michigan Professor of History, on his latest book “The Kidnapping Club: Wall Street, Slavery, and Resistance on the Eve of the Civil War.” They explore slavery’s deep ties to the financial centers of the North, NYC in particular, even after slavery laws began to change. Centering on the southern ties of Wall Street and Tammany Hall, Jonathan and Sam talk about the horrors of the Kidnapping Club, a collection of NY Police, Judges, Slave Catchers and US Marshals who trafficked free Black folk from the North into Southern captivity regardless of fugitive status, and how Black abolitionists such as David Ruggles fought and organized to push back against their reign of terror. Next, Emma reviews Tim Ryan’s passionate performance on the floor, and how he found a way to be stunned by Republicans’ refusal to engage in bipartisanship over January 6th and climate change and looks into Ted Cruz’s claim that Biden is sabotaging Netanyahu’s apartheid regime by… selling them $700 million in arms.

And in the Fun Half: Dave from Jamaica calls in to chat about the success of right-wing Israeli propaganda before Fox’s Katie Pavlich and Dan Bongino give us some perfect examples of what he was talking about, forcing Geraldo Rivera of all people into the anti-War Crime camp. Emma and Matt dig into the tired “human shield” excuse for Israeli slaughter, and how refusing Palestinians any chance of self-governance or freedom has engendered Hamas’s control of the region. Then, Andrew Giuliani fudges his political resume, citing the first decade of his life as central to his time spent in politics, and the Cuomos show off their own take on NY political dynasties, plus, your calls and IMs!

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