120 / This Is America / Gerald Horne

Prolific author and historian Dr. Gerald Horne joined me to discuss his recently published book, The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism in 17th Century North America and the Caribbean.  In the 17th century, major European powers were undergoing massive colonization projects on the North and South American continents, resulting in mass genocide and enslavement of countless indigenous peoples. Simultaneously during this same period, millions of Africans were kidnapped from their respective homelands, transported across the vast Atlantic Ocean, and then sold for staggeringly high profits, resulting in one the most economically profitable periods—for the major European powers involved—in human history.  In this conversation, we explore how these monumentally disruptive events in the 17th century informed the initial formation and development of capitalism as the dominant socio-economic system of our time. Also, we explore the socially constructed and institutionally enforced concept of race, and how the historical development of both of these concepts, capitalism and race, are inextricably connected to the "apocalypse of settler colonialism" that arrived on the shores of the American and African continents during this time period. // Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/gerald-horne // Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness // Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast