Hey, folks! Today we are going to dive into a disturbing topic that is rarely discussed and mostly left out of history books: Human Zoos. Most of you probably had no idea such a thing existed, and you cannot be blamed for it. It is certainly easier to forget than to remember and to face the shame of this abhorrent practice.
One of the first people to host a human exhibition was a man called P.T. Barnum. Back on August 11th, 1835 in New York City, he displayed a woman, named Joyce Heth. He presented her as “the 161-year-old woman” and claimed she was the former slave of Augustine Washington, George Washington’s father. She was said to have raised and taken care of the future president George Washington. None of these claims were true, but regardless, the exhibition was a huge success and attracted the attention of thousands of people.
Thousands of people from Asia and Africa were put on ships and brought to Europe and the United States to be displayed in human zoos.
Some of the people to be displayed were enslaved, while others were deceived with false promises to board the ships. Needless to say, those promises were under-delivered or were a complete scam.
Once they came to the New World, what awaited them was a recreation of their ‘natural environment’, in which they were made to display their customs and way of life.
The poor living and weather conditions made many of them sick and weak. If one of them died, the body was buried in the zoo’s garden, without the proper ceremony being observed.
Sounds horrible? You haven’t yet heard even half of it.
#humanzoos #history #weirdhistory #slavery #ptbarnum #historychannel
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Abhishek Sharma
Voice-over Artist: Chris Redish
Music: Motionarray.com
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