Captain Banana is the second Tordenskjold Pirate – and a drink. The main association is the infamous trafficking of thralls between America, Africa and Europe. As mentioned, Tordenskjold started out as a 15 years old ships boy on Christianus Quintus (Christian IV), a large 90 gun ship, that was used as a ‘slave-ship’ to the Caribbean. However, present public history over-focus on the African trafficking to the Virgin Islands, - despite the fact that the Arabians always have dominated that inhuman business. Similarly, that particular murky thralldom is called ‘slavery’ despite the fact that no Slavs were in bondage. Anyways, that illegal ‘pirate’ enterprise caused the whole Dan-nor colonial culture to literally go bananas.
Once again the article ‘A Brief History of the Danish West Indies’ is cited for historical backgrounds. “It had turned out that the (native) Indians were not suitable for the hard work in the plantations, and it was almost impossible to persuade Danes to go to the West Indies in order to work. Therefore, like in the rest of the Americas, Negro slaves were imported from Africa. The so-called Middle Passage from Africa across the Atlantic was terrifying to the slaves, conditions onboard were dreadful and the mortality high. (For example, the ship) Fredensborg took 265 Negro slaves onboard in Africa, 24 of whom died on route across the Atlantic. Conditions for the enslaved Africans in the West Indies were harsh.”
“Many slaves tried to escape from their masters into the bush, they went maroon. An everlasting source for anxiety among the white population was the imbalance between the number of free and the number of slaves. Thus, on Saint Thomas in 1725 there lived 324 whites as opposed to 4,490 blacks. The proportion was the same in Saint Jan (today’s St. John) where a slave rebellion took place in 1733. The small Danish garrison was killed together with many other whites, while many plantation buildings and sugar fields were burned or destroyed. Most of the rest of the white inhabitants fled from the island, which was under control of the slaves for almost a year, until they were killed or defeated and thereupon strongly punished. Although the slave trade was abolished in 1803, slavery itself was not abolished until 1848, after several mass slave escapes to the free British islands and an ensuing slave protest.”
“The Danish Virgin Islands were also used as a base for pirates. The British and Dutch settlers became the largest non-slave groups on the islands. Their languages predominated, so much so that the Danish government, in 1839, declared that slave children must attend school in the English language. The colony reached its largest population in the 1840–50s, after which an economic downturn increased emigration and the population dropped, a trend that continued until after the islands' purchase by the United States. The Danish West Indies had 34,000 inhabitants in 1880.”
It seems that the agenda for the Virgin Islands was altered to something that the Dane-Nor settlers would not be involved in. The business changed from farming animals to farming humans. These events also indicates why the calypso music and culture change to the rebellious reggae (see the previous UU 2016.jan.15).
Additionally, from Wikipedia. “Laws and regulations in the Danish West Indies were based on Denmark's laws, but the local government was allowed to adapt them to match local conditions. For example, things like animals, land, and buildings were regulated according to Danish law, but Danish law did not regulate slavery. Slaves were treated as common property, and therefore did not necessitate specific laws. In 1733, differentiation between slaves and other property was implied by a regulation that stated that slaves had their own will and thus could behave inappropriately or be disobedient. The regulation also stated that the authorities were to punish slaves for participating in illegal activity, but many owners punished slaves on their own. There was a consensus that if the slaves were punished too hard or were malnourished, the slaves would start to rebel. In 1755, Frederick V of Denmark issued more new Regulations, in which slaves were guaranteed the right not to be separated from their children and the right to medical support during periods of illness or old age. However, the colonial government had the ability to amend laws and regulations according to local conditions, and thus the regulations were never enacted in the colony, on grounds that it was more disadvantageous than advantageous.”
“By 1778, it was estimated that the Danish were bringing about 3,000 Africans to the Danish West Indies yearly for enslavement. At the end eve of the 1800 the Danes had imported about 20 000 African Negros leaving merely 1000 free blacks and 2000 whites on Saint Croix. When Denmark abolished slavery in 1848, many plantation owners wanted full reimbursement, on the grounds that their assets were damaged by the loss of the slaves, and by the fact that they would have to pay for labor in the future. The Danish government paid fifty dollars for every slave the plantation owners had owned and recognized that the slaves' release had caused a financial loss for the owners. However, the lives of the former slaves changed very little. Most were hired at the plantations where they had previously worked and were offered one-year contracts, a small hut, a little land and some money. As employees, former slaves were not plantation owners' responsibility and did not receive food from their employers.”
Trafficking and thralldom is a recurring issue in UU since it represent the very anti-thesis to the UU definition of LifeQuality (UU 2014.okt.17). «The Arabian ‘slave-trafficking’ in Africa was, and still is, comprehensive. The trafficking of slave to America was a fraction of all the Africa ‘slavery’ all together. At that time, the thrall trafficking included also over a million white Europeans, inclusive islandic people. White slavery was made possible with converted white Europeans as intermediaries. However, finally, in 1815, after the fall of the Napoleon regime, Europe (organization) banned slavery, and the liberation of Norway as a sovereign nation. Arabia, on the other hand, have never ended slavery.“ (See UU 2013.Juli.26.)
The Dane movie ‘The Gold Coast’ illustrates several related issues. The Gold Coast at North West Africa, Ghana, is where Negro people were traded as thralls and exported to the Caribbean. There were the Gold Coast, the Slave Coast, the Pepper Coast (or Grain Coast) and the Ivory Coast. The involved nations were the British, Prussian/German, Dane-Nor, Dutch, Portuguese and the Swedes. The Danish Gold Coast was colonized under indirect rule by the Danish West India Company and later as a crown colony of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway. After the liberation of Norway as a sovereign state in 1814, the five Danish Gold Coast Territorial Settlements and forts were sold to the United Kingdom in 1850.”
The movie is a masterpiece in several ways (Extra UU1). The mood is like the movies ‘Apocalypse now’ without the modern warfare. Europe banned slavery and Danes want to convert to farming. Yet, appearance and reality was not the same. Some aspects at the Gold Coast were probably relevant for the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean too, - like: Religious conversion was prioritized as high as work training. Thralls were considered properties like any animal and claimed that they could not feel pain. There were considerable tribal rivalries and sabotages at the farms. Slavery continued as organized crime after the European ban. Negros were trained in modern warfare and used as soldiers.
Rivals might have figured that St. Jan turned out to be an inter-racial breeding farm for soldier to the imminent imperial wars of America. Present Dutch policies on the issue is evidently in South Africa, - racial domination and no interbreeding for hybrids.
‘Paradise Lost’ is an image from the movie "1492: Conquest of Paradise". The history of Dan-Nor Virgin Islands make similar images. Still, such hindsight is not to adopt the Dan-Nor Jante mentality (i.e. ‘you shall not think you are better than us’). Still, the project failed in fatal ways that seem to be due to disrespect for pan-European laws, wishful thinking and mismanagement. It seems that the Dane-Nor settlers disapproved the change in priorities - and played social-psychological Games like ‘Want Out’. As cited, some turn of events are apparently: It was hard to get the Danes to run the colonies. The Dutch and Brits became the managing majority. The Virgin Islands eventually became some Pirates’ bays in the Caribbean.
On the other hand, as mentioned in the introduction, - this is similar to the attitude, the Games and the outcomes of the recent Dane rejection of the Europol/Eurojust cooperation with the other European nations. With hindsight, it seems obvious that there were far larger powers’ schemes at work in the Caribbean Virgin Islands and Norden, - as well as Europe and America.
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The Captain Banana drink relates to the African-Caribbean cultures, - a summer drink for leisure and relaxation - after a hard day’s work. The recipe is simple, - mix white rum, banana juice and ice-cubes, - 1 to 4 for grape-wine ABV and 1 to 10 for beer ABV. (See links for more advanced Captains Banana drinks.) Some facts about the rich history of bananas might inspire. “The banana is a fruit, botanically a berry and variable in size, firmness and the color green, yellow, red, purple, or brown. Most commercialized bananas are seedless and usually soft, sweet, dessert bananas In the Americas and Europe. Southeast Asia has far more kinds and they are grown in at least 107 countries, - primarily for the fruit, but also to make fiber, wine and beer. Bananas were first cultivated in Asia about 5000 BCE, about 1000 BCE in Madagaskar and widespread in Africa about 1000 AD mainly by Muslims. The Christian Cyprus cultivated banana in 1500 AD and was brought to America soon after. Bananas are an excellent source of vitamin B6 and contain moderate amounts of vitamin C, manganese and dietary fiber. Ripe bananas can contain serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.” If this isn’t inspiring, - try the 9 ways to peel bananas.
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Harold George "Harry" Bellanfanti, jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor, social activist, - and one of the most successful Caribbean American pop stars in history. His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) is the first million selling album by a single artist. Belafonte is famous for singing "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O". Belafonte was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and '60s, and one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s confidants. Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the anti-apartheid movement and USA for Africa. Belafonte has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 1987, has won three Grammy Awards, the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Harry Belafonte - Banana Boat Song m. Muppets
https://youtu.be/KWvgs0HYl1I
Harry Belafonte - Banana Boat Song (live) 1997 & studio 1956
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L9angh4KdQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMigXnXMhQ4
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery#
Congress_of_Vienna
http://www.virgin-islands-history.dk/eng/vi_hist.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_West_Indies#Slavery_and_property_rights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Coast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_Gold_Coast
Receipts for Advanced Captain Banana drinks
http://www.yummly.com/recipes/banana-daiquiri-with-banana-rum
http://allrecipes.com/search/results/?wt=rum%20banana&sort=re
Video: 9 ways to peel a banana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEV1SfTw23M
‘The Gold Coast’ is like the African port to the slave trafficking to America and Dan-Nor Virgin islands.
"In 1836 the Danish romantic visionary Wulff travels to Africa to create plantations on the Gold Coast, but his best intentions and belief is soon confronted with a harsh reality dominated by slave trade and unbelievable brutality. The Gold Coast (Guldkysten), is a dense and visceral exploration of a dark time in European history, namely the Danish involvement in the slave trade on the African coast during the 1830s. Undoubtedly a politically charged affair, this film is also an intense portrait of obsession and individual morality.”
Guldkysten Trailer, full movie and imdb review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxwT5UG4wVI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToCE48ImEw4
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4038670/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Vangelis - 1492: Conquest of Paradise – movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrJ8MwK4Dj8
Natasja Saad, alias Dou T' and Little T, was a Danish rapper and reggae singer. While rather successful in Denmark, her vocals on a popular reggae fusion remix of "Calabria" gained her worldwide fame and a number one spot on Billboard 's Hot Dance Airplay chart six months after her death in a car accident in Spanish Town, Saint Catherine, Jamaica. The accident was as a considerable loss for Denmark's music and entertainment world, because she still stood before a career. Natasja is buried at Copenhagen's cemetery for artistic and pioneering personalities, like H.C. Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard and Niels Bohr.
Natasja - Op med ho´det + Lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-FfIMmrBf0
http://www.metrolyrics.com/op-med-hodet-lyrics-natasja.html
No doubt, the ill reputation of ancient Nordic culture still entertains. It is a complex issue including the discovery of America, concurring of land, theocratic assimilation of both Islam and Christianity. It is almost like an ancient relation to Captain Banana and the murky enterprises of thrall trafficking. The Muppet show prioritized the issue and put extra efforts into this video. An interpretation of this video is that all slave-traders are swine, - including the Norse, Christian, Jewish or Muslim.
The Muppets associates that trafficking to military recruiting or drafting. It seems that anything goes ‘muppetizing’, - just like that the original song ‘In the NAVY’ actually promotes massive homosexual recruiting to the American Navy.
The Muppet Show - In the Navy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTwq1_9VH68
How ‘In the Navy’ was made (Of Muppets and Men (Part 4))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVYqaTdDA4U