Slavery in Ancient Civilizations - Coursework Example

HISTORY OF SLAVERY due: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Slavery in Ancient Civilizations 3 Slavery in Islam 4 Slavery in Medieval Times 5 Transatlantic slavery 5 Colonization 7 Conclusion 8 Bibliography 9 Introduction Slavery can be defined as a system that considers people as properties of others, and their rights can be bought and sold without notice or pay (Drescher 2009:36). Slavery traces its history from ancient times to present day. Most ancient civilizations practiced slavery and records can be found in early records of the Egyptians, Sumerians, and Babylonians. The first civilized societies in Africa also practiced slavery. This paper discusses the history of slavery. To achieve this, the paper develops a historical overview of slavery in different historical times. Topics covered include slavery in ancient civilization, Islam, medieval times, transatlantic slave trade, and slavery during periods of colonization. Slavery in Ancient Civilizations Historical records reveal that the institution of slavery began with early civilization. Early civilized societies accepted and institutionalized slavery into their economies. Slaves mostly war hostages and included captured warriors, women and children. Populations that won battles would enslave the losers rather than executing them. Therefore, ancient civilization societies used war as the main avenue of capturing slaves. Civilized societies such as the Persia, a military empire under Cyprus used war and conquests as the primary source of slaves (Olmstead 1948: 69). Rebels and criminals also got enslaved. The development of agriculture was the main aspect that brought civilization, and especially in Mesopotamia. Most civilized societies used slaves to boost their economies. Agriculture demanded labor force that could only be gotten by making use of war captives. The rights of slaves varied from societies, cities and states. Conditions of slaves varied significantly between those owned by the state and individuals. Like in Persia, heredity in slavery was practiced, and the official rank of a slave was that of movable property and livestock (Dandemaev & Lukonin 1989:153). States also owned slaves who worked on state owned resources especially in mines. Mostly, if not in all cases, slaves lived in groups and got redistributed according to available assignments (Dandemaev & Lukonin 1989:160-161). During this era, slavery did not choose among races as extraction of slavery was carried among different people. Slavery in Islam History records link the Islamic world to slavery. Historic evidence indicates that, after the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Isthmus and North Africa, the Islamic world started importing slaves from Europe (Rodriguez 1997: 565). The Islam law did not allow Muslims to practice slavery but made an exception to war captives and hostages. The law further stated that if those enslaved converted to Islam, through an act of piety, slave masters were to free them, and those who did not were to be taught by their masters (Bulliet 2010: 473). However, many Muslims did not observe the law but rather they used their powers to raid and buy slaves from European traders and transported them to Islamic regions (Smith & Gervase 2006:76). Islamic slavery finds its history in historical records of the Ottoman Empire. Historical evidence reveals that Islamic trade merchants acquired war captives when Ottoman armies attacked Christian states. This led to the enslavement of Christian populations. As a result, Balkans Christians in the empire faced cruelty from the Muslims who forced most of them to convert to Islam (Bostom 2005:27). Transportation of slaves from Africa into the Muslim world was done across the Sahara desert and the sea. Mostly, slaves were women as men were regarded to be bothersome. Slaves lived in harsh conditions and traders did not care about those who died during transportation. Slavery in Medieval Times The fall of the Roman Empire initiated a decline in the slave trade and slave labor became scanty and highly priced. However, the barbarian invasions of the Middle Ages increased slavery in around the Mediterranean. On the other hand, the Christian church did not have any opposition to slavery (Davis 2004:45). As a matter of fact, the church confirmed slavery as part of divine order. Nevertheless, the church emphasized equality between masters and servants. This move sought to lessen evils faced by slaves at the hands of their masters. This era saw the employment of slaves were in armies, households and offices. In the sixteenth century, slavery took a different shape. There was the introduction of and serfdom. Serfs were bound by soil, meaning that they were not to leave to any place at their own free. Christian and Muslim religious wars reserved slavery as either side enslaved members of the opposing religion. In the late middle ages, slavery during this period shifted from the western Mediterranean to Christianity and Muslim states in the east. Muslims continued trading European slaves and pirates raided European coasts and took many captives. Captives would be held for ransom forcing European communities to pay huge amounts of money to save fellow citizens (Davis 2004:48). Transatlantic slavery The transatlantic slave trade acted as a link between economies of three continents. Mass deportation of people from ancestral homes to other continents characterized the trade. Almost 30 million people were sold as slaves to slave merchants. The transatlantic trade took place in three phases. The first phase characterized ships leaving Western Europe for Africa carrying goods that were to be traded for slaves. On arrival, important commodities such as textiles and gun powder were traded for slaves. The second phase included the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. African slaves were then flocked into ships and transported to America for sale. The final phase included the arrival to Europe with rich economic produce from slave labor. The transatlantic trade also happened in two eras (Lovejoy 1994:484). The first era, commonly known as the first Atlantic system included enslaving Africans to Portuguese, Spanish and American colonies. Most traders in this era were Portuguese, Spanish and French traders. The second Atlantic system included enslaving of Africans by English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese traders. Slaves’ destinations were mostly European nations (Lovejoy 1994:485). This discussion limits itself to the second Atlantic system because as the main era that characterized massive movement of human population to European colonies, and exposed African, Indian and other nations to colonialism. The expansion of European empires precipitated the establishment of the transatlantic trade. The unreliability and weakness of European’s indigenous workers made European solicit workers from outside continents. Therefore, European nations preferred Africans because of their experience and resistance to tropical climatic conditions and diseases. Europeans often bought slaves who captured from widespread wars between African states. African merchants captured and traded African slaves to European and Portuguese traders. Established European trading ports at the coast also traded African slaves captured at the coast for manufactured goods. The transatlantic slave trade roots back to the European exploration of Africa. The advancement in technology made it easy for the African continent to be accessible to the Europe continent hence creating of trade contacts. Europeans were interested in exploring the Atlantic to improve commerce. They identified gold in West Africa that they wanted to trade for and find routes to India where they could get luxury goods without using middlemen (Thornton 1998: 193). Colonization The European naval exploration led to the discovery of new lands especially in Africa and India. This led to the migration of European colonizers to identified lands outside their continents. Slave trade in West Africa paved way for European settlement and they invaded and colonized areas around the African coast. During their invasion, European colonizers captured indigenous populations and enslaved them. They converted much of the unutilized land to agricultural production. By controlling the African coast in West Africa, Europeans were now able to control major trade activities, forcing Africans to trade raw materials and human resources for manufactured goods (Ralph 1987:224). The Europeans were interested in commercial links not only in Africa but also in America. The transatlantic slave trade created an avenue for settlement of European colonists in uninhabited lands in Atlantic. They engaged in exporting products for same and established strong economic bases. They expanded their business activities and started conquering neighboring communities. With the decline of the transatlantic slave trade in 19th century, Europeans, English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese merchants who specialized in the trade conquered African nations and established colonies. Africans reorganized themselves to resist the colonial forces, but their economic and labor force was weak. Colonialists conquered nations that resisted colonialism, nations that collaborated gave out their lands and resources freely. This led to the establishment of colonial slavery, and forced Africans to work in colonial lands at no pay. The mass exodus of people into slavery during the transatlantic slave trade weakened the African economy. Much of the African labor force was transported to work in European farms. Most men who could defend the economy against intruders was also not available. This exposed Africa, India and other nations to colonialists, who had identified various resources in the continents. The creation of a weak economy that lacked defense forces led to the conquest of most African nations by colonies. Therefore, the transatlantic slave trade acted as the major feature to African colonization. The trade created routes through which people from the outside world explored the continent, and slavery killed the continent’s man power to protect itself. Conclusion Slavery has an enormous history build from past historic times to the modern time. The inclusion of Christianity and Muslim into slavery shows how sophisticated the history of slavery can be. So far, the paper has discussed different eras where societies practiced slavery and the progress involved in the slave trade up to its colonial consequence. Therefore, evidence on the long history of slavery exists from historical records taken during early civilizations up to the establishment of colonies. Bibliography BOSTOM, A., 2005. The Legacy of Jihad - Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims. New York: Prometheus Press. BULLIET, R., 2010. The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History. Boston: Cengage Learning. DANDEMAEV, M., & LUKONIN, V., 1989. The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran. New York: Cambridge University Press. DAVIS, R., 2004. Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500–1800. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan DRESCHER, S., 2009. Abolition: A History of Slavery and Antislavery. New York: Cambridge University Press. LOVEJOY, P., 1994. "The Volume of the Atlantic Slave Trade. A Synthesis". In: Northrup, David (ed.): The Atlantic Slave Trade. Lexington: D.C Heath and Company. OLMSTEAD, A., 1948. History of the Persian Empire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. RALPH, A., 1987. African Economic History: Internal Development and External Dependency. London: James Currey. RODRIGUEZ, J 1997, The historical encyclopedia of world slavery. California: ABC-CLIO Inc. SMITH, C., & GERVASE, W., 2006. Islam and the Abolition of Slavery. New York: Oxford University Press. THORNTON, J., 1998. Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400–1800 (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. Read More