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Cover Story: Slavery: active since time immemorial
I have seen the processions of civilization moving from light into darkness, and each was dragged down to hell by humiliated souls bent under the yolk of slavery — Gibran
Slaves — the word is successful in conjuring up images of pained, sweating bodies dragged along by heavy chains, trudging across desert dunes. Well, that’s close enough but not the actual connotation of slavery.
Since earliest times slaves have been defined as ‘things’; thus, being bought, sold, traded, given as a gift, or pledged for a debt by their owner. And this is usually without any sort of legal objection or restraint.
In slavery the labour or services are obtained through force; slaves are regarded as the property of another person, their owner; and they are entirely under their owner’s will.
Ancient period
The practice of slavery dates to prehistoric times. Slavery was not only an accepted feature of all ancient civilizations but deemed essential to the economy and the society.
The ancient Mesopotamian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations employed slaves, either in homes and shops or in gangs for large-scale construction or agriculture.
As far as the ancient Egyptians were concerned, slaves would build the royal palaces and monuments. The ancient Hebrews also used slaves, but they were required by religious law to free slaves of their own nationality at certain fixed times.
Greek philosophers did not consider the condition of slavery as morally objectionable, although Aristotle went so far as to suggest that faithful slaves might be freed in reward for loyal service. With few exceptions, slaves in ancient Greece were humanely treated. More typically, slaves were employed in domestic service, in trades, as labourers on country estates, and as seamen and oarsmen. Where they were employed in private domestic service, it was not uncommon to find them on friendly terms with their masters.
Roman masters had more power over their slaves, including the power of life and death. Wealthy Romans, often maintaining large city and country homes, depended greatly on numerous slaves for the efficient operation of these households. Conquests of large areas of land led to great numbers of foreign slaves to be imported to fill agricultural labour needs. Primarily slaves were acquired at the time when tens of thousands of prisoners were brought to Rome to be taken as slaves. Besides this, people who owed high debt sold themselves or members of their families into slavery. People who were convicted of serious crimes went into slavery as well. Ultimately, dependence on slavery contributed significantly to Rome’s downfall.
Slavery in the Middle Ages
The adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, and its subsequent spread over Europe and parts of the Middle East during the Middle Ages tended to improve the conditions but did not eliminate the practice of slavery. After the fall of Rome, during the barbarian invasions that occurred at various times between the 5th and the 10th centuries, the ancient institution of slavery was transformed into the generally less binding system known as serfdom.
Islam, established in the 7th century, recognized the institution of slavery from the beginning. The Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) urged his followers to treat slaves kindly, however, on the whole slaves owned by Muslims were comparatively well treated. Most were employed as domestic servants.
Modern period
After nearly three centuries of active slave trade, several colonial powers outlawed the practice around the early 1800s; however, the owning of slaves was not abolished until many years later.
The coastal exploration of Africa and the invasion of North and South America by Europeans in the 15th century, and the subsequent colonization of the Americas during the next three centuries, provided the impetus for the modern slave trade. Portugal, lacking in agricultural workers, was the first modern European nation to meet its labour needs by importing slaves. These were African people who were captured by other Africans and transported to the western coast of Africa. Spain soon followed, but for more than a century Portugal virtually monopolized the African traffic. Throughout the 15th century, Arab traders in northern Africa shipped African people taken from central Africa to markets in Arabia, Iran, and India.
In tropical Latin America during the 16th century, Spanish colonists first forced the native populations to work the land. The indigenous people, however, could not survive under conditions of slavery and were nearly exterminated, in part by exposure to European diseases and excruciating labour. Africans were then brought to the Spanish colonies, primarily because it was believed that they could endure forced labour in the generally more enervating Caribbean and mainland Latin American climates.
Contrary to what is commonly believed, slaves did have some legal rights, such as support in old age or sickness, a right to limited religious instruction, and the right to bring suit and give evidence in special cases. Custom gave numerous rights also, such as private property, marriage, free time, contractual ability, and, to females, domestic or lighter plantation labour, which, however, the master was not bound to respect. Brutal treatment such as mutilation, branding, chaining, and murder were regulated or prohibited by law, but instances of cruelty were common before the 19th century.
Abolition of slavery
Denmark was the first European country to abolish the slave trade, in 1792. Britain followed in 1807, and the United States followed in 1808. The Ashburton Treaty of 1842, between Britain and the United States, provided for the maintenance by each country of a squadron on the African coast to enforce prohibition of the trade.
The French emancipated their slaves in 1848. The Dutch slaves had freedom conferred on them in 1863. Most of the new republics of South America provided for the emancipation of slaves at the time of their establishment. In Brazil slavery was not abolished until 1888.
Slavery in the US
The slave trade to America proved a lucrative business for more than 200 years. More than 10 million Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas before the importation of slaves was abolished in the United States in 1808. By 1800, the majority of slaves were forcibly shipped to the agricultural plantations of Central and South America and the Caribbean.
The vast majority of slaves living in the United States were located in the South. At the beginning of the American Civil War, blacks working as slaves on plantations in the South produced the food and supplies that sustained the Confederate army. In the North, however, freed slaves served in the Union army. By the end of the war, more than 185,000 black soldiers had fought in the Union army. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolished slavery in 1865.
Before slavery was outlawed in the United States in 1865, slaves were considered valuable property, and their owners made considerable effort to retrieve them if they escaped. One method of recovering slaves was to run an advertisement in the newspaper describing the slave’s physical characteristics and often offering a reward for their return. If slaves had been caught and put in jail, the sheriff placed an advertisement to find the owner. One reason for escape may have been to be near their loved ones.
It was Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) who said curtly, “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
Slavery in the 20th century
Important achievements in the abolition of this grim practice include the adoption of the International Slavery Convention in 1926 by the League of Nations and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948 and the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery to supplement the convention of 1926. Any disputes relating to the convention are to be referred to the International Court of Justice.
Today also forms of servitude similar to slavery affect a large number of people. These forms of servitude include serfdom and peonage, various abuses arising from the adoption of children, and the transfer in marriage of women without their consent.
Slavery continues to exist in one form or the other. You might ask, how? Seneca (5BC-65AD) believed, “Life without the courage for death is slavery.” A phenomenon we face today is mental slavery; to be bonded to the fetters of a particular mental framework. To this Bob Marley says, “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.” Some cynics have termed life itself as slavery: As Gibran says most somberly, “The people are the slaves of life, and it is slavery that fills their days with misery and distress, and floods their nights with tears and anguish.”
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