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Difference between revisions of "Slavery"
David Gerard (talk | contribs) (wtf the picture actually means) |
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− | [[Image:US slavery legal in some form 1860.png|thumb|Slavery in the United States in 1860.]] | + | [[Image:US slavery legal in some form 1860.png|thumb|Slavery in the United States in 1860. Blue: outlawed. Red: legalized in some form. New Jersey (purple) abolished slavery in name in 1846 and had a weak gradual emancipation plan in place since 1804, but there were still 18 "apprentices for life" by the start of the Civil War. New Hampshire never abolished slavery but its legislature did ratify the Thirteenth Amendment. In 1857, it passed an act that said "No person, because of decent, should be disqualified from becoming a citizen of the state." However, the act does not refer to one's status. Prior to the Dred Scott Decision, slavery had been illegal in the unorganized territory next to Minnesota.]] |
:''Not to be confused with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDE_drive#Master_and_slave_clarification Slave Drives].'' | :''Not to be confused with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDE_drive#Master_and_slave_clarification Slave Drives].'' |
Revision as of 22:26, 17 June 2010

- Not to be confused with Slave Drives.
Slavery is the ownership of one human being by another, usually for the purposes of the economic enrichment of the latter through the forced labour of the former. Slavery has a long and ignoble history dating back to the earliest days of humanity.
History
The most infamous incarnation of this practice was the Atlantic slave trade, in which Africans sold people to Europeans, who transported said people to work plantations in the Americas. This has been known historically as the "Slave Trade" and was eventually abolished across North America in 1863.
The "Slave Trade" was by no means the first use of slaves in the world. Slavery had existed long before in Africa (and these slaves were the first to be sold to Europeans for working in America and elsewhere) and in other parts of the world. Although often going by different names, such as "indendured workers". The practice of owning, and treating, people as property is thought to date back to Ancient Egypt and undoubtedly a less formal version has existed throughout all of human history. Most ancient cultures, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks etc. had one form of slavery or another. Ancient Rome was thought to have a massively high population of slaves, with the numbers being so high that they could be thought of as a ancient working class, although the estimates vary. In ancient Greece, the situation was slightly more complex due to the presence of several levels of slave.
One of the few advantages of capitalism is that it requires the participation of free labor: it may be argued that the European abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century was undertaken not in the name of compassion for the enslaved, but in order to meet the demands of new capitalist economies.
Slavery in the Bible
Main article Slavery in the Bible
Slavery is an excellent example of a social institution that is regarded as normal and acceptable in the Bible, but which is regarded today as an abomination. An interesting example of Christian moral relativism.
Slavery today
It is estimated that there are upwards of 27 million people enslaved today. [1] This depends on the definition of slave, as some often count sex workers as slaves, particularly if they are immigrants that have been forced into the work to pay off debts to their contacts that helped them move country.