[[File:Egyptian taskmaster.png|right|300px|thumbnail|[[Egypt]]ian taskmaster whipping [[Hebrew]] slave.]]'''Slavery''' is a system of involuntary servitude such that has a highly debated date of origin, and in [[modern slavery|modern discourse]] usually refers to the form as such exists in [[socialist]] [[gulag]]s, re-education camps, [[grooming gang]]s and other forms of involuntary labor, [[prostitution]] and , human trafficking, and other forms of involuntary labor. Slavery continues to be practiced in some [[Africa]]n countries, although officially made illegal under pressure by [[imperialism]]. In contemporary [[Marxist]] societies that still practice slavery(including [[Marxist]] ones), the subjects have limited or no [[Rights]]. While many [[liberal]]s claim or suggest that slavery in the [[U.S.]] was unusual, slavery is was common and predominant in the vast majority of the world and throughout history.<ref>Williams, Walter E. (May 29, 2019). [https://www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/opinion/item/32464-slavery-is-neither-strange-nor-peculiar Slavery Is Neither Strange Nor Peculiar]. ''The New American''. Retrieved May 29, 2019.</ref> [[Western civilization]] is the only [[civilization]] that has every ever existed in human history to bring slavery to an end, not only within its own territory, but globally.
In many societies slavery was the precursor of a modern criminal justice system; many [[Islamic]] societies regard a modern criminal justice system, with [[prison]]s for convicted criminals or [[prisoners of war]], as a form of [[Western]] [[colonialism]] that impinges on their indigenous cultural values and because instead of the Islamic traditions of enslavement for offenders and people who become a public charge, a modern criminal justice system has [[prison]]s for convicted criminals or [[prisoners of war]]. In [[Marxist]] theory the entire population, other than government officials and [[bureaucrat]]s, are public charges.
There are several different types of slavery which have been known to history. Debt slavery, war trophies, and racial or cultural prejudice have all been used to justify slave systems. Slavery became a legal form of debt payment prior to [[bankruptcy]] laws for people incapable of managing their financial affairs. Not all Master-slave relationships were abusive {{citation needed}} - some slaves willingly served a fair master for life who provided sustenance and protection. Slaves could be bought and sold (see [[slave trade]]). The [[Year of Jubilee]] was a day of freedom and celebration as traditionally instituted by God for His own nation in order to prevent slavery from becoming a means by which cleverly unscrupulous, or cleverly ignorant, people made a living, such as happened in the American South.
Historically people People captured in warfare werehistorically considered slaves, and in modern times some societies still are, considered slavesconsider them as such.
In America, the vast majority of slaves were from the African blackscontinent, and many of these had been bought from African tribal leaders; . Rather than live as slaves, Native Americans starved themselves to death rather than live as slaves. From 1500 to 1820, hundreds Hundreds of thousands of Europeans were captured in war by Muslims taken and made slavesby Muslims after being captured in war between the years of 1500 to 1820.
Western Christendom abolished slavery in the 19th century; while it has been abolished globally ''de jure'', it still exists in many leftwing Marxist countries and under [[Koran]]ic law in [[Islam]]''de facto''. Historians estimate that as many as 18 million Africans were sold into the Islamic slave trade between 650 and 1905. The last forms of legal slavery were outlawed in 1970 in the Arabian countries, but hidden slavery still exists today in forced prostitution and other industries all over the world.<ref>[http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9605/articles/gregory.html African Slavery 1996]</ref>
Slavery was found in the history of most civilizations. Slavery flourishes where there is a high demand for labor and not enough workers. When the workers are plentiful, slavery dies out because it is unprofitable. That is, it becomes cheaper to free a slave and hire low cost paid labor than to buy and maintain slaves. Typically, when it had almost died out, it was made illegal by the government, as in Brazil.
One of the most famous instances of slavery was in the [[The South|American South]], which was based on racial origin rather than debt payment until it was forcibly ended during the [[American Civil War]] (1861–65) – the only major war in world history fought over slavery. Prof. [[Walter E. Williams]] of George Mason University summarized,
<center>{{quoteboxCquote|"The reason slavery is immoral is, because it violates private property rights."}}</center>
==History==
==== Biblical references ====
[[ImageFile:RuslaveryAlma - Tadema The Finding of Moses 1904.jpg|right|thumb|350px360px|[[PaintingSir Lawrence Alma Tadema]] , The Finding of a slave market in late medieval Eastern EuropeMoses, 1904.]]''See also:'' [[{{main|Slavery in the Bible]]}}
The Bible refers to unsaved or non-Christian individuals as "slaves of [[sin]]" (Romans 6:20). Jesus said, "I am the truth" (John 14:6) and "the truth shall set you free" (John 8:31-32). All sinners are slaves, unable to make choices for themselves in their own best interests, or guide their own lives and ultimate destiny.
[[Atheism|Atheist]] apologists often bring up the subject of [[slavery in the Bible]] in terms of the Israelites and some early Christians owning slaves. However, they rarely if ever, bring up the subject of slavery and forced labor in atheistic societies (see: [[Atheism and slavery]]).
Slavery was a well-established institution throughout the Ancient Near East, and the [[Old Testament]] sanctions its form of regulated slavery, though that is seen as being counter-cultural in its degree of amelioration, including as compared to that of ancient slave states as Greece and Rome, and the typical practice of slavery in American history.<ref>[http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslave.html ''Does God condone slavery in the Bible?'']</ref><ref>[http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslavent.html ''The issue of 'slavery' in the NT/Apostolic world'']</ref> The New Testament does not condemn the institution itself, but makes requirements upon both masters and slaves in further improving treatment in the inherited economic institution.
The system of slavery commonly diminished a person to the point where they would be regarded as a thing or an object to be owned. The Christian [[abolitionists]] disagreed with this valuation, and saw the New Testament in particular, and its ethos of love for neighbor as oneself, as supporting the abolition of slavery, and advanced an interpretation of the Bible which presented human value in terms of God's parental love for all people as His children (see [[human rights]]).<ref>[http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/bourne/bourne.html Bourne, George, 1780-1845, ''A Condensed Anti-Slavery Bible Argument; By a Citizen of Virginia'']</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3n4OGC-OoqIC&dq=God+Against+Slavery+George+B.+Cheever,&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=YCiuzJHs7T&sig=GyTdW1UZEO6eqV6XxdKv2v_SJF8&hl=en&ei=oaWRSvHyJpPDlAeXqdCjDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false George B. Cheever, ''God Against Slavery'' (1875)]</ref>
While requiring Christian obedience <ref>''Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible'', Eph. 6:7; cf. Rm. 13:1</ref> of slaves toward their masters, the New Testament also requires masters to exercise their duties in the fear of God, and prohibits threatening, abuse or unequal pay for slaves. (Eph. 6:9; Col. 4:1) (1 Cor. 7:21) It also commands slaves to obtain freedom if possible, and contains the record of the [[apostle Paul]] requiring that the escaped slave Onesimus be received back by his master Philemon, no longer "as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved", even as Paul himself (Philemon 1:16,17)
====Marxist slavery====
''See also:'' [[Abolitionism]]
[[William Wilberforce]] was a devout [[Christianity|Christian]], philanthropist,[[abolitionist]], and the leader of the campaign against the [[Slave Trade]]. [[Thomas Sowell]] wrote:
{{cquote|While slavery was common to all civilizations, as well as to peoples considered uncivilized, only one civilization developed a moral revulsion against it, very late in hits its' history…not even the leading moralists in other civilizations rejected slavery at all…. Moreover, within [[Western civilization]], the principle impetus for the abolition of slavery came first from very [[conservative]] religious activists – people who would today be called ‘the religious right.’…this story is not ‘[[politically correct]]’ in today’s terms. Hence it is ignored, as if it never happened.”<ref>Sowell, Thomas (2005) The real history of slavery. In Black Rednecks and White Liberals. San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books</ref>}}
===Eastern Europe===
Slavery was a major institution in [[Russia]], and families facing starvation often sold themselves into slavery. Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679. In 1723, when the [[Peter the Great]] converted the remaining household slaves into house serfs.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24160 Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History]</ref> Serfdom was abolished in 1863 by Tsar [[Alexander II]]; however, most serfs had to pay the government for giving them land.
== African practices of slavery ==
Slavery was widespread within Africa itself, and the richest in Africa were not those owning the most land, but those who owned the most slaves. In the Sahara Desert, slaves were used in gold and salt mining. Slaves were usually prisoners of war from other areas of Africa, or debtors, or enemies or the king, but many women outside of those three categories were also enslaved in African societies.
During the Song Dynasty the numbers of African slaves increased in China. Most came from [[Madagascar]] and the Comoros Islands and thus indirectly from Africa, since the Arabs brought sub-Saharan Africans to both areas. Most Kunlun slaves in China lived in Canton Province. By this time they were mostly viewed as a displaced people who lacked the ability to adapt to the Chinese environment. They were also described as savages with unintelligible speech.<ref>https://archive.is/2noUk#selection-1235.1-1271.338</ref>
== The Islamic Trans-Sahara slave trade ==
{{See also|Arab slave trade}}
Slavery was rapidly declining in Europe due to the influence of Christianity, and had all but disappeared from much of Europe when the advent of Islam brought a rebirth of the slave trade.<ref>L W Miller, Anti-Slavery Activism 101, ECM Publ, 2011</ref>
Also, the term "slavery" is often used metaphorically for sex workers who are controlled by pimps.
==Famous Slaves==
* [[Aesop]]
* [[Atilla the Hun]]
* [[Spartacus]]
* [[St. Felicity]]
* [[St. Patrick]]
* [[Pope Pius I]]
* [[Pope Callixtus I]]
* [[Pope Clement I]]
* [[Frederick Douglass]]
* [[Harriet Tubman]]
* [[Dred Scott]]
* [[Denmark Vesey]]
* [[Booker T. Washington]]
==Abolition of Slavery==
[[Napoleon]] (ruled 1799-1815) made a major adventure into the Caribbean—sending 30,000 troops in 1802 to retake Saint Domingue ([[Haiti]]) from ex-slaves under black leader [[Toussaint L'Ouverture]] who had revolted and killed off the whites and mulattoes. Napoleon wanted to preserve France's financial benefits from the colony's sugar and coffee crops; he then planned to establish a major base at New Orleans. He, therefore, re-established slavery in Haiti and [[Guadeloupe]], where it had been abolished after rebellions. Slaves and black freedmen fought the French for their freedom and independence. Revolutionary ideals played a central role in the fighting for it was the slaves and their comrades who were fighting for the revolutionary ideals of freedom and equality, while the French troops under General Charles Leclerc fought to restore the order of the ancien régime. The goal of reestablishing slavery - which explicitly contradicted the ideals of the French Revolution - demoralized the French troops. The demoralized French soldiers were unable to cope with the tropical diseases, and most died of yellow fever. Slavery was reimposed in Guadeloupe but not in Haiti, which became an independent black republic.<ref>Philippe R. Girard, "Liberte, Egalite, Esclavage: French Revolutionary Ideals and the Failure of the Leclerc Expedition to Saint-Domingue." ''French Colonial History'' 2005 6: 55-77. in [[Project MUSE]]</ref> Napoleon's vast colonial dreams for Egypt, India, the Caribbean, Louisiana, and even Australia were all doomed for lack of a fleet capable of matching Britain's Royal Navy. Realizing the fiasco Napoleon liquidated the Haiti project, brought home the survivors and sold off Louisiana to the U.S.<ref>Steven Englund, ''Napoleon: A Political Life'' (2004). p 259. Slavery remained in Guadeloupe until 1848.</ref>
===British Empire===
In 1772, the case of [[Somerset v Stewart]] confirmed that under English common law, a slave could not be owned on the British mainland.
Emancipation of slaves in the British Caribbean became a major cause by the 1800s, when abolitionists such as [[William Wilberforce]] and [[John Wesley]] began speaking out against the evils of the system.<ref>[http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/wilberforce.htm William Wilberforce (1759-1833)]</ref> Wilberforce was supported in his efforts by [[John Newton]], a slave trader who became a Christian and then opposed the slave trade. In 1807 the [[House of Commons]] passed the Slave Trade Abolition Bill by a 283-16 vote. It made the international slave trade a crime of piracy and sent the Royal Navy to enforce it.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml Sailing against slavery. By Jo Loosemore] BBC</ref> In 1808 the U.S. also outlawed the international trade. However, some slave traders evaded the prohibition—many were caught and hung, with the freed captives sent to [[Sierra Leone]]. Slavery remained legal inside the [[British Empire]] (including Canada) until 1833 when the government bought all the slaves from the owners<ref>Mostof the owners lived in great mansions in London, and appreciated the money.</ref> and freed them.<ref>The ex-slaves went through an apprenticeship process before gaining freedom. Andrea Curry ''Timeline: The Abolition of the Slave Trade'', British Heritage Magazine (May 2007)</ref><ref>[http://slavetrade.parliament.uk/slavetrade/history/parliamentabolishestheslavetrade/draftdocument.html History: Parliament Abolishes the Slave Trade] Parliamentary House of Lords</ref>
===United States===
In the American South, slavery normally was a lifetime condition, and children born to slave mothers automatically became slaves of the owner.
===British Empire===In 1772the United States, the case northern states abolished slavery by 1803—most of the slaves there were house servants. In [[Somerset v StewartThe South]] confirmed that under English common law, a slave could not be owned on however, cotton made slavery very profitable and 11 states seceded in 1861 to protect their interest. [[Abraham Lincoln]] achieved the end of slavery in 1863-65, using the Army and the [[13th Amendment]]. In Cuba and Brazil, slavery was unprofitable and finally collapsed in the British mainland1880s as few people wanted to buy slaves.
Emancipation Some Southern white theologians before the [[American Civil War]] asserted that the slavery of slaves in blacks was the British Caribbean became a major cause by result of the 1800scurse of Ham. However, when abolitionists such as there is no evidence that the curse had to do with skin color, and the descendants of [[William WilberforceCanaan]] most likely were not black, and it is generally concluded that they did not settle in [[John WesleyAfrica]] began speaking out against the evils of the system.<ref>[http://www.brycchancareybible.comorg/abolition/wilberforcepage.htm William Wilberforce (1759-1833)]php?page_id=70</ref> Wilberforce was supported in his efforts by [[John Newton]], a slave trader who became a Christian and then opposed the slave trade. In 1807 the [[House of Commons]] passed the Slave Trade Abolition Bill by a 283-16 vote. It made the international slave trade a crime of piracy and sent the Royal Navy to enforce it.<ref>[httpshttp://www.bbcchristiananswers.co.uknet/devonq-aig/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_featurerace-blacks.shtml Sailing against slavery. By Jo Loosemore] BBChtml</ref> In 1808 the U.S. also outlawed the international trade. However, some slave traders evaded the prohibition—many were caught and hung, with the freed captives sent to [[Sierra Leone]]. Slavery remained legal inside the [[British Empire]] (including Canada) until 1833 when the government bought all the slaves from the owners<ref>Mostof the owners lived in great mansions in London, and appreciated the money.</ref> and freed them.<ref>The ex-slaves went through an apprenticeship process before gaining freedom. Andrea Curry ''Timeline: The Abolition of the Slave Trade''Full Life Study Bible, British Heritage Magazine Zondervan Publishing Company (May 2007September 1992)</ref><ref>[http://slavetrade.parliament.uk/slavetrade/history/parliamentabolishestheslavetrade/draftdocument.html History: Parliament Abolishes the Slave Trade] Parliamentary House of LordsA Condensed Anti-slavery Bible Argument By George Bourne</ref>
===United States===In Slave owners in the United Statesantebellum South cited both Old Testament and New Testament texts, such as Ephesians 6:5, “slaves, obey your masters”, in arguments for the northern Christian endorsement of slavery. Another Bible verse states abolished that thieves should be sold into slavery by 1803—most of the slaves there were house servants. In <ref>Exodus 22:3 "He should make a full restitution; and if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.</ref> Under the [[The SouthMosaic Law]], howeverHebrew slaves could be kept for six years, cotton made slavery very profitable and 11 states seceded offered release in 1861 the seventh for nothing. They were to protect be treated as hired servants, and generous provisions given to them at termination, though they could choose to be lifetime servants. However, daughters who were sold to be betrothed to the owner or his son, were not set free in their interestseventh year but were to be allowed to be redeemed if that marriage had not taken place done. If marriage occurred, they were to be set free if the husband was negligent in his basic marital obligations.(Exodus 21:1-11; cf. Dt. 15:12-18) [[Abraham LincolnPat Robertson]] achieved , while acknowledging the end of Old Testament's teachings on slavery in 1863-65, using argues that "we have moved in our conception of the Army and value of human beings over the years" until we have realized that slavery is "terribly wrong."<ref>[[13th Amendment]]https://www. In Cuba youtube.com/watch?v=1-DtlRyvC34 Pat Robertson on the Bible and Brazil, slavery was unprofitable and finally collapsed in the 1880s as few people wanted to buy slaves.]</ref>
===Abolitionists===
*[[John Brown]] (1800–1859), tried to lead a slave rebellion in 1859; the slaves did not join him, but white Southerners became convinced there were many more John Browns to come if they stayed in the Union
*[[John Stuart Mill]], philosopher, essayist (1806–1879).<ref>http://www.nndb.com/people/147/000030057/</ref> Wrote numerous essays on abolition during the American Civil War. Asserted the war was being fought to abolish slavery, an unpopular political opinion at the time.
==Biblical Perspective==
{{main|Slavery in the Bible}}
[[File:Alma - Tadema The Finding of Moses 1904.jpg|thumb|360px|[[Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema]], The Finding of Moses, 1904.]]
Slavery was a well-established institution throughout the Ancient Near East, and the [[Old Testament]] sanctions its form of regulated slavery, though that is seen as being counter-cultural in its degree of amelioration, including as compared to that of ancient slave states as Greece and Rome, and the typical practice of slavery in American history.<ref>[http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslave.html ''Does God condone slavery in the Bible?'']</ref><ref>[http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslavent.html ''The issue of 'slavery' in the NT/Apostolic world'']</ref> The New Testament does not condemn the institution itself, but makes requirements upon both masters and slaves in further improving treatment in the inherited economic institution.
Slave owners in the antebellum South cited both Old Testament and New Testament texts, such as Ephesians 6:5, “slaves, obey your masters”, in arguments for the Christian endorsement of slavery. Another Bible verse states that thieves should be sold into slavery.<ref>Exodus 22:3 "He should make a full restitution; and if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.</ref> Under the [[Mosaic Law]], Hebrew slaves could be kept for six years, and offered release in the seventh for nothing. They were to be treated as hired servants, and generous provisions given to them at termination, though they could choose to be lifetime servants. However, daughters who were sold to be betrothed to the owner or his son, were not set free in their seventh year but were to be allowed to be redeemed if that marriage had not taken place done. If marriage occurred, they were to be set free if the husband was negligent in his basic marital obligations.(Exodus 21:1-11; cf. Dt. 15:12-18)
The system of slavery commonly diminished a person to the point where they would be regarded as a thing or an object to be owned. The Christian [[abolitionists]] disagreed with this valuation, and saw the New Testament in particular, and its ethos of love for neighbor as oneself, as supporting the abolition of slavery, and advanced an interpretation of the Bible which presented human value in terms of God's parental love for all people as His children (see [[human rights]]).<ref>[http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/bourne/bourne.html Bourne, George, 1780-1845, ''A Condensed Anti-Slavery Bible Argument; By a Citizen of Virginia'']</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3n4OGC-OoqIC&dq=God+Against+Slavery+George+B.+Cheever,&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=YCiuzJHs7T&sig=GyTdW1UZEO6eqV6XxdKv2v_SJF8&hl=en&ei=oaWRSvHyJpPDlAeXqdCjDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false George B. Cheever, ''God Against Slavery'' (1875)]</ref>
While requiring Christian obedience <ref>''Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible'', Eph. 6:7; cf. Rm. 13:1</ref> of slaves toward their masters, the New Testament also requires masters to exercise their duties in the fear of God, and prohibits threatening, abuse or unequal pay for slaves. (Eph. 6:9; Col. 4:1) (1 Cor. 7:21) It also commands slaves to obtain freedom if possible, and contains the record of the [[apostle Paul]] requiring that the escaped slave Onesimus be received back by his master Philemon, no longer "as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved", even as Paul himself (Philemon 1:16,17)
[[Pat Robertson]], while acknowledging the Old Testament's teachings on slavery, argues that "we have moved in our conception of the value of human beings over the years" until we have realized that slavery is "terribly wrong."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-DtlRyvC34 Pat Robertson on the Bible and slavery]</ref>
===Curse of Ham===
Some Southern white theologians before the Civil War asserted that the slavery of blacks was the result of the curse of Ham. However, there is no evidence that the curse had to do with skin color, and the descendants of [[Canaan]] most likely were not black, and it is generally concluded that they did not settle in [[Africa]].<ref>http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=70</ref><ref>http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/race-blacks.html</ref><ref>Full Life Study Bible, Zondervan Publishing Company (September 1992)</ref><ref>A Condensed Anti-slavery Bible Argument By George Bourne</ref>
==Further reading==
* Miller, Randall M., and John David Smith, eds. ''Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery'' (1988), excellent reference
* Phillips, Ulrich B. ''American Negro Slavery: A Survey of the Supply, Employment and Control of Negro Labor as Determined by the Plantation Regime'' (1918), the best older history; leftists complain it does not share their biases. [https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11490 free edition online]
==Famous Slaves==
* [[Aesop]]
* [[Atilla the Hun]]
* [[Spartacus]]
*[[Philemon]]
* [[St. Patrick]]
* [[Frederick Douglass]]
* [[Harriet Tubman]]
* [[Dred Scott]]
* [[Denmark Vesey]]
* [[Booker T. Washington]]
==References==
*[http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/black-slavery-and-islamic-racism/ Islamic Slavery and Racism]
[[Category:Slavery|*]]
[[Category:Black History]]
[[Category:The South]]
[[Category:African History]]
[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Slavery]]