Slavery Anthropology - Essay Example

Module Anthropology - Slavery INTRODUCTION Throughout history, human communities and societies have always maintained a ofservants that were responsible for performing the chores and tasks that other higher ranking members did not want to do. Usually, these indentured servants, who would gradually form a permanent class of slaves, were not members of the tribes that used them as slaves but were captured prisoners from other communities, or even prisoners who had committed heinous acts. Instead of being murdered by their captors, they would be forced to work as permanent servants of the community or tribe. In many bygone civilizations, slavery was the mainstay that enabled them to achieve the glory and reputation that they still enjoy to this day. Ancient civilizations such as those of Egypt, Greece, and the Roman Empire were all built on the backs of thousands of slaves. The modern world’s main superpower would also base its economy, during the early years of its existence, on the institution of slavery. SLAVERY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD Egypt According to Redford, the civilization of Ancient Egypt existed between 5500 B.C. and 332 B.C (Redford 31). During this 4,200-year time line, slaves created numerous structures in the different dynasties; the most famous of which were the pyramids that still remain today. In the course of its colorful existence, the civilization of Ancient Egypt developed an advanced socio-political establishment and even developed schools for its scholars. According to Redford, it is slaves who worked in extremely dangerous conditions, with thousands of them dying in the process, to create structures such as the famous pyramids of Giza (Redford 32). Egyptian records from this bygone era have also shown that slaves were not just presumed to be the property of their masters in the physical earthy life but also their chattels in the afterlife. It was not unusual for the slaves of a rich man, along with his favorite wives, to be murdered upon his death so that they could continue to serve their master in the next life. The most famous account of the existence of slaves in Egypt is found in the Old Testament where the record of the Israelite slaves living in Egypt between 1400 and 1200 BC is documented. It is unlikely that only Jewish slaves were kept in Egypt (Redford 34). There were probably slaves of different ethnicities working in Egypt. From recorded documents, it is evident that there were even instances where poor families sold their children to be slaves in wealthy families. This would ensure that their children were fed constantly while allowing them also to be able to feed the remaining family members. People who ran into debt could also sell themselves into slavery or become the indentured servants of the people whom they owed money. Even though slaves occupied the lowest rung of Egyptian society, the ones who worked for rich masters such as temple priests, wealthy businessmen, or the royal family fared better than the peasants who owned land. This is because peasants had to give a part of their crops as taxes whether they experienced good harvests or not while slaves were dependent on their masters’ largesse. Ancient Greece In ancient Greece, which existed between the Bronze Age and remained until around 1000BC, slavery was also a recognized institution in society. According to Reilly, for every free citizen in Athens there was a slave (Reilly 62). Any male citizen in Greece who had a modest salary could procure the services of a slave to perform duties in his business, as a servant in his home, or even for personal services. In ancient Greece, slaves were often prisoners of war, or people who had been born of slaves. Moreover, there were many slaves who had actually been kidnapped from their home nations and brought to Athens to be sold as slaves or male and female concubines. In city states such as Athens, slaves could aspire to become physicians. They were given more freedom; and, depending on their masters, were treated with respect for the most part. However, in city states such as Sparta, Sicily, and Thessaly, slaves were treated quite badly (Reilly 67). They were often forced to work in dangerous mines where there was a possibility that there would be deaths caused by the collapse of the roofs of the mine. They could also be punished by maiming for refusing to obey any orders. This type of treatment was not unique to ancient Greece. In the Middle East, from which the writers of the older testament would come, slavery was an acknowledged institution that had existed even before recorded history. The King of Babylon, Hammurabi, when writing the Code of Hammurabi in 1750 BC spoke approvingly of the institution of slavery as being a necessity in any civilization. In the Roman Empire, which lasted from 27 BC until its fall in AD 476, slavery was the most important institution even though this is hardly ever articulated. As the Roman Empire expanded through the annexation of new lands, slaves were the main booty. Thousands of women, men, and children from captured territories were put to work in constructions in Rome or in the provinces. Others served as the personal slaves of the Roman legions. It is due to the hard work of these slaves that the Roman Empire began to develop exponentially. The Roman and Byzantium Empires Soon, the slaves worked in every facet of life in the Roman society. Roman farmers worked with them when tilling their fields (Bodel 182). Slaves were also used for mining purposes in the mining fields. Slaves from European colonies were also used for household chores and as personal slaves who met the sexual needs of their masters. In the Roman Empire, slaves were drawn from different ethnic backgrounds- from as far as the Sahara in Africa and the furthermost European nations such as Russia (Bodel 183). The Byzantine Empire succeeded the Roman Empire and also encouraged the formation of a robust slavery institution. In the Byzantine Empire, which existed for more than a millennium, slavery developed a unique character (Rotman and Todd 101). The Byzantines were the first society to look upon slaves as being human and not just property that had no rights. Moreover, this would not stop them from using slaves as their predecessors had before them. Most Europeans communities and nations after the collapse of the Byzantium Empire held slaves and viewed slavery as a profitable institution that was god-ordained. According to Rotman and Todd, in 1086 alone, approximately 10% of people living in Britain were slaves (Rotman and Todd 105). The Scandinavian Vikings often traded in slaves from all nations and ethnic backgrounds in public markets between 800 and 1050 AD. According to Joshel, many history scholars believe that Russia was probably created as an independent nation in the 9th century, when the Vikings often passed it as they passed with their cargo into Byzantium from Scandinavia (Joshel 139). It is only in the coming centuries that the feudal system would take hold in many European nations and the slavery institution would be changed in favor of the development of serfdom. CONTINUING SLAVERY IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD Nations in Asia, Africa, and South America also supported the institution of slavery. In China, emperors and rich land owners often had thousands of workers in their services. These numbers included eunuchs who protected the harem where the wives and concubines of the rulers were secluded. Moreover, in Chinese society, trusted or beloved slaves sometimes took over the properties of childless masters upon their deaths. In nations such as India, slavery was such an important part of society that it was even mentioned in the ‘Law of Manu’- which is a central part of Hindu scriptures which were written around the first century BC (Joshel 47). Before the Europeans arrived in South and North America, civilizations such as the Aztecs, the Callinago, the Maya, and the Olmec owned slaves. In South America, groups like the Inca, the Tupinamba, and the Tehuelche were slave-owning communities (Acemoglu, Garcia-Jimeno and Robinson 535). In these societies, slaves were probably treated worse than they were in many parts of the world. It was not uncommon for slaves to be sacrificed whenever there were new edifices being constructed so that, according to the superstitious tribes, the spirits of the dead slaves could hold up the pillars of the new buildings or even protect it from evil. American Indian tribes also often made blood sacrifices using slaves to their fearsome gods. On special occasions, slaves would also be cannibalized by tribe members to celebrate different events. THE FEUDAL SYSTEM Feudalism, which replaced slavery in medieval Europe, was an economic system founded on the concept of apportioning land in return for the provision of service and fealty. In this system, the King of a European nation would give land to loyal noblemen who would then be titled as barons (Bennet 201). The churches also benefited from these exchanges. The nobles, as well as the priests, would then take up the cause of their sovereign and fight for him when war broke out. The nobles were at liberty to further divide their land among lesser lords who then became their vassals. The serfs, who occupied the lowest rank in this hierarchical ladder, were allowed to farm the land in exchange for gaining their food from a measure of the Lord ’s Table or crops (Bennet 209). With the further development of the Feudal system, the serfs were increasingly treated as slaves who had no right to move away or even wed without the permission of their lords. The serfs were actually still slaves, even though the Church, which was quite active then, discouraged any such thoughts and instead encouraged them to view themselves as being workers who were pleasing god through their hard work. CAUSES OF EUROPEAN SLAVERY The commercial pursuits of Europeans after 1400 marked the expansion of their trade pursuits. In addition, the advancement of naval technology allowed Europeans to travel to nations that had people who looked quite different from them. This would result in the revival of the institution of slavery. In this renewal of slavery, the institution came to be based on race. Even though there were White serfs who were forced to work as hard as Africans, they were mainly viewed as being indentured servants and not really slaves. With the formation of colonies, European governments asserted that other peoples were less than human and so could be forced to serve as slaves. Europeans benefited from the social structures in African societies that allowed for slavery. There were many African communities which used slaves or even traded in them (Hawthorne 29). However, this caused an unforeseen result as the Europeans began to use their superior technology to overwhelm and demand for more slaves. The Europeans also needed more workers to work in farms in colonies or even mine for precious minerals. The peoples who had lived in these colonies before the arrival of the Europeans, the American Indian tribes, had died off in large numbers from diseases contracted from the Europeans to which they had no natural immunity. The American Indians had also been massacred by the Europeans in large numbers. Slave labor was relatively cheap to obtain and the Africans, who worked in the tropics in their own nations, were accustomed to working in equatorial conditions and so were not likely to die off in large numbers if transported to new lands. Soon, the slave trade became a lucrative industry that made a lot of money for a few individuals. The economies of certain areas such as the Southern states in the United States were entirely dependent on crops such as cotton which were farmed by slaves. In 1807, the trade in slaves was banned in England as a result of the government being pressured by conscientious men like William Wilberforce (Nunn 140). The American government’s ban on the import of slaves to American shores was largely ignored because the slave trade was too profitable in the United States. In 1820, the slave trade was declared to be illegal. Instead of curbing this evil practice, this aw had the opposite effect as the price of slaves greatly increased. Desperate to hold onto people that they considered to be their personal property, farmers in the United States would viciously punish or even execute slaves who tried to run away in order to make them serve as a lesson to any other slaves who thought of fleeing. According to Inikori, by 1860, slaves who were forced to work in farms in the United States were worth more than all of the nation’s banks (Inikori 173). To make more profits, there were even cases of genocide in Africa where tribes would conduct raids into their enemies’ camps and capture hundreds of prisoners that they would then sell to European of Arab middlemen as slaves (Sacerdote, 231). It was only after the Civil War that slavery was completely eradicated. CONCLUSION Today, all existing national governments agree that slavery is wrong and have passed laws outlawing this practice. This, however, does not mean that working in slave-like conditions is a thing of the past. At its core, the institution of slavery is merely a cruel perversion of the economic principle that stipulates that the best way to realize profits can be achieved through the minimization of labor costs. In the present global economy, there is a seemingly limitless demand for inexpensive products and services that has formed a vast invisible market for quickly replenished supplies of menial workers. There are many national as well as international organizations fighting to ensure that the individuals who are caught up in such organizations are rescued. Works Cited Acemoglu, Daron, Camilo Garcia-Jimeno & James Robinson. “Finding El-dorado: Slavery and long-run development in Colombia.” Journal of Comparative Economics 40.4 (2012): 534-564. Bennet, Judith. Medieval Europe: A Short History. San Francisco: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2010. Print. Bodel, John. “Caveat emptor: towards a study of Roman slave traders.” JRA 18 (2005): 181-195 Hawthorne, Walter. Planting Rice and Harvesting slaves: Transformations along the guinea Bissau Coast, 1400–1900. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003. Inikori, Joseph. “The Struggle against the Transatlantic Slave Trade: The Role of the State.” In fighting the slave Trade: West African strategies, ed. Sylviane A. Diouf, 170–98. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2003. Joshel, Sandra. Slavery in the Roman World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Nunn, Nathan. “The Long-Term Effects of Africa’s Slave Trades.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 123.1 (2008): 139–76. Redford, Donald. From Slave to Pharaoh: The Black Experience of Ancient Egypt. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. Print. Reilly. Slaves in Ancient Greece. New York: Ares Publishers Inc., 2003. Print. Rotman, Youval & Jane Marie Todd. Byzantine Slavery and the Mediterranean World. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009. Print. Sacerdote, Bruce. “Slavery and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 87.2 (2005): 217-234. Read More