Western History 153: How did slavery manifest itself in the Western World?

Slavery as an institution has a ubiquitous presence across a multitude of civilizations. In fact the absence of slavery for a prolonged period is more of the exception than the norm within the generalized timeline of  history.  People have been enslaved for a variety of reasons that include debt bondage, war imprisonment and the economic rationale of forced or unfree labour. 

Many slaves were tied to the land (serfs) while others were traded as one would commodities or property (chattel or traditional slavery). Whatever the rationale there is  no discounting the notion that slavery, despite its diversity of severity,  was largely a  dehumanizing experience for its victims. Its eradication in the Western world of what was once seen as a staple ought to be celebrated as a milestone in both the moral and legal development of the civilization.

The realization that it still exists elsewhere (some have put the global slave population at around 40 million – largely in West Africa and the Middle East according to the Global Slave Index – 71% of these are female and 1 in 4 are children) remains though as a blight on our universal humanity.

All of the great civilizations of the Ancient world – Egypt, Greece and Rome – made use of a slave workforce. While this brought with it economic benefits the downside of slave rebellions (such as though seen during Rome’s servile wars) added to the instability of the slave system. Slave numbers in the Roman world (largely white Europeans) numbered in the tens of millions.

Slavery during Roman Times source: historyonthenet.com

Within the European continent itself slavery decreased as populations grew after the Fall of the Roman Empire. It became more profitable to pay workers than to fund overseers/taskmasters to keep the slaves in check. The Catholic church took a hardline against the use of Christian slaves  (although this was not the case with respect to their stance on pagans, Muslims and other non-believers) and even though serfdom persisted until the mid 15^th century in Western Europe  by the year 1200 traditional slavery within the continent itself was largely a relic of earlier times. The Vikings who had engaged in slave trading had disappeared as a force and slave rebellions in the Arab world had weakened the appetite for European slaves.

Nevertheless the Mid-East slave trade that largely involved the Arabs and had a death toll of 18 million Africans and half a million Europeans lasted from the seventh to the nineteenth century.

Map showing how Africa was exploited for the Mid-East slave Trade source: cs.mcgill.ca

However on the European periphery (Russia for example) the institution (largely serfdom) still survived and with the colonization of the Americas the slave system was employed in the large single crop plantation system. Slave gang systems acted as processing lines.  They were imported from West Africa with the co-operation of local chieftains and slave traders (middlemen). Compensation for the traders was paid for by gold, trinkets, weapons and maize. 

Sir John Hawkins - Notorious British slave trader source: npr.org.uk

On almost all fronts the life of a slave was tragic. Most were acquired through inland raids by trader parties or sold to traders as part of the spoils of war. Wars were often initiated by local trading interests for the sole purpose of acquiring slaves. Many slaves were marched over great distances with captives often dying en route to the ports. At the ports the slaves were selected based on physicality and sold to the European or Arab interests. The slave population shipped across the ocean to the Americas was disproportionately male.

Map showing the Tran-Atlantic Slave Trade source: abolition. e2bn.org

Conditions on board the ships were horrendous. Privacy was non-existent and the slaves were chained together below deck in great filth often wallowing in their own waste. They were fed sustainable meals but this did not do much to reduce the horrors of the trans-Atlantic voyage that in itself cost many lives.

Upon arrival in the New World the slaves were sold to their new owners and then seasoned to acclimatize to the new conditions. While the seasoning work was often less intense then the brutal Plantation work (in sugar and cotton fields)  that followed, it too took a toll on the slaves. Adapting to a new environment with its novel diseases would prove costly.

Slaves on board a slave trade ship source: britannica.com

Historian Matthew White puts the death toll of the Atlantic Slave trade at 16 million making it the 10^th largest Genocide in human history. The trade lasted from 1452 to 1807 and involved the nations of France, Great Britain. Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United States. Slaves were acquired from the Ashanti, Benin, Dahomey, Kongo, Lunda and Oyo Kingdoms of Africa.  The chief colonies that received the slaves were Brazil, Carolina, Cuba, Georgia, Jamaica, Maryland, Saint-Domingue and Virginia. Much of the slave trade (especially the early part) coincides with the age of exploration.

Slaves being marched to the Trading Ports source: keepthefaith.co.uk
However by the 18^th century thinkers from the Scottish Enlightenment  (such as Adam Smith) made both an economic and moral case for the abolition of slavery. As a system it was simply incompatible with Liberalism. Opposition against slavery came as well from religious groups such as the Quakers. A strong Abolition movement would over the next century deal a sharp blow to slavery.

A breakdown of slavery deaths source: web.stanford.edu