In pre-industrial societies, slaves and their labour were economically extremely important. In modern mechanised societies, there is less need for sheer massive manpower; Norbert Wiener wrote that "mechanical labor has most of the economic properties of slave labor, though... it does not involve the direct demoralizing effects of human cruelty."[12]
Contents |
The English word slave comes from Old French sclave, from the Medieval Latin sclavus, from the Byzantine Greek σκλάβος.
The word σκλάβος, in turn, comes from the ethnonym 'Slav', because in some wars in early mediaeval times many Slavs were captured and enslaved.[13][14] An older theory connected it to the Greek verb skyleúo 'to strip a slain enemy'.[15]
Chattel slavery, so named because people are treated as the personal property, chattels, of an owner and are bought and sold as commodities, is the original form of slavery. When taking these chattels across national borders it is referred to as Human Trafficking especially when these slaves provide sexual services.[10]
Debt bondage or bonded labor occurs when a person pledges himself or herself against a loan.[16] The services required to repay the debt, and their duration, may be undefined.[16] Debt bondage can be passed on from generation to generation, with children required to pay off their parents' debt.[16] It is the most widespread form of slavery today.[10]
Forced labor is when an individual is forced to work against his or her will, under threat of violence or other punishment, with restrictions on their freedom.[10] It is also used to describe all types of slavery and may also include institutions not commonly classified as slavery, such as serfdom, conscription and penal labor.
Evidence of slavery predates written records, and has existed in many cultures.[3] Prehistoric graves from about 8000 BC in Lower Egypt suggest that a Libyan people enslaved a San-like tribe.[17] Slavery is rare among hunter-gatherer populations, as slavery is a system of social stratification. Mass slavery also requires economic surpluses and a high population density to be viable. Due to these factors, the practice of slavery would have only proliferated after the invention of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution about 11,000 years ago.[18]
In the earliest known records slavery is treated as an established institution. The Code of Hammurabi (ca. 1760 BC), for example, stated that death was prescribed for anyone who helped a slave to escape, as well as for anyone who sheltered a fugitive.[19] The Hebrew Bible refers uncritically to slavery as an established institution.[3][20]
Slavery was known in almost every ancient civilization, and society, including Sumer, Ancient Egypt, Ancient China, the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, Ancient India, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, the Islamic Caliphate, the Hebrews in Palestine, and the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas.
