Human slavery began in prehistoric times.
Originally, it had nothing to do with race: It was a system of using prisoners of war as servants or laborers for those who had captured them. Other slaves were criminals or people who could not pay their debts. Ancient Greeks, Romans, Africans, and Egyptians enslaved whomever they conquered.
In early European cultures, slaves were servants owned by rich people.
In the early 1500s, the Atlantic slave trade began when Spanish and Portuguese ships began transporting African slaves to the West Indies.
Related Posts
-
Who opposed slavery in the 1700s and Did anyone protest slavery in early America?
Slavery was always controversial. Antonio Montesino and Bartolome de las Casas, sixteenth-century Spanish missionaries in North America, were critical of slavery. In the seventeenth century, English and American Quakers opposed slavery and the…
-
How did slaves in Colonial America protest slavery in the 1700s?
There were many instances of violent slave revolts during the American colonial period. These were very desperate actions, because they were doomed to fail. The most famous slave revolts were led by Gabriel…
-
How did the freed slaves prepare themselves to be a part of American life after slavery ended?
After the end of the Civil War, blacks all over the United States gathered in groups of all sizes to discuss their future in America and American politics. One such gathering was the…
-
Where Did the Santa Fe Trail Begin and End and Did the Santa Fe Trail Begin In St. Louis?
The Santa Fe Trail started in Independence, Missouri, near Kansas City. The Santa Fe Trail was the 780 mile long (1,256 km long) route that settlers, cattlemen, and traders followed southwest through Kansas…
-
How Did Galen Study Human Anatomy When the Romans and Egyptians Did Not Allow Human Dissection?
In Galen's time, the Roman Empire ruled Greece. Like the Greeks, the Romans did not believe in human dissection. Galen was able to find other ways to answer his questions about human anatomy.…
-
Who Discovered Human Anatomy and created the first scientific guide to the structure of the human body?
The human anatomy references used by doctors through the year A.D. 1500 were actually based mostly on animal studies, more myth and error than truth. Andreas Vesalius was the first to insist on…
