Changes

{{Mediawiki:kindleoasis}}[[File:Roman collared slaves - Ashmolean Museum.jpeg|thumbnail|left|350px250px|Figure 1. Relief from the Roman period showing a shackled slave.]]

Slavery was practiced in ancient Greece, where most slaves appear to have been war captives. Debt bondage, similar to the Near East and elsewhere could lead to a form of slavery, but this could be a temporary status and one could buy or earn their freedom, which was also true in the ancient Near East. Sparta may have had one of the largest slave systems. While it is hard to say what was legend and what was truth, the so-called Helots were a class of slaves that may have derived from a conquered city (Helos). Subsequent slaves were then called Helots. Sparta's slaves seem to all belong to the state and were essentially a class, where the Helots formed their own families and kin groups.  In Athens, slavery was often at a private level and slaves were owned by individual households. Slave revolts began to become a problem as slaves began to outnumber their masters. In effect, by allowing slaves to have their families and also perpetuating the bondage of slavery for individuals inevitably led to populations of slaves increasing and revolting against their bondage. In ancient Rome, slaves were often privately owned. Famous slave revolts include those by gladiators such as Spartacus (Figure 1).<ref>For more on slavery in Greece, see: Wiedemann, T. (1994). <i>Greek and Roman slavery</i> (Reprinted). London: Routledge.</ref>

[[File:Navio negreiro - Rugendas 1830.jpeg|thumbnail|left|350px250px|Figure 2. Black slaves being sent to Brazil.]]

However, racial-based slavery emerged as a new strand of slavery by the early Medieval period. Initially, Arab slave traders began to raid and establish slave colonies in Africa. The slaves, or called <i>zanj</i>, began to originate from Sub-Saharan Africa, which took advantage of other slave trade existing within Africa. Colonies soon developed, such as Zanzibar, that began as important ports for slave traders connecting the Arab Middle East and Africa. As many of these slaves were black, slavery over time began to be associated with racial aspects.  No longer were slaves racially indistinguishable from others in society based on their skin color. Slavery and being black began to be associated together during the Medieval period.<ref>For more on the history of the early Arab slave trade, see: Curtis, V. S., Stewart, S., London Middle East Institute, & British Museum (Eds.). (2009). <i>The Rise of Islam</i>. London ; New York : New York: I. B. Tauris in association with The London Middle East Institute at SOAS and The British Museum : Distributed in the U.S. by Palgrave Macmillan, pg. 61.</ref> Slavery, nevertheless, did continue to be applied to people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. White Europeans, for instance, were sometimes enslaved by Arab traders and others, such as Viking raiders.

Nevertheless, the beginning of associating slavery with race in Europe began near the time of the discovery of the New World. The key change was the collapse of the Silk Road as a leading trade route in the Old World and the rise of transatlantic trade. The origin of Western race-based slavery began slightly earlier in the 15th century, with the Portuguese engaging more with Africa. From the beginning, slaves were often captured by other Africans in their inter-tribal wars. However, the New World presented itself as a vast area that needed a lot of labor and this substantially pushed the slave trade to new levels.  For much of the African slave trade's history, European slave traders simply traded with Africans for slaves, where the slaves were then shipped to the New World as it became a major economic and political focus. The trade of slaves to the New World became associated with high intensity agricultural labor, such as the production of coffee and sugar cane, which were two emerging products in Europe in the 15-16th centuries (Figure 2).

By the 19th century, and after the American Civil War, most European and Western states had banned slavery. However, it continued to persist in many parts of the world. Slavery continued to be legal in the Persian Gulf emirates into the 1960s. However, in the 20th century, slavery once again transformed. This time, it reverted back into something that was more market driven but not based as much on race, although certain ethnic groups have been subject to slavery due to the countries of origin. High wage differences between first and third world countries has led to forms of servitude that promises financial rewards but often leads to abuse and bondage. In some states in the West, Middle East, and East Asia, human trafficking has become a problem where prostitution, legalized and illegal forms, and manufacturing have led to Eastern Europeans, Central and South Americans, South Asians, and East Asians in particular being put into positions of virtual slavery. Although slavery is now universally illegally, human trafficking can be found in nearly every country.<ref>For more on modern slavery, see: Davidson, J. (2015). <i>Modern Slavery: The Margins of Freedom</i>. London New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.</ref>

*[[How did the Bubonic Plague make the Italian Renaissance possible]]*[[Top {{#dpl:category=United States History|ordermethod=firstedit|order=descending|count=10 Books on the origins of the Italian Renaissance]]*[[Why was Alexander the Great So Successful In His Conquests?]]*[[What Factors Led to the Creation of the First Cities?]]*[[Why did the Italian Renaissance End?]]}}