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How Did Slavery Develop

180 bytes added, 11:20, 23 November 2016
Early Developments
Slavery also developed as a form of punishment for individuals who defaulted on debt. As societies became monetized by the 3rd millennium BCE, slavery became a way in which individuals were punished for falling into debt. The issue of debt increasingly became a problem as individuals had to borrow to rent land and property to conduct agriculture. If a bad harvest occurred, then debt was a likely result. In effect, slavery not only reflect the social inequality that had developed to a pronounced level by the 3rd millennium BCE, but it reflects that society had developed a system that punished those who failed to maintain that system even if was not their fault they had gone into debt. People were also born into slavery, as children of slaves.
In New Kingdom Egypt, by the late second millennium BCE, slavery did develop to the point where the excesses of owners was somewhat checked. Laws became established that forbid the over-exploitation of child labor, for instance. Ancient China developed similar laws that protected slaves from over abuse. Slavery in China seems to have developed similarly to other parts in the world where warfare and debt were the leading reasons people became slaves.<ref>For more on concepts of social justice and slavery, see: Irani, K. D., & Silver, M. (Eds.). (1995). Social justice in the ancient world. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.</ref>
==Racial Slavery==

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