Slavery’s Roots: War and Economic Domination
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6800 B.C. The world’s first city-state
emerges in Mesopotamia. Land ownership and the early stages of technology bring
war—in which enemies are captured and forced to work: slavery.
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2575 B.C. Temple art celebrates the capture
of slaves in battle. Egyptians capture slaves by sending special expeditions up
the Nile River.
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550 B.C. The city-state of Athens uses
as many as 30,000 slaves in its silver mines.
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120 A.D. Roman military campaigns
capture slaves by the thousands. Some estimate the population of Rome is more
than half slave.
·
500 Anglo-Saxons enslave the native Britons after
invading England.
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1000 Slavery is a normal practice in England’s rural,
agricultural economy, as destitute workers place themselves and their families
in a form of debt bondage to landowners.
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1380 In the aftermath of the Black Plague, Europe’s slave
trade thrives in response to a labor shortage. Slaves pour in from all over the
continent, the Middle East, and North Africa.
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1444 Portuguese traders bring the first large cargo of
slaves from West Africa to Europe by sea—establishing the Atlantic slave trade.
·
1526 Spanish explorers bring the first African slaves to
settlements in what would become the United States. These first
African-Americans stage the first known slave revolt in the Americas.
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1550 Slaves are depicted as objects of conspicuous
consumption in much Renaissance art.
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1641 Massachusetts becomes the first British colony to
legalize slavery.