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A slave is a human being who is owned by another human being through birth, purchase, or capture. A slave can be bought, sold, hired out, exchanged, given as a gift, or inherited. They dont have rights, the law doesnt protect them, and their masters rule over them. Their masters can treat them as they wish, and the slaves work with no pays what so ever. Since ancient times, people of all cultures were deprived of their rights through slavery.
Many people may wonder about when slavery began or how it started. Well, about 10, 000 years ago, people developed farming which gave them more food than they desired. Therefore, they came up with a theory, instead of killing their enemies, why cant they hold their enemies as prisoners, feed them with the extra food, and make them work for their owners. That is the main reason why slavery began. Ever since then, slavery in ancient times became a part of common life. Slavery was an accepted feature, often essential to the economy and society, of all ancient civilizations.
The ancient Mesopotamian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations employed slaves, either domestically in homes and shops or in gangs for large-scale construction or agriculture. The ancient Egyptians used slaves on a mass scale to build the royal palaces and monuments. The ancient Hebrews also used slaves, but they were required by religious law to free slaves of their own nationality at certain fixed times. In the more advanced civilizations of pre-Columbian America, for example, those of the Aztec, Inca, and Maya, slave labor was also used on a large scale in both agriculture and warfare. In the Homeric epics, slavery is the ordinary destiny of prisoners of war. The later Greek philosophers did not consider the condition of slavery as morally objectionable, although Aristotle went so far as to suggest that faithful slaves might be freed in reward for loyal service.
With few exceptions, slaves in ancient Greece were humanely treated. However, the Helots of Sparta conquered race of inhabitants who were forced to labor on large estates. The Spartan armies were severely treated, mainly because they far outnumbered their dependent masters. More typically, slaves were employed in domestic service, in trades, as laborers on country estates, and as seamen and oarsmen.
Where they were employed in private domestic service, it was not uncommon to find them on friendly terms with their masters. Roman slavery differed in several important aspects from that of ancient Greece. Roman masters had more power over their slaves, including the power of life and death. Slavery was also far more necessary to the economy and social system of Rome, especially during the empire.
Wealthy Romans, often maintaining large city and country homes, depended on numerous slaves for the efficient operation of these households. Imperial conquests and expansion eventually strained the native Roman work force, so great numbers of foreign slaves had to be imported to fill agricultural labor needs. The primary way of acquiring slaves was through war; tens of thousands of captured prisoners of war were brought to Rome as slaves. Other sources of slaves were debtors and persons convicted of serious crimes. Ultimately, dependence on slavery contributed significantly to Rome's downfall. The introduction of Christianity, its adoption as the official religion of the Roman Empire, and its subsequent spread over Europe and parts of the Middle East during the Middle Ages tended to improve the conditions but did not eliminate the practice of slavery.
After the fall of Rome, the ancient institution of slavery was transformed into the generally less binding system known as serfdom. In Rome, slaves were put up for sale like sheep. Roman slaves were from dozens of diverse cultures. Even enslaving children became common in Rome! Many poor people were forced to sell their children into slavery.
This way, they made extra money, but some were also forced into slavery. Islam, established in the 7 th century, recognized the institution of slavery from the beginning. The Prophet Muhammad urged his followers to use slaves kindly. Slaves owned by Muslims were comparatively well treated. Most were employed as domestic servants. In the Near East kingdoms of Sumer, Babylon, and Assyria, people were divided into two basic classes.
The first class consisted of free people. The other consisted of slaves. The class of the free people were particularly princes, priests, soldiers, craftsmen, tradesmen, and professionals. The others were slaves. All slaves knew that if war had gone the opposite way, everything would have been reversed. Because of this, slaves accepted slavery as a part of life.
Unlike the majority of slavery today, back then, enslavement had nothing to do with race or color. Instead, all slaves were alike, and were treated equal. Around 4, 000 years ago, Hebrews moved to the Nile Delta and prospered. Later, when Egyptians started to enslave foreigners, Hebrews were enslaved for centuries.
Moses later led the Hebrews to their escape from Egypt. After 40 years in the desert, they finally found the Promised Land, Canaan. They then found what became the Hebrew kingdom, a free land. Rulers of Egypt were called pharaohs and were considered godlike and powerful. Most slaves of Egypt worked in palaces or temples. The slaves built pyramids for the pharaohs tombs.
These slaves were private, meaning nobody could buy them. The pharaohs were their only owners. Small nations thrived when the Egyptian Empire began to weaken. Hebrews, or Israelites, were among the thriving people. Even though Hebrews were enslaved, they also made slaves of others. Most of the slaves were prisoners.
Some of the slaves were purchased from traders. Fellow Hebrews were also enslaved for not paying debts. They worked for landowners, merchants, and moneylenders. Slavery for Hebrews was not permanent according to law. To free slaves was an act of good merit.
Another nation that possessed slavery was China. The first version of the Great Wall of China was built by slave labor. Poor peasants even sold their children and / or themselves into slavery. Many criminals who committed severe crimes in China also became slaves. Instead of serving time in prisons, the people of China put them to work in slavery. About 3, 000 years ago, Greek slavery began to develop into the world.
The Greek people made prisoners of war slaves. Other peoples that they made slaves of were people in debt and people from foreign lands. Slaves were also bought with businessmen's money. The Greek slaves produced textiles, pottery, armor, and weapons.
Every corner of the earth was involved in slavery at one time or another. Every people on earth had been its victim. Even rich and famous people such as princes and million air...
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Research essay sample on 000 Years Ago Prisoners Of War
