What is SLAVERY and its characteristics

One of the most durable production systems in the history of mankind is the slavery, being the base of the economy during the Old age and remaining as a relevant value for much of the history of mankind. To know one of the most relevant models that the human being has had throughout its existence in this lesson from a Teacher, we must talk about what is slavery and its characteristics.

The slavery or slavery is he human production system based on forced labor. Slaves were the social class that was used for these tasks, workers who did not receive money for their work and, therefore, must carry out their activities without economic support.

The slaves they do not have any rights, neither social nor economic, are treated as objects by the owners, and, therefore, suffer numerous abuses which can sometimes cause death due to mistreatment suffered during their work or as a result of this.

The system was especially relevant in ancient times, since before feudalism or capitalism, slavery was the basic production system of society. In this era where it predominated, it was common for the laws to set the reasons for slavery, being possible because they were defeated in battle, because they had conquered your lands or due to debts.

To continue with the information related to this important element of human history we must speak on the main characteristics of slavery, being essential to understand the production system. The main characteristics of slavery They are:

• The slaves had no no protection, not being considered as proper citizens and being treated like animals, or even worse.
• They were the base of the social pyramid, not existing any social class at the same level as them and being treated by all citizens as inferior beings.
• They did not have a fixed working day concrete, but they had to work all the hours that the master wanted, causing thousands of deaths due to the endless working hours.
• They had no salary, but they did have to receive from the employer elements such as food, clothing or shelter, all of this being the basic thing so that the slave could survive just enough so that the system could be maintained.
• If for any reason, such as the gladiators in Rome who were freed by the emperor, the slaves were released they had to give a economic amount to his master, as a way to reward him for the loss of property.
• Slavery it was hereditary, the children of slaves were also slaves and it was very difficult for them to stop being so throughout their lives.
• Although slaves were generally war losers, it was also common for slave traders to they will bring them from distant lands and they would trade them as if they were merchandise.
• Although the slave system was the predominant one during the Ancient Age, remained during the following years, appearing in numerous cultures until not many years ago.
• The violence It was common against slaves and it was not frowned upon, with many being beaten up and all too common for them to die from it.
• The State itself helped control the slaves, since they were persecuted by the security forces of the nation if they escaped from the masters.
• The economy was based on slavery, being the basic engine of production at the time.

To conclude this lesson on what slavery is and its characteristics, we must briefly talk about the history of slavery to understand its evolution and how it went from being the unique system to a much more secondary.

We do not know exactly what the origin of slavery is, since although the first sources we have date from Mesopotamia in the 6th century BC. C. It seems to be something as old as the human being and that surely already existed during Prehistory.

The first cultures that based their economic and productive system on slavery were Rome and Greece, which took advantage of their numerous conquests and victories in battles to take a large number of slaves and, thanks to this, sustain their system. Although it was the only known production system, already at this time the slave revolts of those who wanted to put the system aside, an example being the Servile Wars in Rome, especially the uprising of Spartacus and the rest of Roman gladiators.

With the passage from the Ancient Ages to the Middle Ages and the emergence of feudalism, slavery was much less common, since the social class of serf was in charge of the tasks. Still slavery stayed strong in some areas such as Scandinavia, Byzantium or in much of the Muslim soil, it being the case for both Scandinavians and Muslims to use Christians as slaves. Was the influence of christianity which made slavery disappear in these areas over the years.

During much of the Middle Ages and Modern Ages, slavery was maintained in much of the world, although in a very small number, being used especially in the colonies and using African people for them. Over the years, slavery was banned in all countries, the last being Mauritania in 1980.