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  • Essay / The History of Slavery: From Antiquity to the Present

    The history of slavery spans many cultures, nationalities, and religions, from ancient times to the present. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The first record of slavery dates back to 1860 BC, where it is considered an established institution and it was common in ancient times. The Ottoman Wars resulted in the taking of large numbers of Christian slaves, and slavery became more common in many parts of Europe during the Dark Ages. Denmark and Norway were the first European countries to ban the slave trade in 1802. By the early 19th century, an estimated three-quarters of the population were held against their will in either slavery or serfdom , or the status of many peasants under the feudal regime. New Zealand played a major role in Pacific slave labor and trade, although this has been almost erased from our national consciousness. This involvement sparked mass protests in major cities. Even after America outlawed slavery, many New Zealanders were involved in a peaceful slave trade. In the 1860s and 1870s, at least 32 New Zealand ships transported slaves from the Pacific Islands to destinations in Fiji, Queensland, Samoa and Tahiti. By the late 1860s, at least 50 ships were working full time to supply workers to plantations in Queensland and Fiji. At that time, it was impossible to ignore slavery in the Pacific and Kiwis adopted a schizophrenic attitude, both condemning it and denying the seriousness of the country's involvement. For most settlers, New Zealand was a blessed country because it had rich soil and a mild climate, perfect for nation building. It became a farm and a jewel in the eyes of the British Empire, a place where women and men of all backgrounds could achieve complete independence and purchase their own land. This country began to enter an economic crisis and the prices of sugar and cotton increased. For this reason, many producers began employing “labor recruiters,” also known as “blackbirds.” These people unloaded shiploads of men, women and even children and offered them for sale. They used many tactics to get people on board their boats in order to sell them. These tactics included promising trade, putting them in chains, raiding the islands and taking prisoners at gunpoint or promising to transport the islanders to a destination, employ them for a short time with good salary or take them to a mission station. Of course, these were empty promises, because nothing good was in store for these workers. One island in the New Hebrides alone received more than 40 different visits from blackbirds and lost almost 450 out of a population of 900. Sometimes people were paid to track down and deliver workers, whatever the cost. Blackbirds commonly claimed that their prisoners had agreed to work for a period of time on a plantation, sometimes producing contracts supporting these claims. In theory, after being delivered to a plantation, a blackbird islander could expect to work for three to five years, six days a week before receiving a small amount of money and being sent home. In reality, many workers died from neglect or overwork before their shift ended. Those who lived long enough to putend of their contract were placed on ships and often sent to the nearest country, where they risked being killed by the local population. Life was hard for work and there was no escape. Workers who deserted their plantations were hunted down and beaten, sometimes to the point of death or near death. Economists believe that slavery stopped economic growth in the southern United States of America. At least one argued that reluctant workers depleted the land more quickly because the South was an agrarian society where tobacco, rice, sugar, cotton, wheat, and hemp, the plant of cannabis grown for its fibers, ensured the economy. These reluctant slaves also had little interest in learning and therefore had no interest in learning the latest agricultural techniques, slowing progress. Other economists believe that slavery made it difficult for the South to establish trade networks with other countries and with the northern United States of America. Slavery also forced farmers to diversify their economic activities because the costs of owning a slave—food and housing—were constant. If plantations specialized in one type of crop, then they were more likely to suffer sudden drops in income and, consequently, heavy losses if their crops did not produce as well from one year to the next. By diversifying their crops, they had a more stable income, corresponding to the costs of the slave. Slave owners, because they had a wide range of crops available, sometimes found it easier to grow something than to go out and buy it, meaning that store revenues in the area were felt the loss , affecting the region's economy. As a result, the south struggled to develop a manufacturing industry, relying instead on imports from the north. This meant that economic growth was stifled, which ultimately led to the demise of slavery. This disappearance occurred because the direct impact of using human beings as capital equipment represented a terrible economic cost and because slavery contained many economic contradictions. The fall and eradication of slavery made as much economic sense as slavery itself. Slavery gave African Americans a mindset that could not be changed about how they should act and speak. Some slaves were humiliated and used as examples in front of other slaves and Africans, reinforcing the idea that they were worthless and deserved everything that happened to them. Slave owners made slaves believe that anything white was good no matter what. Because of this, many slaves had very low self-esteem and believed that everything black was bad, including them, which caused them to hate themselves. This is an example of the brainwashing the slaves had to endure, being told these kinds of things every day until they no longer believed anything. It affected their minds differently depending on what they were told. Most have had adverse effects, but not all. Slaves were degraded and stripped of all pride until they had nothing left. They were forced to fight, sometimes even to the death, just for the entertainment and joy of the slave owners. This act of cruelty was called Mandinka fighting and caused great guilt in slaves when they had to kill or harshly beat another person. Many African women were sexually abused most of the time, and simply used and discarded by their owners. Being used in this way weakened,.