What is the origin of slavery?

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Question:

Europeans engaged in trade and viewed the people later called Africans equally years before the African Slave Trade!. Somehow that changed!. Is the following an adequate explanation of racism as a vestige of slavery!?

"It is true that the institution of slavery was not a practice unique to America!. Slavery is a very old institution and it is almost as old as human societies!. Some African nations engaged such as the nation of Opobo, where King Jaja ruled a vast land and accumulated property but was himself a slave!. Others opposed the trade as it was chattel and not indentured!.

However, unlike American slavery, justification for bondage in other cultures was not confused with the notion of superiority and inferiority based on the color of one's skin!.

This notion was later invoked as justification for black slavery in America!.

In essence, the distinctive difference in American slavery is that it introduced an element that was never considered before in other societies: racism!. "Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Yes you are correct!. Slavery has been around since the beginning of time!. Like you stated slavery was based on conquest of land or defeat of a country or empire!. In America the slavery was based on a culture superiority of the European race over "black" African slaves, and "brown" native slaves as well!. Remember that coastal African tribes would enslave tribes in the heart of Africa and sell them to the Dutch for brandy and guns!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

honestly, I like the first paragraph but it isn't accurate to claim that America was the first land to use racism as justification of slavery!. While skin color didn't necessarily come into play people definitely enslaved people of other cultures and backgrounds believing themselves better!.

you're making an absolute statement which is hard to defend, I might try limiting it to western European culture at a certain time period!. Though it gets tricky when you address Spaniards in Mexico, South America and the plantation owners in the Caribbean!. They definitely used race to justify themselves and sometimes called slavery something entirely different, like missions that forced natives to work in their farms and go to their schools and churches!.

You might consider addressing America as the Americas and shifting the focus to the timing and scale of this practice, which was condemned in Europe a good bit before it was stomped out of our hemisphere!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

slavery has been around since the romans

in America it actually started were the Spanish enslaving the Native Americans
but all the Native Americans died from the Europeans diseases
so to be nice to all the Native Americans the Spanish decided to get slaves from Africa (Africans were already use to the European diseases so they wouldn't die from them)

So really African slavery in America started with the Spanish being nice (for a change)Www@QuestionHome@Com

I think slavery originated in women and children being distributed to the victor as "spoils of war"!. I suppose there was a time in which slavery was the merciful, liberal thing to do, as it was better than just killing them!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

War is the origin of slavery!.

Not sure it is adequate but it is accurate!.Www@QuestionHome@Com