Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many cases where laws have been applied to certain categories of people that equate them to property. For example, it is known that such powerful states as Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire were built precisely on the principles of slavery.
Who is a slave?
For millennia, the best minds of mankind, regardless of their national and religious affiliations, fought for the freedom of each individual and argued that all people should be equal in their rights before the law. Unfortunately, it took more than one thousand years before these requirements were reflected in the legal norms of most countries of the world, and before that, many generations of people have experienced what it means to be equated with inanimate objects and deprived of the ability to manage their lives. To the question: "Who is a slave?" can be answered by quoting the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights . In particular, it states that such a definition is suitable for any person who is not in a position to voluntarily refuse to work. In addition, the word "slave" is also called an individual who is owned by another person.
How did slavery arise as a mass phenomenon
No matter how strange this may sound, historians believe that the development of technology served as a prerequisite for enslaving people. The fact is that before an individual was able to create with his own labor a quantity of production greater than what he needed to maintain his life, slavery was not economically feasible, therefore those who were captured were simply killed. The situation changed when, thanks to the advent of new tools, farming became more profitable. The first references to the existence of states where slave labor was used date back to the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. e. Researchers note that we are talking about small kingdoms in Mesopotamia. Numerous references to slaves are found in the Old Testament. In particular, it indicates several reasons why people moved to the lowest level of the social ladder. So, according to this Book of Books, slaves are not only prisoners of war, but also those who were unable to pay the debt, married a slave or thieves who could not return the stolen or compensate the damage. Moreover, the acquisition by a person of such a status meant that his descendants also had practically no legal chances to become free.
Egyptian slaves
To date, historians have not yet come to a consensus on the status of “not free” people in the Ancient Kingdom, ruled by the pharaohs. In any case, it is known that slaves in Egypt were considered part of society, and they were treated quite humanely. Especially many people of forced labor were there in the era of the New Kingdom, when even ordinary free Egyptians could have minions who belonged to them by right of ownership. However, as a rule, they were not used as producers of agricultural products and were allowed to create families. As for the Hellenistic period, the slaves in Egypt under the rule of the Ptolemies lived the same way as their comrades in misfortune in other states that were formed after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great. Thus, it can be stated that until about the 4th century BC, the economy of the most powerful of the countries located in the north of the African continent was based on the production of agricultural products by free peasants.
Slaves in Ancient Greece
Modern European civilization, and even earlier ancient Roman, arose on the basis of ancient Greek. And she, in turn, owed all her achievements, including cultural ones, to the slave-owning mode of production. As already mentioned, the status of a free person in the ancient world was most often lost as a result of captivity. And since the Greek policies constantly waged war among themselves, the number of slaves grew. In addition, such status was assigned to insolvent debtors and meteks - foreigners who were hiding from paying taxes to the state treasury. Among the occupations that most often were the duties of slaves in ancient Greece, one can single out housekeeping, as well as work in mines, in the navy (rowers) and even military service. By the way, in the latter case, soldiers who showed exceptional courage were released, and their owners were compensated for the loss associated with the loss of a slave at the expense of the state. Thus, even those who were born unfree had a chance to change their status.
Roman slaves
According to historical documents that have survived to this day, in ancient Greece, most people deprived of the right to manage their lives were Greeks. The situation was completely different in ancient Rome. After all, this empire constantly fought with its many neighbors, which is why the Roman slaves are mostly foreigners. Most of them were born free and often tried to escape and return to their homeland. In addition, according to the Laws of the twelve tables, which are completely barbaric in the understanding of modern man, a father could sell his children into slavery. Fortunately, the last provision existed only until the adoption of the Petelia law, according to which slaves in Roman law are anyone, but not the Romans. In other words, a free man, a plebeian, and even more so a patrician, could by no means become a slave. At the same time, not all people in this category lived badly. For example, in a rather privileged position were domestic slaves, who were often perceived by the owners as members of the family. In addition, they could be released upon the will of the master or for services to his family.
The most famous uprising of Roman slaves
The desire for freedom lives in any person. Therefore, although the owners believed that their slaves were a cross between inanimate tools and pack animals, they often revolted. These cases of mass disobedience were usually brutally suppressed by the authorities. The most famous event of this kind - of those recorded in historical documents - is the revolt of the slaves led by Spartacus. It happened in the period from 74 to 71 years of our era, and its organizers were gladiators. The fact that the rebels managed to keep the Roman Senate in awe for about three years, historians attribute to the fact that at that time the authorities did not have the opportunity to throw trained military units against the army of slaves, since almost all the legions fought in Spain, Asia Minor and Thrace. Having won several high-profile victories, the army of Spartacus, the backbone of which was made up of Roman slaves trained in martial arts of that time, was still defeated, and he himself died in a battle, presumably at the hands of a soldier named Felix.
Uprising in Ancient Egypt
Similar events, but, of course, much less well-known, occurred many centuries before the foundation of Rome, on the banks of the Nile, at the end of the Middle Kingdom. They are described, for example, in the “Instruction to Noferrech” - the papyrus, which is stored in the St. Petersburg Hermitage. True, this document notes that the uprising was raised by poor peasants, and only then slaves joined them, mainly immigrants from Asia Minor. It is noteworthy that evidence has been preserved indicating that the participants in the unrest sought, first of all, to destroy documents in which the rights and privileges of the rich were fixed. This means that the slaves believed that the unjust laws of Egypt, which divided people into free and slaves, were to blame for their distress. Like the rebellion of Spartacus, the Egyptian rebellion was also suppressed, and most of its participants were ruthlessly destroyed.
Ancient Roman laws regarding slaves
As you know, the modern laws of many countries are based on Roman law. So, according to it, all people were divided into two categories: free citizens (the privileged part of society) and slaves (this is the lowest, so to speak, caste). According to the law, an unfree person was not considered an independent subject of law and did not have legal capacity. In particular, in most situations - from a legal point of view - he acted either as an object of legal relations, or as a “talking tool”. Moreover, if a slave married a free woman or a slave married a free man, they could not apply for release. In addition, for example, all slaves who lived with the master under one roof should have been executed if their master was killed in the walls of the house. In fairness, it must be said that in the era of the Roman Empire, that is, after 27 BC, punishments were introduced for gentlemen for the cruel treatment of their own slaves.
Laws concerning Slaves in Ancient Egypt
The attitude towards slaves in a state ruled by the pharaohs was also formalized legally. In particular, there were laws that forbade the killing of slaves, guaranteed them food, and even required to pay for certain types of slave labor. It is interesting that in some legal acts slaves were called a "dead family member", which researchers associate with the peculiarities of the religious worldview of the inhabitants of ancient Egypt. At the same time, the children of a free man, born a slave, at the request of his father could receive the status of free and even claim a share of the inheritance along with legal offspring.
Slavery with the USA: the legal side of this issue
Another state whose economic prosperity at an early stage of development was based on the use of slave labor is the United States. It is known that the first black slaves appeared on the territory of this country in 1619. Negro slaves were imported into the United States until the mid-19th century, and according to scientists, a total of 645,000 people were transported from Africa to this country by slave traders. It is interesting that most of the laws concerning such “involuntarily emigrants” were adopted in the last decades before the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment. For example, in 1850, the US Congress issued an act worsening the legal status of slaves. According to it, the population of all states, including those where slavery had already been abolished at the time of its adoption, was ordered to take an active part in the capture of runaway slaves. Moreover, this law even provided for punishment for those free citizens who helped blacks who fled from their masters. As you know, despite all the attempts of planters from the South States to maintain slavery, it was still prohibited. Although for about a century in various states of the United States, segregation laws humiliating for the black population were in effect, infringing on their rights.
Slavery in the modern world
Unfortunately, the desire to use the fruits of other people's labor for free has not been eradicated to this day. Therefore, daily information is received on the identification of ever new cases of trafficking - the sale and exploitation of people. Moreover, modern slave traders and slaveholders are sometimes much more cruel than, for example, the Roman ones. After all, millennia ago, the legal status of slaves was concretized, and they depended on the will of their masters only partially. As for the victims of trafficking, very often no one knows about them, and unhappy people are a toy in the hands of their “masters”.