2

Given that the basic mechanics of slavery are that a food surplus exists so as to calorically support it, the basic problem of wars and insurgencies that create POWs and criminal activity like kidnapping and debts, and the ability for people to profit from it, it would seem like nearly all societies should have slavery to some degree. They might be half a percent of the population or they might be over half as it was in Haiti, it might be chattel or they might have some rights or privileges however small or large, it might be relegated to colonies only and not the metropole, but it seems like it was rare to abolish it over all the realms a state had control over before the 1800s. It seems that even the oldest records we have about societies mentioned them in some way like Hammurabi´s law code.

I was thinking about Lord of the Rings recently and was thinking that it was odd that none of the humanoid races, not associated with dark magic, had slaves, not even a small retinue for the kings or nobles. I began to think then about even more societies in more parts of the world, more fictional universes, and the like, to wonder where their slaves were like depictions and accounts of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.

MCW
  • 33,640
  • 12
  • 105
  • 158
R-Obsessive
  • 179
  • 2
  • The first step is to define what you mean by "slave" for the purposes of the question (and how that definition differs from that of a servant/serf/feudal peasant, etc., if at all). – Steve Bird Jul 16 '23 at 13:29
  • It's entirely up to the author what to include, or not include, in their story. Even if it's set in a society with slavery, the plot may never come in contact with enslaved people (consider for example stories set in the modern day). – SPavel Jul 16 '23 at 14:26
  • @SteveBird or even modern debt peonage. – Spencer Jul 16 '23 at 14:47
  • Does this answer your question? Is it true that slavery was endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa previous to the establishment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade? – sds Jul 16 '23 at 14:59
  • I'm skeptical that historical sources & methods can provide a useful answer to this question as asked. This is essentially a hypothetical. Please revise the question to fit within our guidelines [help] and meta, with particular attention to good question. Hypotheticals are out of scope and should be closed. – MCW Jul 16 '23 at 15:16
  • @MCW I meant the question to ask if slavery is ubiquitous in societies before the 1900s that unless otherwise you can show very specific reasons why it should not exist, slavery is practiced by a given society following the Neolithic Revolution? – R-Obsessive Jul 16 '23 at 17:16
  • Recommend you revise the question to match the new title, which, I think, expresses your intent. I'm not sure the Lord of the Rings went deep enough into socioeconomic matters to discuss labor practices. – MCW Jul 16 '23 at 18:14
  • Unless you are going to use a wide definition of slavery (including serfdom), this can be answered with a single google search. The Slavery in Britain wiki mentions the gradual merger of the pre-conquest institution of slavery into serfdom, and all slaves were no longer recognised separately in English law or custom. By the middle of the 12th century, the institution of slavery as it had existed prior to the Norman conquest had fully disappeared... – justCal Jul 16 '23 at 21:52

0 Answers0