Slavery system - is it progress or regression? How did this period in history affect society and its worldview? All these questions can be answered if we analyze the period from the appearance to the end of the slave society.
Development of social inequality among primitive people
Even in ancient times, when humanity was just beginning to gradually improve its way of life, the superiority of certain tribes and individuals began to manifest itself. This was due to the development of labor and tools for it.
Someone was better at making tools, and this person began to noticeably differ from others. To obtain the desired tool, other primitive people were ready to work for the sake of someone else's interest.
Thus, social inequality gradually developed and castes were formed among the population. Then the tribes began to fight each other. First, the prisoners were killed. But with the development of agriculture, the division of labor into lighter and heavier began. People began to realize that difficult physical work was less attractive, and prisoners of war were forced to do it.
Thus, the first mention offorced labor in foreign territories was observed as early as the 3rd millennium BC.
The rise of a slave society
In small principalities with the active development of agriculture, the rapid spread of the involvement of slaves in labor in the fields began. This approach became profitable from the economic side and was gradually widely implemented.
Such a system of humiliation of human dignity existed in many countries for quite a long time. According to historians, the slave system flourished from the beginning of 3000 BC. and ended in the 18th century. e.
Slowly the slave trade has become in many countries an essential way to fill the treasury. In order to increase the ranks of prisoners, entire military campaigns were organized against other tribes and states.
Where did the slaves come from?
Initially, during military attacks, the owner had a new workforce. Only captives became slaves. Then this number was not enough and new ways of capturing people appeared:
- pirate attacks on ships;
- shipwreck victims;
- money debtors;
- criminals;
- refugees from devastated lands;
- Forcibly abducted girls and children.
Also, children who were born from concubines and slaves automatically fell into this category of the population. Over time, entire expeditions were organized to Africa, of which hundreds and thousands of blacks were brought from there as a result of military raids.prisoners.
So many people associate slavery with blacks. But it is not so. Black people only initially joined the ranks of slaves more, then other races were actively forced to work.
Characteristics of the slave society
In this era, there were two classes: slaves and their owners. The new society coexisted with other species for some time, but gradually replaced them. Ancient Rome is a prime example of this system. Here slavery was at its most brutal and lasted the longest.
The hosts were not homogeneous. They had different areas of land and the amount of real estate as well. The number of required slaves depended on these indicators. The more land there was, the greater the need for labor. Also, the number of slaves indicated the we alth of the owner.
With the development of such a system, the state was formed as an apparatus for coercion and drafting humiliating laws. According to their norms, slave owners had the right to sell, punish and even kill their subordinates.
The main features of such a society
At different times there were differences in the foundations of the slave system. There were also different types of slavery. The first is patriarchal, it was based on subsistence farming, slaves were involved only to perform work on plantations and in everyday life.
The second type is antique, it arose with the development of commodity-market relations. In this periodtrafficking in human beings has been legalized. It also officially spelled out permission for full ownership of slaves and the ability to perform any action with them.
The main features of a slave-owning society stand out:
- slave is considered the full property of the owner and his results of labor as well;
- a slave cannot personally own an instrument of production;
- slave forced labor for master;
- he has no legal and legal voice in society and is not protected by law;
- only the owner gives permission for marriage or marriage;
- only the owner of the slaves chooses the field of activity.
From the above points, it is clear that the life of this segment of the population in no way belonged to them. Slaves were disenfranchised people and did not even have freedom of movement.
The advantages of this type of system for the state and society
Despite the cruelty and lack of rights in relation to the slaves, this system led to the development of some areas in the states. First, the population, which was freed from physical labor, could engage in science and creativity.
Thanks to this, many discoveries have been made and amazing works of art have been created. Also, due to the lack of interest of slaves in obtaining a good result of labor, new technical devices and machines for production were created.
In addition, thanks to this way of life, people have learned to defend their rights and value freedom. They understood that the law must protectall segments of the population and no one has the right to encroach on human life.
It was the labor of slaves that built almost all the great architectural and historical ancient sights: pyramids, castles, temples. Thus, for many centuries the culture of a slave-owning society was formed. Therefore, the memory of their hard life and work has remained in history.
Special class
Depending on skills and education, in a slave-owning society, disenfranchised people began to be sorted out to perform labor in a certain area of life. Physically strong and hardy slaves were put to hard work, and those who could read, write and more or less educated were taken into their homes as servants.
Such slaves were treated quite loyally and were often considered family members. As a result, they were allowed to start families, give birth to children, and subsequently signed free ones. This means that a person could live his own life and build his own way of life, but he did not gain legal rights from this.
The emergence of feudal society and its difference from the slave society
Over time, productivity and harvest ceased to bring visible profit, so the owners began to think about what to change in their life order. First of all, they realized that they needed to interest the slaves in getting a good result of their labors.
To do this, they were given some freedom and were allowed to settle in families on separate plots of land and take care of them on their own. The owner was en titled to half or75% of all grown and manufactured in production. Thus, the serfs were interested in getting a good harvest.
This system became the main difference between slave and feudal society. Some countries stepped over the period of slavery and immediately came to serfdom. Others, such as the Roman Empire, resisted such changes for a very long time and extended the slave system as much as possible.
With the advent of feudalism, trade and market relations began to develop actively. After all, serfs could independently sell their share of the harvest.
