# The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade/Chapter 1

Contents
HISTORY OF SLAVERY.
CHAPTER I.
Preliminary Sketch. — Ancient Slavery.
It is certainly a curious fact, that so far as we can trace back the history of the human race, we discover the existence of Slavery. One of the most obvious causes of this, is to be found in the almost incessant wars which were carried on in the early periods of the world, between tribes and nations, in which the prisoners taken were either slain or reduced to slavery.
The Mosaic institutions were rather predicated upon the previous existence of slavery in the surrounding nations, than designed to establish it for the first time; and the provisions of the Jewish law upon this subject, effected changes and modifications which must have improved the condition of slaves among that peculiar people. There were various modes by which the Hebrews might be reduced to servitude. A poor man might sell himself; a father might sell his children; debtors might be delivered as slaves to their creditors; thieves, who were unable to make restitution for the property stolen, were sold for the benefit of the sufferers. Prisoners of war were subjected to servitude; and if a Hebrew captive was redeemed by another Hebrew from a Gentile, he might be sold by his deliverer to another Israelite. At the return of the year of jubilee all Jewish captives were set free. However, by some writers it is stated that this did not apply to foreign slaves held in bondage; as over these the master had entire control. He might sell them, judge them, and even pun ish them capitally without any form of legal process. The law of Moses provides that "if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die under ​his hand, he shall be surely punished; notwithstanding if he continue a day or two he shall not be punished, for he is his money." This restriction is said, by some, to have applied only to Hebrew slaves, and not to foreign captives who were owned by Jews. In general, if any one purchased a Hebrew slave, he could hold him only six years. Among other provisions, the Mosaic laws declared the terms upon which a Hebrew, who had been sold, could redeem himself, or be redeemed by his friends, and his right to take with him his wife and children, when discharged from bondage.
Among those who were denominated slaves in the more lax or general use of the term, we may reckon those who were distinguished among the Romans by the appellation of "mercenarii," so called from the circumstances of their hire. These were free-born citizens, who, from the various contingencies of fortune, were under the necessity of recurring for support to the service of the rich. A contract subsisted between the parties, and most of the dependents had the right to demand and obtain their discharge, if they were ill-used by their masters. Among the ancients there was another class of servants, which consisted wholly of those who had suffered the loss of liberty from their own imprudence. Such were the Grecian prodigals, who were detained in the service of their creditors, until the fruits of their labor were equivalent to their debts; the delinquents, who were sentenced to the oar; and the German enthusiasts, mentioned by Tacitus, who were so addicted to gaming, that when they had parted with every thing else, they staked their liberty and their persons. "The loser," says the historian, "goes into a voluntary servitude; and though younger and stronger than the person with whom he played, patiently suffers himself to be bound and sold. Their perseverance in so bad a custom is styled honor. The slaves thus obtained are immediately exchanged away in commerce, that the winner may get rid of the scandal of his victory." The two classes now enumerated comprehend those that may be called the Voluntary Slaves, and they are distinguished from those denominated Involuntary Slaves, who were forced, without any previous condition or choice, into a situation, which, as it tended to degrade a part of the human species, and to class it with the brutal, must have been, of all situations, the most wretched and insupportable. The class of involuntary slaves included those who were "prisoners of war," and these were more ancient than the voluntary slaves, who are first mentioned in the time of Pharaoh. The practice of reducing prisoners of war to the condition of slaves existed both among the eastern nations and the people of the west; for as the Helots became the slaves of the Spartans merely from the right of conquest, so prisoners of war were reduced to the same situation by the other inhabitants of Greece. The Romans, also, were actuated by the same principle; and all those nations which contributed to overturn the empire, adopted a similar custom; so that it was a general maxim in their polity that those who fell under their power as prisoners of war, should immediately be reduced to the condition of slaves. The slaves of the Greeks were generally barbarians, and imported from foreign countries.
​"By the civil law the power of making slaves is esteemed a right of nations, and follows, as a natural consequence of captivity in war." This is the first origin of the right of slavery assigned by Justinian. The conqueror, say the civilians, had the right to the life of his captive; and having spared that, has the right to deal with him as he pleases. This position, taken generally, is denied by Blackstone, who observes that a man has a right to kill his enemy, only in cases of absolute necessity for self-defense; and it is plain this absolute necessity did not exist, since the victor did not kill him, but made him prisoner. Since, therefore, the right of making slaves by captivity depends on a supposed right of slaughter, that foundation failing, the consequence drawn from it must fail likewise. Farther, it is said, slavery may begin "jure civili," when one man sells himself to another; but this, when applied to strict slavery, in the sense of the laws of old Rome or modern Barbary, is also impossible. Every sale implies a price, an equivalent given to the seller in lieu of what he transfers to the buyer; but what equivalent can be given for life and liberty, both of which, in absolute slavery, are held to be at the master's disposal? His property, also, the very price he seems to receive, devolves to his master the instant he becomes his slave: and besides, if it be not lawful for a man to kill himself, because he robs his country of his person, for the same reason he is uot allowed to barter his freedom; — the freedom of every citizen constitutes a part of the public liberty. In this case, therefore, the buyer gives nothing, and the seller receives nothing; of what validity, then, can a sale be, which destroys the very principle upon which all sales are founded? Lastly, we are told, that besides these two ways, by which slaves may be acquired, they may also be hereditary; the children of acquired slaves being, by a negative kind of birthright, slaves also; but this being founded on the two former rights, must fall together with them, if neither captivity, nor the sale of one's self, can, by the law of nature and reason, reduce the parent to slavery, much less can they reduce the offspring.
Voluntary slavery was first introduced in Rome by a decree of the senate in the time of the emperor Claudius, and at length was abrogated by Leo. The Romans had the power of life and death over their slaves; which no other nations had. This severity was afterwards modified by the laws of the emperors; and by one of Adrian it was made capital to kill a slave without a cause. The slaves were esteemed the proper goods of their masters, and all they got belonged to them; but if the master was too cruel in his domestic corrections, he was obliged to sell his slave at a moderate price. The custom of exposing old, useless or sick slaves, in an island of the Tiber, there to starve, seems to have been very common in Rome; and whoever recovered, after having been so exposed, had his liberty given him, by an edict of the emperor Claudius, in which it was likewise forbidden to kill any slave merely for old age or sickness. Nevertheless, it was a professed maxim of the elder Cato, to sell his ​superannuated slaves at any price, rather than maintain what he deemed a useless burden. The dungeons, where slaves in chains were forced to work, were common all over Italy. Columella advises that they be built under ground; and recommends the duty of having a careful overseer to call over the names of the slaves, in order to know when any of them had deserted. Sicily was full of these dungeons, and the soil was cultivated by laborers in chains. Eunus and Athenio excited the servile war, by breaking up these' monstrous prisons, and giving liberty to 60,000 slaves.
In the ancient and uncivilized ages of the world, "Piracy" was regarded as an honorable profession; and this was supposed to give a right of making slaves."The Grecians," says Thucydides,"in their primitive state, as well as the cotemporary barbarians who inhabited the sea coast and islands, addicted themselves wholly to it; it was, in short, their only profession and support." The writings of Homer establish this account, as they show that this was a common practice at so early a period as that of the Trojan war. The reputation which piracy seems to have acquired among the ancients, was owing to the skill, strength, agility and valor which were necessary for conducting it with success; and these erroneous notions led to other consequences immediately connected with the slavery of the human species. Avarice and ambition availed themselves of these mistaken notions; and people were robbed, stolen, and even murdered, under the pretended idea that these were reputable adventures. But in proportion as men's sentiments and manners became more refined, the practice of piracy lost its reputation, and began gradually to disappear. The practice, however, was found to be lucrative; and it was continued with a view to the emolument attending it, long after it ceased to be thought honoraable, and when it was sinking into disgrace. The profits arising from the sale of slaves presented a temptation which avarice could not resist; many were stolen by their own countrymen and sold for slaves; and merchants traded on the different coasts in order to facilitate the disposal of this article of commerce. The merchants of Thessaly, — according to Aristophanes, who never spared the vices of the times, — were particularly infamous for this latter kind of depredation; the Athenians were notorious for the former; for they had practiced these robberies to such an extent, that it was found necessary to enact a law to punish kidnappers with death.
From the above statement it appears that there were among the ancients two classes of involuntary slaves: captives taken in war, and those who were privately stolen in peace; to which might be added, a third class, comprehending the children and descendants of the two former.
The condition of slaves and their personal treatment were sufficiently humiliating and grievous, and may well excite our pity and abhorrence. They were beaten, starved, tortured, and murdered at discretion; they were dead in a civil sense; they had neither name nor tribe; they were incapable of judicial process; and they were, in short, without appeal. To this cruel treatment, however, there were some exceptions. The Egyptian slave, though perhaps a ​greater drudge than any other, yet if he had time to reach the temple of Hercules found a certain retreat from the persecution of his master; and he derived additional comfort from the reflection that his life could not be taken with impunity. But no place seems to have been so favorable to slaves as Athens. Here they were allowed a greater liberty of speech; they had their convivial meetings, their amours, their hours of relaxation, pleasantry and mirth; and here, if persecution exceeded the bounds of lenity, they had their temple, like the Egyptians, for refuge. The legislature were so attentive as to examine into their complaints, and if founded in justice, they were ordered to be sold to another master. They were allowed an opportunity of working for themselves; and if they earned the price of their ransom, they could demand their freedom forever.
To the honor of Athens and Egypt, and the cities of the Jews, their slaves were considered with some humanity. The inhabitants of other parts of the world seemed to vie with each other in the oppression and debasement of this unfortunate class.
A modern writer, to whom the cause of humanity is under inexpressible obligations, proceeds to inquire by what circumstances the barbarous and inhuman treatment of slaves were produced. The first of these circumstances which he mentions, was "commerce;" for if men could be considered as possessions, if like cattle they might be bought and sold, it will be natural to suppose that they would be regarded and treated in the same manner. This kind of commerce, which began in the primitive ages of the world, depressed the human species in the general estimation; and they were tamed like brutes by hunger and the lash, and the treatment of them so conducted as to render them docile instruments of labor for their possessors. This degradation of course depressed their minds; restricted the expansion of their faculties; stifled almost every effort of genius, and exhibited them to the world as beings endued with inferior capacities to the rest of mankind. But for this opinion of them there seems to have been no foundation in truth and justice. Equal to their fellow men in natural talents, and alike capable of improvement, any apparent, or even real difference between them and others, must have been owing to the treatment they received, and the rank they were doomed to occupy.
This commerce of the human species commenced at an early period. The history of Joseph points to a remote era for its introduction. Egypt seems to have been, at this time, the principal market for the sale of human beings. It was indeed so famous as to have been known, within a few centuries from the time of Pharaoh, to the Grecian colonies in Asia and to the Grecian islands. Homer mentions Cyprus and Egypt as the common markets for slaves, about the time of the Trojan war. Egypt is represented in the book of Genesis as a market for slaves, and in Exodus as famous for the severity of its servitude. ​Tyre and Sidon, as we learn from the book of Joel, were notorious for the prosecution of this trade.
This custom appears also to have existed in other States. It traveled all over Asia. It spread through the Grecian and Roman world. It was in use among the barbarous nations that overturned the Roman empire; and was therefore practised at the same period throughout Europe. However, as the northern nations were settled in their conquests, the slavery and commerce of the human species began to decline, and were finally abolished. Some writers have ascribed this result to the prevalence of the feudal system; while others, a much more numerous class, have maintained that it was the natural effect of Christianity. The advocates of the former opinion allege, that "the multitude of little states which sprung up from one great one at this era occasioned infinite bickerings and matter for contention. There was not a state or seignory that did not want all the men it could muster, either to defend their own right or to dispute that of their neighbors. Thus every man was taken into service: whom they armed they must trust; and there could be no trust but in free men. Thus the barrier between the two classes was thrown down, and slavery was-no more heard of in the west."
On the other hand, it must be allowed that Christianity was admirably adapted to this purpose. It taught "that all men were originally equal; that the Deity was no respecter of persons; and that, as all men were to give an account of their actions hereafter, it was necessary that they should be free." These doctrines could not fail of having their proper influence upon those who first embraced Christianity from a conviction of its truth. "We find them accordingly actuated by these principles. The greatest part of the charters which were granted for the freedom of slaves, many of which are still extant, were granted "pro amore Dei, pro mercede animæ." They were founded in short on religious considerations, "that they might procure the favor of the Deity, which they had forfeited by the subjugation of those who were the objects of divine benevolence and attention equally with themselves." These considerations began to produce their effects, as the different nations were converted to Christianity, and procured that general liberty at last, which at the close of the twelfth century was conspicuous in the west of Europe.
But still we find that within two centuries after the suppression of slavery in Europe, the Portuguese, in close imitation of those piracies which we have mentioned as existing in the uncivilized ages of the world, made their descents upon Africa, and committing depredations upon the coast, first carried the wretched inhabitants into slavery. This practice, thus inconsiderable in its commencement, soon became general, and we find most of the maritime Christian nations of Europe following the piratical example. Thus did the Europeans, to their eternal infamy, revive a custom, which their own ancestors had so lately exploded from a consciousness of its impiety. The unfortunate Africans fled from the coast, and sought in the interior part of the country a retreat from the persecution of their invaders. But the Europeans still pursued them; they ​entered their rivers, sailed up into the heart of the country, surprised the Africans is their recesses, and carried them into slavery. The next step which the Europeans found it necessary to take, was that of settling in the country; of securing themselves by fortified posts; of changing their system of force into that of pretended liberality; and of opening, by every species of bribery and corruption, a communication with the natives. Accordingly they erected their forts and factories; landed their merchandize, and endeavored by a peaceable deportment, by presents, and by every appearance of munificence, to allure the attachment and confidence of the Africans. The Portuguese erected their first fort in 1481, about forty years after Alonzo Gonzales had pointed out to his countrymen, as articles of commerce, the southern Africans.
The scheme succeeded. An intercourse took place between the Europeans and Africans, attended with a confidence highly favorable to the views of ambition and avarice. In order to render this intercourse permanent as well as lucrative, the Europeans paid their court to the African chiefs, and a treaty of peace and commerce was concluded, in which it was agreed that the kings, on their part, should sentence prisoners of war, and convicts, to European servitude; and that the Europeans should in return supply them with the luxuries of the north. Thus were laid the foundations of that nefarious commerce, of which, in subsequent chapters, we intend to give the details.
* ↑ Blackstone's Com.: Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws.
* ↑ Herodotus.
* ↑ Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species: Encyclopedia Britt.: Antiquities of Greece and Rome.