10 fascinating facts about slavery (uh fascinating?)

Sounds like today's pets of celebs.

Still .. slavery plays an important role in the history.
They way they transported them to new lands (you know where) were terrible.

Treating them well with no mercy was still an outstanding history.

If anyone is looking for a good read, I recommend A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery by E. Benjamin Skinner.

slavery comes in many forms and the chains are not always visible.

What irony! The history of the world has not seen the type of slavery we are about to experience under this new African president. Tax cuts on the way for me? Riiiiight.

Same shit, different century.

This may be that you were highly regarded the better you treated your slaves, but I have doubts that it was correct. I guess its fine if the the so called slave becomes part of the family, with the same quality food as the "Owner", but still, I'm not sure about it.

That is an amazing photo.

That's is a lie. A few year ago I took a comparative slave class, and I learned that chattel slavery in the Americas was the worst of the form of slavery in the history of the world.

1619
The other crucial event that would play a role in the development of America was the arrival of Africans to Jamestown. A Dutch slave trader exchanged his cargo of Africans for food in 1619. The Africans became indentured servants, similar in legal position to many poor Englishmen who traded several years labor in exchange for passage to America. The popular conception of a racial-based slave system did not develop until the 1680's.

And yes I know Italy and Greece are in Europe but I was refering to later, like the time of the Holy Roman Empire. Gotta love those Catholics!

Its true and well known that slaves in Ancient Rome and Greece had rights and could purchase their freedom when they had enough money, or if they did some special act for their owners, etc. Slavery wasnt bad until the White Man got his hands on it. Slaves in Europe were treated worse than rats and cats (the 2 most hated and feared animals of the time).

Wow... after reading that story I'm not sure how to feel. If my last name was Lynch, I'd be headed downtown to change it in a heartbeat.

Simply because a master did not 'man handle' their slaves, provided decent food, clothes, and quality surroundings, does not make said form of slaver any better than that enposed by the Europeans. They very fact that a person is being kept against their will and forced into labour is egregious and barbaric. Regardless how how many distinctions they draw between the latter and the former, nothing will change that fact.

i feel like an indentured servant sometimes.

Arcticspirit, I knew slavery still existed and that significant numbers of slaves could even be found in the United States, shackled in sweat shops and working with dangerously antiquated equipment. I have read stories about slavery in Southeast Asia and the degrading things they are forced to endure. But I had no idea that the numbers were that high. Can you tell me where the biggest concentrations are? And is there some kind of definition of slavery that includes some and excludes others? I am thinking of the status of "indentured servant," which, to my mind anyway, is not much different than a slave if the indenture is any longer than a few years -- especially if the indenture gets longer and longer as the servant is called upon to reimburse his "master" for expenses that person claims to pay on the servant's behalf where the servant's sole source of repayment is his or her own labor. Just curious.

The word should be "useful" instead of..."fascinating".

I think that sounds more appropriate.