President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation at the height of the American Civil War, two years earlier, announcing the freedom of all Black people imprisoned in the states that had rebelled against the US (as Confederacy members). The thirteenth Amendment was taken from the 1787 Northwest Ordinance. Yet the Thirteenth Amendment maintains an important exception for keeping people in “involuntary servitude” as “punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” Some scholars say this exception ended slavery in one form only to allow it to continue in another. These laws are sometimes credited with laying the groundwork for the U.S. system of mass incarceration, which disproportionately imprisons Black people.
Two years earlier, at the height of the U.S. Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all Blacks held captive in the states who’d rebelled against the United States (as members of the Confederacy) were free. This did not have a sweeping practical impact, however, as the Confederacy considered itself a separate nation and did not follow U.S. laws, and the proclamation did not free enslaved populations in the “border states” that sided with the United States. Within five years, Congress passed the 14th and 15th Amendments. These amendments, among the most contested in courts today, established citizenship, equal protection, and voting rights for all male Americans, regardless of race. However, the same suffrage and protections would not be afforded to women of all races until over 50 years later, when Congress passed the 19th Amendment in 1919.
Slavery’s long and unfathomable history, which spans continents and centuries, is filled with tragedy and cruelty. Although it is difficult to pinpoint the precise year that slavery first appeared, historians have been able to pinpoint its origins as far back as 11,000 years. Learn more about the history of slavery, how it spread among ancient cultures, and what you can do to help end child slavery in Haiti by reading on.
The Origins of the Slavery Practice
Because slavery’s origins predate historical documentation and the written word, it is challenging to pinpoint its exact start. The first definite example of slavery comes from the Code of Hammurabi, which is from Mesopotamia. This is because, based on the sociological makeup of the groups, we know that slavery was not present in hunter-gatherer societies. Slavery is described in this ancient text as being a widespread practise in the area that had existed for thousands of years at the time it was written.
Slavery Throughout the Ancient World
The practice of human slavery grew as the world became more civilized and organized cities and farms were developed. Sumer or Sumeria is still thought to be the birthplace of slavery, which grew out of Sumer into Greece and other parts of ancient Mesopotamia. The Ancient East, specifically China and India, didn’t adopt the practice of slavery until much later, as late as the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC. Historians debate whether or not the practice of slavery in India existed before this time, but many believe argue against its existence as there is no word in ancient Sanskrit that can be translated as “slave.”
The Life of a Slave in Ancient Times
In the past, debt, birth into a family of slaves, child abandonment, conflict, or punishment for crime were the main causes of slavery. The slave trade wasn’t particularly well-liked at first, and it was certainly not a booming international industry. Instead, slavers would frequently look for a buyer who could make use of a slave’s unique skills, matching supply and demand on a local and individual level. The lives of slaves in ancient times were reportedly generally better than those of peasants during the same period because they received regular care, food, clothing, and shelter. Only when their masters were unusually cruel did slaves attempt to flee.
