Slaves
From the Stone
Age down into the Middle Ages, the color of
your skin was not what made you a slave. Most slaves in Europe and
West Asia were white, and most black people were free (most white people
were free too, and some black people were slaves). People became slaves
in a lot of different ways. Often soldiers
or their families who were captured in war (prisoners of war) were sold
as slaves, as a way of raising money for the winning side. So many
people who had once been free later became slaves. Another way many
people became slaves was by getting into debt. If you owed
somebody money and you could not pay it, he or she could make you
a slave and sell you to get the money.
Sometimes free people sold their children into
slavery, because they needed money and could not afford to take care
of their children. Sometimes people sold themselves into slavery, because
they could not feed themselves any other way. And if your mother was
a slave, then you were automatically a slave also - even if your father
was free.
The Greek philosopher Solon said that nobody should say he had a happy life until he was dead, because anybody who was free might later happen to become a slave, and anybody who was a slave might later become free. A few hundred years later, Aristotle did say that some people were just naturally born to be slaves, but he is the only one to say it, and he does not say that this is because of their race.
You might think that bishops
and holy men and women
would speak out against slavery, but this didn't happen. Jesus,
in the Bible, seems to say that if you are a slave, you should not rebel,
but serve quietly, and wait for a reward in Heaven. He says, "A disciple
is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master; it is enough
for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master."(Matthew
10:25) It is true that some early Christian
men and women (especially women) freed their slaves, but more as a way
of getting rid of their property, than for the benefit of the slaves
themselves. (Because Jesus
said it was easier to get into Heaven if you were poor: it is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
enter the Kingdom of Heaven).
Egyptian slaves
Indian slaves
Greek slaves
Roman slaves
Main people page
Tell a friend about this page
Did Kidipede answer your question?
Yes, thanks! / No, can you help me?
