Why Did Slavery Happen

Slavery is often a term used to describe the brutal captivity African Americans endured

from the time of colonization of the New World to after Lincoln proposed the Emancipation

Proclamation. However, what many people do not realize is slavery existed all over the world

long before Christopher Columbus landed in the New World. Slavery was present in Sumer,

which was founded nearly 5,000 years ago.1 As the world expanded, so did slavery. Other areas

slavery occurred include Greece, Rome, and of course, the United States. While most people

would be able to agree where slavery occurred, one might not understand why slavery occurred.

So, why did slavery happen? The roots of slavery, more than likely, will stem from trying to

show power, save money,

pay off debts, or get work done for the community. Slavery is both an
economic and social institution necessary if a nation is to be run to the best of its abilities.
In order to understand why such nations would use slavery, one must understand slavery.
Such as many of the other social and economic institutions, slavery has many different forms.
Some of the different forms of slavery include bondage, unfree labor, enslavement, debt
bondage, domestic servitude, and concubinage.2 Bondage, in terms of slavery, is when a person
would have to work for a master or owner. Bondage and debt bondage are often intertwined in
the way that they were both used if a debt was owed and could not be paid off any other way.
Unfree labor and enslavement are when one person owns another person. Unfree labor was the
common form of slavery in the United States. Unfree labor or enslavement turns a human into
property in order for work to be accomplished. Domestic servitude was also common in the
United States. This form of slavery forces people to work in a household for little or no pay
doing domestic duties. Concubinage, simply put, is sex slavery. In this type of slavery, a woman

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would be a mistress to a man or many men.3 This type of slavery was very common in Rome as
well as other nations that contained slavery.
Sumer was the region founded around 4,000 B.C. near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.4
The Sumerians’ land was less than pleasant. The area they lived in was very dry and desolate.
The Sumerians were known for their intellectual and technological advances. The Sumerians
used arithmetic and a solar calendar to keep track of time such as we do today.5 They were able
to establish an irrigation system which allowed them to transport water from the Tigris and
Euphrates. They also used tools such as the plow, wagon wheel, and sailboat. Not only were the
Sumerians technologically savvy, they were intellectually resourceful. The Sumerians had strong
ideas and values and were able to keep the difference between fantasy and reality separate. They
also placed a strong value on independence and individuality. The Sumerians created a set of
laws and regulations in order to keep the peace and eliminate misunderstandings.6 For almost
2,000 years, Sumerians were in constant battles with other governing states.7 During this time,
the Sumerians used advanced war techniques to defeat many other nations. Some of these
techniques include using the sword, ax, phalanx formation, and donkey-pulled cart with high
sides for protection.8
Slavery in Sumer was unique due to the amount of war captives gained throughout those
2,000 years of battles. The social class of Sumer was like most nations through history: the
wealthy, the middle class (which was made up of the freemen), and slaves.9 The majority of the
slaves in the Sumerian society were war captives, but that does not mean indigenous people did
not fall into this category as well. Due to the location of Sumer, it was too risky to have the
slaves working out in the fields because of the risk of escaping. To solve this problem, slaves
would often be placed in the city to work so there would be constant supervision and no

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opportunity to escape.

Having slaves work in a domestic atmosphere also kept them alive longer

than if they were out in the fields doing the backbreaking work.

The type of slavery seen in Sumer included domestic servitude, concubinage, and debt

bondage. Domestic servitude slaves were often people captured in war. These people would

work in the homes of the wealthy and freemen or in stores and shops around the city. Having

people captured in war become slaves showed the power and dominance of Sumer. It was also

needed because of the high mortality rate of slaves. The life expectancy and birth rates of slaves

was extremely low. Having a constant supply of war captives allowed Sumer to keep a steady

supply of slaves.10

Concubinage occurred on the higher end of the social totem pole. The purpose of a

concubine slave was to show importance of the owner by allowing him to have as many children

as he wanted with his wife and the slave and to give the master the freedom of sexual pleasures

whenever he wanted.11 Being able to express this prestige and power as a governmental or

religious leader was extremely important in order to keep the trust and support of the people. If

the leader was not seen as being strong and in control, the people would not want to put

their
trust in him. It is human nature to gravitate towards a strong individual when it comes to needing
guidance and protection.
When the free man became a slave, it was usually because he was unable to pay off a
debt. What is unique about debt bondage is that most people will not voluntarily sell themselves
to slavery if they owe a debt.12 In order to pay off this debt, to either a landlord or merchant, the
debtor would sell his family members into slavery. Often time, children were placed into slavery
for their families unpaid debts.13 Debt bondage was a necessary reason for slavery because if

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people saw there was no penalty for not paying what is owed, then they would have no reason to
ever pay anyone for anything.
The Greeks were different from the Sumerians in the way they set up their nation. Each
area was divided into a self-governing city-state.14 The two most common groups in each city-
state were the farmers and city dwellers. Farming was essential in ancient Greece and farmers
were highly respected members of society. Farms in Greece were relatively large for that time
period. Farmers not only cared for the land, they also raised domesticated animals. Since
everything was done by hand, it was important farmers had slaves to do the work. If the farmers
were not able to keep up with production, not only would his family suffer, the people in the
cities would suffer. Slaves made it possible for ancient Greek farmers to get done what needed to
be done.15
Slavery was documented as far back as the Mycenaean age in ancient Greece. The
Mycenaean period dates back from 1600-1050 BCE.16 Not only were there slaves for agriculture,
prisoners of war, women, and domestic slaves were used in ancient Greece. Much like in the
United States, slaves were considered property, not people. Since they were property, they could
be sold and traded like other goods. It was easy for slaves to be traded during this time because
of the location of Greece. Greece in a peninsula which made sea trade very easy and vital to
society. The ease of gaining goods, such as slaves, caused slavery to grow rapidly in Greece.17
Slavery was so large in ancient Greece that almost every person, except the extremely poor,
owned at least one or two slaves. The amount of slaves owned was what made slavery an
economic institution as well as a social institution in ancient Greece. It was also necessary for
slavery in an economic standing because slaves could eventually buy their way out of slavery.18
If a slave saved up enough money, he could be set free. Not only could slaves be privately

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owned, but they could be owned by the city.

The slaves owned by the city-state would often

work as police officers, public executioners, or clerks.19 By the city-state owning slaves, money

was being saved. Slaves owned by the city-state often had more freedom than individually

owned slaves. These slaves could often live on their own and escape the risk of having an

abusive owner.

Many times, the Greeks gained slaves through war. When Greece would conquer new

land, the people would become slaves. Women would also become slaves from war. Other city-

states would use women as a bargaining item in times of battle. It was also possible for Greece to

take the wives or children of the defeated soldiers.20 By taking the women of the defeated

soldiers, Greece was showing its ultimate power. Not only was it necessary to take war prisoners

as slaves to save money and show power, but to also diminish the risk of escape. Theoretically.

the prisoners of war did not know the land they were slaves to nor did they know the language. If

the new slaves had no idea how to get around, then the risk of them trying to escape was

lessened. Ancient Greeks would also use foreigners as slaves because they felt Greeks

were
superior to all other people.21 Having foreign slaves also helped in keeping slaves on the property
of their owners.
Slaves not only helped the people and city-state save money, they helped the children of
Greece grow intellectually. Intelligent slaves would often be placed in a home in order to tutor
the children of the owner. The slaves that worked in the home had a very different life than those
that worked in the fields or mines. These slaves could gain enough trust and work hard enough to
almost be a member of the family that owned them. While working in the home, these slaves
would sometimes assist their owner in crafts, allowing the owner to produce more inventory
which lead to a higher income. Like the educated slaves, women would often be found in the

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home. By having the women in the house, the owners were protecting their property which saved
them money. Women also helped the family save money by doing all the domestic tasks.22 This
allowed the family to focus on their income and not have to deal with menial, everyday jobs.
Slavery in Rome was a crucial part of life for the wealthy. Slaves would have many tasks
such as “servants, administrators, financial agents, and secretaries.”23 What is unique about
Roman slavery is that it was not only a social and economic institution, like in Sumer and
Greece, but it helped form the mentality of the Roman people. Roman writers, satirists,
philosophers, and historians would often use slavery as a metaphor for anything degrading. If
any Roman citizen wanted to insult someone else, they would compare them to a slave.24 This
also helped Romans view slavery as an organization instead of property. This is not to confuse
slaves with people, though. Even though slavery was an institution, slaves would still need to be
viewed as property to an extent in order to make slavery rational.
Slaves in Rome were so important, Rome was having to engage in constant battles just to
keep up with their greed and high slave mortality rate. The Romans were into the more luxurious
aspects of life. The dependency Rome had on slaves could often times lead them to economic
difficulties. Rome was so fond of the expensive and glamorous lifestyle, it could not survive
without the free labor of slaves. Slaves economically saved Rome. In order to keep the steady
flow of slaves, Rome had to keep conquering new lands and expanding its empire.25 Slave work
was needed everywhere in the Roman Empire. Therefore, slaves would be working in the fields,
in the city, in the marketplace, and in the home. Slavery allowed Roman elites to keep up the
expensive lifestyle and allowed Rome to remain economically stable.