I've done a little Googling around and found a general web consensus that economic motives started the slave trade. Any argument on that? It seems safe.
The idea of forced labor way predates the European slave trade. Matt mentioned its use by Romans/Greeks. You can't talk about slavery, civil rights, or affirmative action for more than ten minutes without someone raising the startling revelation that Africans also practiced slavery.
Do Western religious or secular thinkers bear any blame for the harshness of slavery that came when slavery became a racial issue? For example, the notion that one remained a slave forever and that one's children were the property of the owner. Those were new, right?
I hear that short blogging is the way to go, so I'll leave it there for now.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Matt: I am fine with starting with economic motives for slavery. I would like to see you continue your thought process here, I'm not sure I have anything ot add until you move this line of thought forward some.
Post a Comment