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,

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

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