Slavery and Human Trafficking

1747 Words4 Pages

Some people say that ignorance is bliss. What they do not know cannot hurt them. Little do they know, these problems they choose not to think about are hurting others- others who cannot ignore it, but who are the victims. Would you believe me if I told you that human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in world (Human Trafficking)? Slavery and Human Trafficking has gone on since ancient times, from the slaves in ancient Greece and Rome, the discrimination that led to slavery in small European port towns in medieval times, to the Native and African Americans being enslaved in the New World. Slavery still remains unsolved since ancient times.
In Ancient Greece and Rome, slavery was a way to show class and power. Thousands of poor, low-class people were enslaved in raids or surrendered on their own to pay off a family debt. Slaves became such a regular part of life that in some cities, slaves outnumbered the normal citizens. Meltzer gives an example of a Greek town, stating, “In Attica around 431 BC there were about 315,500 people in all, with 115,000 of them slaves” (Meltzer 60). There were even more in surrounding areas and other countries. None of these slaves were allowed to fight in war, because they weren’t trusted to stay loyal (Meltzer 69). Most of the slaves were in fact taken as war prisoners or in raids against opposing cities (Meltzer 63). For example, when the North African city of Carthage was destroyed, 55,000 people were taken as war prisoners and enslaved (Strayer 250). These slaves, although African, were not taken because of race. In ancient times slavery was not based off of race as the African slave raids in the modern times were (Strayer 248). Slavery was based off of class. Anyone who was not rich...

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