Slavery is ... History, forms of slavery

It is believed that on our planet slavery is almost completely obsolete. This does not mean that it does not exist, it simply acquired other forms, often very sophisticated. To replace the merchant came the voluntary submission of some people to others, while the shackles became invisible, and they consist not of iron links, but of intangible habits of comfort and idleness. Modern slavery is no better than the primitive or the ancient, and freedom still remains the lot of a few. However, in order to understand the nature of this phenomenon, it is necessary to delve into its various aspects, the history of origin and cause.

Patriarchal version

The desire to subordinate others is inherent in the very nature of man. The history of slavery is rooted in the period of the emergence of social relations, when, in addition to the tribal structure, there were no other forms of coexistence. Nevertheless, to divide the work into physical and mental began already then, and it is hard to work, as now, there were not enough hunters. Therefore, the first social formation is considered to be slave-owning, in which exploitation by the ruling classes was carried out under the threat of physical violence against the disobedient. Labor productivity grew, surplus product appeared, and as a result, the notion of property arose that extended not only to the instruments of production and goods, but also to people. The very first form of this relationship was the so-called patriarchal slavery. This meant the entry into the family of several new members who did not, however, have full rights, and did part of the overall work, for which they were provided with food and shelter.

Ancient version

In ancient Greek and Roman states, slavery has reached a huge scale. It was here that the process of transition from a patriarchal form to a classical one took place, in which a person became a thing, suitable - depending on its value - for sale or purchase. Regulated these transactions, along with other legal issues, Roman law. Slavery became legalized approximately to the second century BC. Practically on the entire Apennine peninsula and in the Greek colonies in Sicily. It is also interesting how democracy got along with this horrific phenomenon. Thus, according to Plato, the greatest prosperity and general prosperity under the rule of democracy can be achieved if every free citizen has at least three slaves.

The main source of free labor resources at that time were the aggressive campaigns of the Roman legions. If the war in the V-IV centuries. BC. E. Were conducted for territories, then later seizures of the II-I centuries have already been aimed at capturing as many potential workers as possible.

Rebellion

Since the classical form of slavery existed in the conditions of commodity production (in contrast to the patriarchal standpoint), the main purpose of exploitation was profit. This circumstance led to an increase in coercion and the emergence of its most stringent methods. In addition to intensive methods, which consisted in reducing the cost of maintaining and increasing cruelty, an extensive practice was also practiced, which consisted in accelerating the delivery of slaves. This ultimately led to the fact that the total number of slaves reached a critical level, and then began to break out the uprisings, the most famous of which headed in 74 BC. E. Spartacus.

Slavery in the East

In India, China and other countries geographically and culturally related to Asia, slavery existed for a relatively long time. Slavery in the world has already given way to feudalism, then to capitalism, and in the eastern states it still flourished, however, often in parallel with the emerging and developing new socio-economic relations. The main source fueling the slave markets was the environment of the losers who got into debt bondage and who had no other opportunity to pay off their creditors, except for their own labor, which sometimes was not enough even for lifelong free work. In these cases, the descendants of the unfortunate also waited for hereditary slavery. This, in general, contradicted the laws of Islam (except for state criminals), but it was still widely practiced. The official right was to own prisoners who were captured during wars and raids.

Transitional period

For many centuries, practically all over the world, there were some forms of slavery, but in many countries it was gradually coming into conflict with the developing market production (mainly agricultural), which requires more and more efficiency. The lack of incentive methods led to a decrease in productivity. Slaves often fled their masters and even killed them, raised uprisings, and the more they became, the more dangerous could be the consequences of inept management of these specific human resources. Gradually, in European countries, the attitude towards slaves became softer, which, of course, did not exclude merciless exploitation, but encouraged more caution. And here in the 16th century the New World was opened.

The Beginning of American Slavery

The vast expanses of America, the abundance of fertile and resource-rich sparsely populated areas contributed to a certain renaissance of slave-owning relationships, seemingly smoothly disappearing into the past. The Indians provided desperate resistance to the colonialists (at the first stage, mainly Spanish and Portuguese), which led to the royal ban on turning the indigenous population into slavery. This, combined with a shortage of labor, prompted the planters who developed activities on American soil to bring slaves from Africa. It should be noted that people of the adventurous warehouse, not constrained by any moral principles, went to the New World first. The desire to get rich from them was successfully combined with the unwillingness to work. In America, for a historically short period (approximately two centuries), up to ten million African slaves were imported. At the beginning of the XIX century in some countries of the West Indies they already constituted an ethnic majority.

Meanwhile in Russia

Slavery in Russia was called serfdom. It also acted as a form of social relations, in which people are a commodity and are subject to buying, selling or exchanging. Most of the owners, who in time became landowners, treated their servants in the same way as ordinary peasants to working cattle, that is, not without a certain share of care and thrift. The exception was especially outstanding cases of bullying, the textbook example of which was the boyar Morozova, punished for her fanaticism under the laws of the Russian Empire. Nevertheless, serfdom by the middle of the XIX century already hampered the development of capitalism, and in 1861 the peasants were given freedom, there was a legislative abolition of slavery. The process of emancipation was slow, meeting resistance as landlords, interested in preserving their positions, as well as the former slaves themselves, who had been weaned from their independent life "on loose breads" for generations. Equally difficult were the Stolypin reforms at the end of the century , designed to create conditions for the transition from communities to the individual agricultural system.

IN USA

At the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there was an industrial boom in North America. Demand for agricultural raw materials (cotton, linen, etc.) increased sharply, which was paradoxically related to capitalism with slaveholding, whose center was the southern states. Over time, however, the contradictions between two so different social formations gave rise to strong internal tensions that led to the Civil War beginning between the industrial North and the patriarchal South. This bloody and fratricidal conflict occurred under the slogans of the struggle for freedom and brotherhood, on the one hand, and the protection of fundamental values, on the other. After the victory of the northerners in the United States, the abolition of slavery was officially proclaimed, but the ratification by the senates of individual states of this declaration dragged on until the end of the 20th century. Legislative abolition of segregation occurred in the second half of the century. The descendants of black slaves were not allowed to sit on benches for whites, go to mixed schools (there were none) and even visit the same common areas. Slavery in Russia was canceled a year earlier than in the US. The liberated slaves often behaved in the same way as the Russian peasants who received the will. What to do with freedom, many of them simply did not know.

Slavery of modern history

The question of when slavery was abolished in a particular country, despite its obvious simplicity (it seems sufficient to refer to the relevant document or constitution), most often requires a detailed response. The "enlightened" European powers, who until the mid-twentieth century owned colonies, proclaiming democratic principles in words, nonetheless tolerated the lack of elementary civil liberties and slavery in them. During the Second World War, Nazi Germany widely used the forced labor of prisoners and prisoners of war. Soviet prisoners during the Stalinist terror were also massively involved in solving economic problems, and the position of collective farmers deprived of even passports, if possible compared with the status of serfs, only with a mention of its advantages. The Japanese invaders turned the population of the occupied territories into real slaves. The anti-humane regime of Pol Pot in Kampuchea managed to enslave almost the entire population. Examples, unfortunately, very much ...

The most modern varieties

Still, the question of when the slavery was abolished on an international scale has a concrete answer. It is based on an officially documented document. This happened in 1926 at the time of the signing of the Slavery Convention. In a treaty signed by representatives of most countries, there is a definition of the concept itself as "property rights accompanied by threats ...", etc. Still, today many of the hidden forms that fully meet the criteria of this formulation continue to exist on the planet. It can not be said that they flourish - on the contrary, they are given the most negative assessment, but modern slavery exists and, most likely, will not soon disappear. Some of its varieties are worth considering in detail.

Kabala

So often called debt slavery. Most state legislation provides for the responsibility for violating the terms of payments on loans and loans, including private individuals, but repayment terms can often be unacceptable for the hapless borrower. He himself proposes to work off his debt and as a result finds himself in the position of a dependent farm laborer forced to do dirty and hard work for his "master" for the rest of his life. It is almost impossible to combat this phenomenon, the duties of a slave in this case are taken voluntarily.

Forced coercion to work

The circumstances of falling into slavish dependence can be very different. Some people fall into captivity during hostilities, as servicemen or civilians. In regions, control over which representatives of human rights structures is difficult or impossible, this happens, unfortunately, often. The ILO (International Labor Organization) has limited information on the increase in the proportion of forced labor in different countries, not accounted for by national statistical offices and sometimes deliberately concealed.

Forced sexual exploitation

It is a form of absolute control of one person over another, carried out in the form of creating a desperate situation. Such enslavement has become widespread in the sphere of providing illegal sexual services, when compulsion to prostitution is carried out by weaning documents (especially in a foreign country), the threat of physical violence, drug addiction and other inhumane methods. Particularly serious such a crime is considered all over the world if minors become victims. A significant role in coercion (especially in exotic countries) is still played by psychological methods of pressure, such as a "vow of silence" and the use of special rituals designed to suppress the will to resist.