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History 4 - The enslaved (Discussion Questions (Brazil was the last…

- - - - Slavery in Africa was somewhat similar to how the European then came along and took slaves from them (it’s rewind time!). Starting from the time of African empires (such as the Mali empire in the East and the Ethiopian Empire around the Horn of Africa), there have been reports of slaves being used and abused by their masters. African slave trade was also a lucrative business, with caravans of slaves being auctioned off in cities some hundreds of kilometers from their families. In many cases, entire families were brought under the servitude of their masters. After the “Scramble for Africa” by European nations (read: Britain, France, Belgium, Germany) in the late 19th and early 20th century, slavery in all forms was abolished by the European overlords (Britain was actually the first of those nations to abolish slavery in the Slave Trade Act of 1807). Some pursued the eradication of slavery with slightly more vigor and commitment than others. The French allowed Moroccans and Algerians to continue possessing slaves until 1848, whilst the Spanish and Belgians continued to oppress slaves until the turn of the 20th century. The British should probably be commemorated for their services in attempting to halt Sub-Saharan African slavery. In 1808, after passing the Slave Trade Act, the British Navy created the West Africa Squadron, a fleet of warships specifically tasked with patrolling the West Coast of Africa and intercepting any European or African ships attempting to cross the Atlantic with slaves on board. In the modern age, slavery in sub-saharan Africa could very well still exist, with countries like Somalia and South Sudan being prime areas for slave traders to operate underground.
    - - Ah the Russian Empire. The old Imperialist white forces that dared to oppress millions and ignore their cries for freedom. Thank goodness the rise of the Bolsheviks and the liberation of the people occurred. Slavery was not a concept the glorious and powerful Soviet Union entertained.
        (Throat clearing noise). Nevermind that patriotic Communist tirade, allow me to delve into the interesting history of slavery in the Russian Empire. Russia was actually one of the first countries to transition from slavery to a slightly more fortunate term, known as serfdom. Before Russia was fully united under Ivan the Terrible, slavery was practised in the Kievan Rus and Muscovy. Back then, slaves were referred to in legal terms as kholopy. Their masters had complete control over their lives. They could kill them, sell them off or even use them to pay debts. One could become a kholop as a result of capture, criminal offenses, selling themselves off or even marrying a kholop. Interestingly however, the master took responsibility in front of the law for any of the kholop’s actions, so if a kholop committed a crime his master could be the one punished for being unable to control their slave (unlike other legal systems, where the slaves went to court or were often executed where they stood). From the 10th century to the 17th century, Russia became a major involuntary exporter of slaves to outside countries. This included Mongols when they came knocking in 1382 (the only group to have ever successfully invaded Russia in the winter!), Germans, Lithuanians and even Romans. After the unification of Russia and the reign of Peter the Great, slavery was officially abolished in 1723. Afterwards, Russia would rely on serfs for its manual labour.
    - - 1619, the New World. A Dutch ship makes port at the colony town of Jamestown, Virginia. Onboard are supplies from Europe and a new type of cargo. 20 African men disembark from the vessel, in chains they walk towards their new masters. The age of slavery in America has begun. Over the next 2 centuries, great European powers would contest their dominance over the Slave trade, a lucrative business that brought in millions every year (but don’t take my word for it, take this TEDed talk instead). Spain, Britain, Portugal, France and even The Netherlands would compete to see who could ship the most slaves out of Africa to their colonies abroad. Slavery in the Americas was mostly controlled by Spain, who brought millions from Africa to their colonies in the Caribbean (Haiti, Cuba and Puerto Rico) to work on the tobacco, cotton and sugarcane plantations that were then sent back to Europe to be traded in the thousands of tonnes. In America, slavery gained its roots when European settler (mainly those from Spain and also Britain), shipped their own slaves from Africa. The journey was harsh, with “slave-ships” being notorious for their cramped conditions and horrible treatment of this “cargo”. The northern states weren’t as involved in slavery as the southern states, with many cotton gin plantations there having anywhere from 10-50 slaves working on the premises. It would continue this way for many decades, with the occasional rebellion, congress act and other legal actions slowly granting rights to the slaves. The final act would come in the US Civil War, when Abraham Lincoln gave the “Emancipation Proclamation” in 1863, declaring that all slaves were now free men and no longer served their white masters. For the next two years however, many former slaves died on the battlefields of the US Civil War trying to gain their freedom. With the Union states victorious, slavery was abolished in the US and black men were now able to gain some freedom. I’ll let this History channel link explain more.
  - - - Whilst the Greeks were treating their slaves with dignity and some respect, the Romans were not exactly doing that. It’s true that Roman slavery was different to colonial slavery in that slaves were not based on race. Rome never actually practised the trade of slavery, preferring to source its slaves from prisoners of war, pirates and bandits as well as incoming slave merchants from Turkey and Greece. However, in a cruel twist of fate, desperate lower-class Roman families were known to simply orphan their children or sell them off as slaves. As a slave, life was harsh. Masters could beat, brand, punish and even kill you for the simplest offense. Slavery was actually accepted as the norm and the slaves themselves were often put to work in all sorts of industries. From the agricultural fields of the countryside to the great constructions sites of Roman aqueducts and roads. Slaves were so commonplace that they merged well with the population, to the point where the Senate considered forcing them to wear specific clothing to identify themselves (this plan was later scrapped over fear that slaves could then rebel en masse).
      - Another main difference between modern slaves and those of the Romans was the presence of manumission, the ability of slaves to earn their freedom. Roman slave owners freed their slaves in the hundreds at times, especially if they felt that their services to them had been repaid. More common was the ability of slaves to buy their freedom through years of work, ensuring obedience and general work efficiency. Formal manumission was done through a magistrate and the freed slave was given full Roman citizenship and rights (except the ability to hold office, though their children could do this when they reached the age).
        Perhaps more legendary however, are the warrior slaves who earned their freedom through years performing for the entertainment of the public. The most famous of these slaves (otherwise known as gladiators) was Spartacus, who led a gladiator and slave uprising (I’ll let this TedEd video explain it in slightly more detail). Gladiators were similar to normal slaves, though their duties were just a tad bit more... lethal (you know fighting lions and battling to the death everyday is just ever so slightly more dangerous than working with huge bricks and confounding logistics at an aqueduct site).
    - - For the purpose of this analysis and explanation, I’m going to narrow the “Near East” to more of the “Middle East”. Specifically I’m going to focus more on the slavery of the Ottoman Empire. Since the empire’s founding, slavery constituted a large portion of the economy and population. In fact, slavery was so important that expeditions were specifically launched with the purpose of finding slaves (these were known as organized enslavement operations). Because the Ottoman Empire connected Europe and Asia, it served as a global trading hub for many goods, including slaves. Eastern European prisoners of war could find themselves becoming slaves to North African Arab masters. In Constantinople (modern day Istanbul), a fifth of the population was slaves. However, Ottoman slaves were different in that they were mostly at the forefront of politics and could even occupy positions of great power. Castrated harem guards and the elite janissary corps were often made up of captured slaves that were then freed and retrained in Ottoman ways. Officials in the Ottoman Empire were actually also slaves, bought from other traders and then educated for their fanatical loyalty to the Sultan and the empire.
    - - How odd that some great Greek writers like Aristotle, who pioneered the idea of nation-states, also wrote that slavery was natural and even necessary to the success of a civilisation. Anyways, like the other great civilisations of ancient times, slavery was practised in Ancient Greece. The civilisation actually had many different categories of slaves (explored later on) and each was given their own set of duties and rights. Slaves in Ancient Greece were actually nowhere near as shunned as they were in much later civilisations. Slaves in partake in practically every activity except politics, which was the duty of citizens. Most Greek slaves were located on agricultural plantations, especially in Athens or Sparta (the latter being infamous for its helot system of slave-soldiers). These slaves often belonged in the dozens to a single family. Slaves were also common in mines, spending hours digging out marble and other precious rocks for Greek construction projects. Domestic slaves were also common, with many rich families in Athens possessing at least 2 by the 5th century BCE.
    - - And so we round out our trio of “great ancient civilisations” by focusing on Egypt. This one is slightly more complicated, because the Egyptians referred to slaves not as a single group, but based on their own positions and archetypes that they were in. I’ll talk more about these Egyptian examples down below, but for now we’ll focus on the most common and probably the most stereotyped form of Egyptian slavery: forced labour.
      - Forced labour - Whenever the government required a large manual labour force, be it for construction projects (those pyramids didn’t build themselves), expeditions or war campaigns. Local villages and towns were often called upon to provide a certain quota of able-bodied men, not just common farmers and sculptors but any possible skilled workmen as well (women were forbidden from working in such disciplines back then). Rather than answering and being owned by an individual, these “slave laborers” were expected to do their duty as a contribution to the state.
  - - - The oldest records of slavery in these region date back to the 18th century BCE, with Babylonian masters having several slaves at their beck and call. Unlike more contemporary forms of slavery however, these slaves were granted the right to own property if they could afford it, merely offering their services to others if they had debts to pay or were simply unable to find other jobs. Interestingly, in Mesopotamia female slaves were more common than male slaves when it came to working in temples and domestic households (uncommon at the time). Again however, like Egypt many slaves were simply at the beck and call of the royal household. These laborers were often the spoils of war or former criminals sentenced to servitude and they often helped build the infrastructure and cities of that day and age. Slave policies back then were still pretty harsh, they could be punished for disobedience or attempting to escape. They could however, also earn their freedom through paying for it.
    - - greatest spectacles in human history. - On August 22nd, the small French colony of Saint-Dominique bore witness to one of the greatest spectacles in human history.
      - This freedom from slavery was well-earned, with Haiti becoming the first black-run republic with no slavery at all. Its founders decided on the Declaration of Independence to simply state “We have dared to be free, let us be thus by ourselves and for ourselves.” Prior to this historical event, the island had been devastated by the slave trade, with the local populace all but wiped out after Columbus and the Spanish came knocking in the 15th and 16th century. The subsequent French colonisation wasn’t much better, with the Atlantic slave trade booming and bringing hundreds more servants to this small island.
      - That night, slaves from all over the island gathered together in the Haitian slave revolt. Caught unaware and unable to fight back, the French masters were either killed or forced to retreat back home. 12 years later, the island of Haiti won its independence from France. This is the first and only time a slave revolt succeeded in gaining the independence of a nation and it is legendary among many historians who specialise in the Atlantic slave trade study.
    - - Dear god this is going to be long. I know Caitlin was likely going to do this so I’ll leave this section with a Wikipedia link since the history of slavery in Dynastic China changes with every dynasty (read: A LOT OF CHANGES).
- - - - indentured servitude as a darker form of forced contracts.
      - Once the contract expired, the indentured servant was freed and could even earn plots of land if their service had been notable.
      - today, --> indentured servitude is forbidden in majority of nations and is banned under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a form of slavery.
      - During the early age of the American colonies, many found themselves unable to gain passage to the interior of the nation and required money to start a business or purchase lodgings.
        
        So they simply entered into an indentured servitude contract, whereby the person promised to serve the employer for a set period of time (usually 4-10 years) in certain duties in exchange for food, shelter and any other basic needs.
    - - Within this contract however, the terms of the debt and the period of servitude is often left very vague, meaning that the employer could very well ask for indefinite servitude.
      - modern incarnation of slavery, ==> debt bondage is a sort of “safeguard slavery” in the sense that it is pledge of a person’s services with no payment as the repayment of a debt or other obligation.
      - This type of slavery was common in ancient civilisation, especially Ancient Rome and Egypt, where masters could simply ask their slaves to work longer under the reasoning that their “debt” hadn’t been fully repaid.
    - - no legal way for these slaves to gain their freedom, their children and grandchildren will be automatically enslaved the moment they are born and they can be sold or purchased at the whim of their masters.
      - In Ancient Egypt, chattel slaves were common amongst the royal households and higher-class families, but they could earn their freedom if their owners decided that their service had been commemorable.
      - more common and more recognised form of slavery, chattel slavery is where slaves are property forever.
      - European courts often encourage and propagated this type of slavery, with remnants of it appearing in North America and the Caribbean.
      - Often it was a shock to society if a master suddenly decided to free his slaves from their servitude, not to much benefit though (these slaves would never become full citizens or gain the rights of others around them)
  - - - Very similar words.
      - Enslaved people are used to refer to those who have been forced into the slave labour either through indentured servitude, forced labour or other forms.
      - Slaves is used to describe the actual people who are forced to work for nothing for practically their entire lives;
    - - The forced extraction of services from an individual who has either been threatened with a penalty without voluntarily giving their services to the employing party.
      - The most common form of forced labour was for military service; conscription. In the later stages of history (and especially during wartime), it was not uncommon for governments to force thousands into the armed forces or threaten them at gunpoint (ironic, recruit people against their will to shoot a gun at others by holding a gun to their head).
        
        conpulsory conscription?? - see military slavery
      - more common now than any other form of slavery,
      - In ancient times, especially Rome, Greece and Egypt, this meant calling upon the local populace to provide workers for huge national projects (construction, war, expedition). This continued to persist into history, with the government taking a more active role in forced labour workforces.
      - As late as the 20th century, the Soviet government was known for using millions of “forced laborers” to toil for hours in wartime factories in the harsh urals (no mention of the gulags that these people found themselves it, )
  - - - Basically the use of slaves in domestic households as unpaid servants. Common during the colonial era, African empire era and Americas during the Spanish/French rule.
    - - = conscription, ==> dates back to Mesopotamia and continues to this day (albeit with a lot more formalities and policies).
      - Often times, governments call upon a sizeable amount of their population to sign up for the armed services and be in that service branch for a specific amount of time.
      - More common nowadays is the civil service form of military slavery, whereby governments force people of a certain age (usually manhood in many countries) to undergo military training.
        
        Thailand for example, has the notorious ror dor training camp, in which students between the ages of 16-18 are conscripted for military training on Saturdays.
        
        Singapore
      - Conscription began universally in 1790 during the French Revolution, when the revolutionaries realised that they needed more coercive ways to raise a standing army to defend from foreign threats.
- - - - From Greek writings (namely those of the historian Herodotus and philosopher Aristotle), we know that Aesop was born in 620 BCE on the Black Sea Coast (then known as a province called Thrace). He was a slave on the island of Samos, where it is said that he earned his freedom through great storytelling and literacy (a value highly sought and considered a social status in Ancient Greece). Apparently he would also free himself by telling tales to his masters (assuming he passed through several owners) about the ironics of their employment of him.
      - Here’s a good puzzle. What do The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and a famous Greek slave whose stories were the stuff of myths have in common? Well, we don’t know if either of them actually existed. Aesop was (if he ever lived) a Greek fabulist and storywriter who is most well-known for his fables which send morales in the space of a few hundred words. The problem is whether or not he actually wrote these tales or simply passed them on through speech.
      - Even more mysterious is how he managed to secure positions of power, serving as advisors to some kings and even being the right-hand man to the councils of kingdom. Apparently in 564 BCE the poor fellow met his end when he insulted the Delphians whilst on a diplomatic mission (not exactly a model diplomat are we?). Enraged, the Delphi court made some trumped-up charge of temple theft and threw the former slave off a cliff to his end (it is said that this act caused the Delphians to have a famine).
    - - His master, Umayyah ibn Khallaf, recognised the young slave’s obedience and efficiency and was even entrusted the keys to the Idols of Arabia (the statues and other figures of paganistic worship that were kept in the Ka’bah). When Muhammad first preached Islam to the populace, Rabah was one of the few who would denounce pagan worship and convert to the religion. His master was furious and the tribe subjected him to forms of torture beyond description (if you’ve just eaten or are about to, I shall spare you the picture).
      - One of the more religious-centred explanations on this list, Bilal Ibn Rabah was one of the most trusted and loyal compatriots (or Sahabah) of the prophet Muhammad. Born in the holy city of Mecca, he was considered the first muezzin and chosen by Muhammad himself to give the call to prayer because of his beautiful voice. Born in 580 AD, Rabah was the son of an Arab slave from the Banu Jumah tribe, yet also the son of a former princess of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
      - Word of his devotion to Islam and Allah despite such cruelty reached some of Muhammad’s companions, Muhammad then sent Abu Bakr (his father-in-law) to negotiate for the release of Rabah, succeeding by trading 3 pagan slaves in exchange. Rabah would then continue to accompany Muhammad in his travels, even being present to fight for Islam at the Battle of Badr.
    - - At age 12, Harriet was injured gravely when a supervisor threw a heavy weight at her head, after she stepped in to protect a fugitive slave. The injury later rendered her with headaches and narcolepsy (the inability to control sleep). After meeting a free black slave named John Tubman, Harriet changed her last name but was still not recognised as a free woman (despite her former owner having stated that her entire family would be free after his death, which had already passed). On September 17th 1849, along with her brothers (who later bailed out), Harriet rode the Underground Railway to safety in Pennsylvania. Yet despite her newfound freedom, she still felt as if though it were her duty to free the rest of her brethren. So from then on until the beginning of the civil war, Harriet Tubman was a conductor on the Underground Railway, guiding some 70 (possibly more) slaves to freedom.
      - While seen as a guiding figure, she was also feared as a conductor. She was known to carry a gun, both to provide protection and “convince” her passengers who might be doubting themselves. She was even known to drug babies and young kids to prevent them from alerting nearby catchers with their cries. At the outbreak of the civil war, Harriet Tubman also became the head of an espionage network for the Union. She spent the war relaying information about Confederate troop movements and supplies, as well as freeing black slave soldiers from Confederate forces to form black Union regiments.
      - One of the most famous slave stories in history, Harriet Tubman was an African-American slave during the 1800s in America. Born on a plantation in Maryland in 1820, young Araminta Ross (as her parents named her) spent much of her younger years tending to the fields or helping out indoors (though she much rather preferred heavy manual labour in agriculture than domestic service).
    - - If you believe in the concept of “fate” and that life is already laid out for us, beyond our control and naturally accept that; then there’s a high chance you believe in the teaching of Epictetus. A Greek stoic philosopher born as a slave in Hierapolis (Turkey) and living in Rome until his banishment. Born in 55 A.D, Epictetus would serve as a slave in Rome to Epaphroditus, secretary to the notorious emperor Nero (who supposedly fiddled while Rome burned).
      - Early in life, he gained a passion for philosophy and earned the permission of his master to study Stoic philosophy, sometime during this period he also became crippled (reasons vary with source, some claim his leg was broken by his master, others say he was born with it). In 68 A.D, Epictetus was freed after the death of Nero and began teaching philosophy in the capital. Yet 25 years later, emperor Domitian banished all philosophers from the city and caused Epictetus to move to Greece. He would spend the rest of his life here, teaching his beliefs and propagating Stoic philosophy.
    - - Throughout history there have been many rulers with unlikely origin stories. Empress Catherine of Russia was a Prussian noble at birth, Toyotomi Hideyoshi a sandal-bearer, Jacques Dessalines a slave. Born in 1758 to a slave family on the island of Haiti to parents of unknown name or origin, Jacques Dessalines would take part in the slave uprising of 1791.
      - Leading the charge against French troops and plantation owners, Dessalines would see his colonial masters ousted from their territory. It would be he who proclaimed the Haitian Declaration of Independence and become the first emperor of Haiti (known as Emperor Jacques I). Yet after just a year of his rule, he was brutally assassinated while on the way to stomp out some rebellions.
  - - - Miguel was actually wounded severely in the battle, receiving two gunshot wounds to the chest and one that rendered his left arm useless. After 6 months in hospital to heal up, Miguel returned to the field for the next 4 years, witnessing battles and partaking in expedition. On 6th September 1575, Miguel boarded a Spanish galley, the Sol, bound for Barcelona from Naples. On the 26th of September, within sight of the Catalan coast, Ottoman pirates attacked the Sol and captured Miguel de Cervantes. Taken to Algiers, then a major cosmopolitan hub of the Ottoman Empire, Miguel would serve as a slave for 5 years. Despite making 4 unsuccessful escape attempts, the author would finally receive his freedom in 1580 after his parents and the Trinitarians (an order of believers in the Holy Trinity) paid a ransom. Miguel would go on to use his experience as a slave in his literary works, most notably the Captive’s tale in Don Quixote, as well as two plays set in Algiers.
      - Yet more interesting perhaps, and more relevant to this section, is the fact that Miguel de Cervantes actually became a slave for 5 years after being captured by Barbary pirates (the same forces that captured Leo Africanus, though this time his intelligence didn’t impress them like Leo’s did). According to baptism records, young Miguel was born in a small city just north of Madrid in September 1547. It is unknown why the young student was exiled from Spain entirely in 1569, though we do know that he headed for Rome shortly thereafter (common for aspiring young renaissance men of the time). After a short stint as an artist in Italy and study of Italian literature, Miguel returned to Spain (sort of) in 1570, signing up for the Spanish Navy Marines on the island of Naples (then a possession of the Spanish crown). The next year Miguel saw active combat at the Battle of Lepanto, a famous naval battle that saw the Galley Fleet of the Holy League (a coalition of Spanish and Italian city-states) defeat the Ottoman fleet.
      - For those book-lovers amongst you, this name might ring a bell. Miguel de Cervantes is credited with one of the most famous works in Western literature, forming part of the canon for many school curriculums until today. I am of course, referring to his masterpiece, Don Quixote. After the Bible, Don Quixote is the most-translated book in the world and Cervantes is credited as having an impact on the Spanish language almost as much as Shakespeare had one on the English language. Yet before his rise to fame in the ranks of authors and schoolchildren, Miguel de Cervantes served in the Spanish Navy infantry (the equivalent of modern day Marines), worked as a purchasing agent for the Spanish Armada (basically buying ships and guns for war) and landed himself in jail for 3 years thanks to tax discrepancies (what a coloured life he lived).
    - - In short, the First Opium War that had occurred just 10 years earlier (in 1839) was due to Chinese aggression over illegal British trade operations with the infamous drug (apparently millions of tonnes were smuggled in every year during that time). Even after the war, the Chinese authorities refused to accept opium legally within their lands, so the British simply resorted to funding smugglers in order to get rich from the profits (the Chinese armed forces were no match for the fast ships of the smugglers). In 1849, Ng was given a share of Endicott’s cargo, which she sold along the coast with her own boat (having used the experience as a Tanka child). However, it was was occurred during this time that made her an international controversy. During her stint as a smuggler, pirates captured both her cargo and boat.
      - Undeterred, Ng went directly to the pirate base and negotiated for her compensation. Shortly after this, an American merchant ship was attacked by those pirates (along with Ng Akew onboard) and its cargo stolen. When that cargo was later discovered in the hold of Ng Akew’s ship, it was assumed that this was the “compensation” the she’d demanded from the pirates. Since she could not be proven guilty of assisting them in the theft, she was freed and returned to her master. Endicott later gave Ng a plot of land in Hong Kong, letting her become a free and wealthy homeowner (while he himself retired to Macau). Ng Akew’s case would cause great controversy in the world, here was a slave who had escaped the net of justice, unthinkable at the time.
      - Slightly less famous in history, though a very captivating story nonetheless, the story of Ng Akew takes place during the 1800s, a period of tumultuous political and geographical struggles in China (known as the “Century of Humiliation”). Once part of the Tanka ethnic group in China (a group that was characterised by living in junks on the coastal towns of China), Ng Akew was a slave to British opium smuggler James Bridget Endicott, operating from Hong Kong. I could go into why the British had opium smugglers in China in the first place, but that could easily take a 1000 word essay.
    - - Born in Granada sometime in 1494, the young Leo would study at the great University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Egypt (the oldest continually operating university in the world). He would travel through much of North Africa, or Maghreb as it was known back then. He would accompany his uncle on a diplomatic trip to Timbuktu, find himself in Istanbul on another such trip and later wind up in Rosetta whilst the Ottomans were laying siege to the Egyptian state. After his capture in 1518, Leo was imprisoned on the island of Rhodes, before being brought before Pope Leo X (name buddies!) in Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. It is said that his captors recognised his intelligence and spared him from the usual sentence Muslim captors without a ransom had (slavery on Christian galleys).
      - Later freed and given pension as a persuasion to stay, Leo was baptized in 1520. After a few more years travelling around North Africa and Arabia, Leo Africanus sent his manuscript for his masterpiece, e Della descrittione dell’Africa et delle cose notabili che iui sono (Description of Africa). It was for this work that he was most well remembered, with many European institutes using it as a resource for African history and geography in the later years. In an era before empires even looked to the African continent, Leo Africanus charted part of their maps and information for them. His later life is actually a mystery, we don’t quite know whether he died in Rome, Tunis or returned to his family in Granada for the final years of his life.
      - In the early 16th century, there was one name that any scholar of the European world was familiarized with. Though you’d be forgiven for not knowing that name. Sir Isaac Newton had yet to be born and have an apple fall on his head, whilst it would be another 30 years until Galileo Galilei told the world that the sun was the centre of the solar system. This scholar is somewhat notable from other members on this list because his slavery was very brief and he wasn’t actually born a slave. In fact, when Leo Africanus was captured by Spanish Berbers (pirates who operated in the Mediterranean, near the island of Djerba and Crete) in 1518; he was already 24 years of age and well-versed in the academia of the time.
    - - In 1206, with the assassination of his master, Aibak was the only successor to the throne (rather surprising that a former slave becomes the Sultan of an entire empire). For the next 4 years, Aibak would go on to rebuild and construct new mosques in Delhi and Ajmer. Though perhaps his most famous project was the planning and initial overseeing of the construction of the Qutb Minar, a minaret that is also UNESCO world heritage site in Delhi. In 1210, the ruler would meet his end after injuries sustained during a polo match (apparently he fell off his horse). Buried in Lahore, Qutb would be known as the first Sultan of the Mamluk dynasty (literally, “slave” dynasty) and the first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate.
      - Certainly one of the older figures on this list, Qutb-ud-din returns to the category of slaves who assumed a great position of power later on in their life. Born in 1150 to Turkic parents in Turkistan, Qutb (otherwise known as Aibak) was sold as a slave and raised in Persia, where he was under the servitude of a local Qazi (a sort of judge in Sharia court). After this master died, he was sold off to another, this time Muhammad of Ghor, Sultan of the Ghurid empire (sort of a job promotion). During this time, he was promoted to become the “Amir-i-Akhur”, “Master of Slave”. After being promoted to military command and even serving as an able general of Muhammad of Ghor, his master entrusted the conquest of northwest India to him in 1193. He would go on to conquer the region between the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, before turning his attention to the resilient Rajputs.
    - - Spanish black university professor and once a former slave.
  - - - 73 BC, Capua, Italy. A group of gladiators and slaves rebel against their masters. Seizing kitchen utensils, the warriors freed their way out of their school and seized several wagons filled with gladiatorial weapons and armor. Though the city garrison was deployed, the experienced warriors easily cut through them, plundering Capua and the surrounding region, slowly growing in number as more were convinced to break their chains and join the ranks. On Mount Vesuvius, these slaves chose their leaders. Gallics Crixus and Oenomaus, along with one other that would descend into the annals of historical legend and myth: Spartacus. Over the centuries, hundreds of books, plays, TV shows and even movies have been directed about the life of this infamous former slave. Yet little is actually known about his early life.
      - We do know that Spartacus was born in 111 B.C, somewhere along the Strymon river in modern-day Bulgaria. Greek essayist Plutarch described him as a “Thracian of nomadic stock”, whilst historian Appian described him as “a Thracian by birth, who had once served with the Romans, but had since been a prisoner and sold for a gladiator”. We don’t actually know what Spartacus did in order to be enslaved, some say he deserted the Roman army, others say that Roman legions hunted him down after he committed a crime. Whatever the case, Spartacus would train as a gladiator in the school (or ludus) to perform in front of thousands to the death (either against other gladiators of vicious animals). Yet after he led the small rebellion in Capua, Spartacus would go on to symbolise the word “freedom”. At the time of the rebellion, the senate in Rome was unconcerned with a minor conflict, they were still tangled up with wars in Spain and the Pontic empire in modern-day Turkey. Yet praetor Claudius Gaber was dispatched with 3000 men to surround and siege the rebel’s camp on Mount Vesuvius. In a great feat of tactical ingenuity, the slaves outmaneuvered the much larger Roman force, flanking them by climbing down the volcano with ropes of vine. Later a second expedition led by Praetor Varinius was ambushed by Spartacus’ guerillas, steadily growing in number after bands of slaves heard news of this “army of freedom”. In the summer of 72 BC, the Roman senate, concerned over the successes and growing numbers of Spartacus’ force, dispatched 2 legions (almost 10,000 men in total) to eliminate this threat once and for all.
      - Yet in the ensuing battle, Spartacus’ force was victorious, albeit with some losses. Crixus, one of the leaders and lieutenants of the force, was slain during the battle. To honor him, Spartacus forced the Roman prisoners captured to partake in funeral games, the same games he and his men had once partaken in when they were slaves. But after his movement gained over 120,000 followers, Spartacus began to have logistical problems managing such a huge force. In 71 BC, the richest Roman citizen, Marcus Licinius Crassus, was charged with directing the war against these former slaves (later known as the Third Servile War). Leading 8 legions of almost 40,000 men to trap the slaves in the toe of Italy. After being betrayed by pirates and failing to build their own rafts, Spartacus’ remaining men met Crassus on the battlefield. Spartacus himself was last seen attempting to slay Crassus before a centurion ran a sword through him (though historian Appian says his body was never recovered). In the end, Crassus was victorious, with the Roman authority showing its nasty side: 6,000 prisoners were crucified along the Appian way, a road from Rome to Brindisi, passing along Capua; the former home of Spartacus.
        
        Historians are still debating what Spartacus was actually attempting to do when he turned his army South. The alps were wide open for him, he could’ve simply marched over the mountains to Gaul and let his men disperse as free people. Yet many within his army wanted to continue plundering, as revenge for all the wrongs that had been wrought upoupon them. Many still dreamt of marching on Rome itself, taking the capital and assuming leadership over the entire empire, allowing all slaves to break their chains. Whatever the case, we do know that Spartacus was probably not aiming to abolish slavery entirely in Rome, rather he was simply trying to escape and earn his freedom. Yet the warrior slave who’d fought for his right to be free and those of hundreds of thousands of others, continues to be immortalised for his deeds.
    - - If you cast your mind back to the beginning of this section (or simply scroll up to it), you might remember Jean-Jacques Dessalines. An african slave in Haiti who would become the country’s first emperor after its successful slave rebellion. Well, here’s another fellow whom Dessalines actually knew and fought alongside with. Toussaint L’Ouverture was born a slave on the Caribbean island of Saint-Domingue (then the name for Haiti) in 1743. During his education, his free godfather apparently tutored him in philosophy (he had a passion for Epictetus, another slave on this list), Creole, French and other basic subjects of the time. Initially, historians believed that he was slave until the rebellion in 1791, yet documents reveal he was actually freed by his former master in 1776 due to his skill and managerial prowess. He actually had his own slaves, working a coffee plantation he owned on behalf of his former master (an ironic twist if ever I’ve heard one). In fact, when the rebellion broke out in 1791, Toussaint was already 50 years of age (incredibly old for slave at that time) and not willing to join the rebels.
      - Yet when the fighting spread to his corner of the island, he decided to take up the cause, echoing the beliefs of those philosophers whose thoughts on equal rights of man he believed in (John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau). Joining the rebels under Georges Biassou, Toussaint set to work as a medical doctor to the troops. After gaining a reputation for saving the lives of his men, he was given command of 600 black soldiers, which later grew to almost 4,000 loyal followers. Among them was Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who’d become an able lieutenant alongside Toussaint. During this time, Spain and Britain sought an opportunity to harass the French and force them to give up their precious Caribbean colonies; so that their own empires might grow. The Spanish actually supported the slave revolt and the British sent their own troops to corner the French on the island. In 1794, after France agreed to free all slaves, Toussaint switches sides and began fighting against his former black commanders. The Spanish were driven back to their former side of the island and the British troops were forced to withdraw after overwhelming casualties.
      - After that, relative peace came to the island, with Toussaint taking command of the entire government. He was loved amongst all people there, for his decision to allow emigre plantation owners to return stimulated the economy. Military discipline was used to convince former slaves to work, but instead of being beaten they were given equal shares in the profits from their plantations. In 1802 however, Napoleon Bonaparte was growing nervous about Toussaint, who might at any time cast off the French chains preventing him from making Haiti truly independent. So he ordered a colonial governor on the island to invite Toussaint for a parley, only for him to be captured and sent to France a prisoner. He would die in prison the following year, having been interrogated for alleged details about an upcoming black revolt. His legacy for freeing slaves and equal rights for all rings through the ages, with his work allowing Haiti to become the first free colony thanks to a slave revolt.
    - - One of the less frightening stories on this list, the story of Izz al-Din Aybak is not a conventional slave story. Similar to Qutb, Aybak was a Mamluk slave (a word used by Arabs to refer to any slave soldiers and rulers of slave origins) who served the court of Ayyubid sultan as-Salih Ayyub in 1240. Raising himself to the position of Emir (commander) as well as working as a Jashkinir (taster of the Sultan’s food and drink as well as cupbearer), Aybak would develop a notorious reputation amongst the people of Egypt for his cunning and cruelty. In 1249, his master met his end during the Frankish invasion of Damietta, whilst the heir apparent to the throne (his son, Turanshah), was assassinated the year afterwards.
      - With no one to carry on the Ayyubid dynasty, the Mamluks seized control of the throne and Ayabk was appointed as Atabeg, commander in chief of the armed forces (then second only to the Sultan). Over the next 4 years, political turmoil within the kingdom itself would see Aybak crush multiple rebellions and lead campaigns against other usurpers. Interestingly, the sultana of Egypt would marry Aybak and then abdicate the throne to him in July 1250. He would only rule for 5 days, before a 6 year old from the Syrian branch of the Ayyubid family was placed on the throne to quell rebellious voices in Baghdad and Syria. In 1254, he would lead an effort to assume the throne, before kicking out his former Mamluk allies. In 1257 he would meet his end after he was murdered due to wife jealousy (yeah, of all the reasons he could’ve been killed, some scandal raises the most controversy).
    - - 10 years before Toussaint gained his freedom, Olaudah Equiano (then known as Gustavus Vassa) earned his own through intelligent trading and careful saving. Born in 1745 to farmers in Igboland, Nigeria, Olaudah was captured and taken to the Caribbean (as most African children were at the time) before being sold as a slave to work in the Royal Navy. He then transferred servitude to a Quaker trader, before earning his freedom in 1766. After moving to London, Olaudah would begin to make a name for himself as one of the great abolitionists of the time.
      - He joined the abolitionist group Sons of Africa, made up of well-known former African slaves who were living in Britain. Throughout his time he would write his masterpiece and legacy, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, published in 1789. Its depiction of the horrors of slavery made great contributions for parliament to approve the Slave Trade Act of 1807, abolishing slavery in all British African colonies. Though Olaudah was dead a decade before the historic government act passed, his name was remembered as one of the key abolitionists who helped set millions of his brothers free.
- - - - There are very few circumstances in which one might choose to be enslaved. Perhaps someone wishing to escape their current life and find a new home might take the prospect of slavery as a gateway to a new world in which they could build themselves a nice life.
    - - People should no longer be allowed to enslave themselves because of the conditions and horrible threats they can face while on the job. Slavery is a dark mark on humanity’s history, and it should no longer be allowed to rear its ugly head.