3 ms·
Slavery was the norm. Slave societies, where slaves made up the vast majority of the population, were definitely not the norm.
by azernik 7y ago
Slavery was the norm. Slave societies, where slaves made up the vast majority of the population, were definitely not the norm.
- manfredo 7y agoSocial practices where an underclass of people are locked into agrarian or manual labor largely on the basis of hereditary differences is something that spans most agrarian societies. Serfdom, caste systems, slavery, etc. all essentially lock large demographics into limited labor opportunities. Certainly each of these things have significant difference, and there's substantial differences even within them (e.g. Feudal Japan's caste system of farmers, warriors, artisans, and merchants is different from South Asian caste systems. Classical slavery is not identical to transatlantic slavery). But people in power using social institutions to ensure that significant portions of the population are unable to acquire wealth or power beyond subsistence is fairly universal across agrarian civilizations, and didn't really change until the industrial revolution.