Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume IV
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with States, Empires, and Networks, 1200 bce–900 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: the world from 1200 bce to 900 ce
- Part I Global histories
- 2 Global economic history
- 3 The gendering of power in the family and the state
- 4 Slavery
- 5 The Axial Age in world history
- 6 Developments in science and technology c. 800 bce – c. 800 ce
- 7 Discourses on gender and sexuality
- 8 Art
- 9 Pastoral nomads
- Part II Trans-regional and regional perspectives
- Index
- References
4 - Slavery
from Part I - Global histories
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
By
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge World HistoryVolume IV
- The Cambridge World History
- A World with States, Empires, and Networks, 1200 bce–900 ce
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: the world from 1200 bce to 900 ce
- Part I Global histories
- 2 Global economic history
- 3 The gendering of power in the family and the state
- 4 Slavery
- 5 The Axial Age in world history
- 6 Developments in science and technology c. 800 bce – c. 800 ce
- 7 Discourses on gender and sexuality
- 8 Art
- 9 Pastoral nomads
- Part II Trans-regional and regional perspectives
- Index
- References
Summary
Slaves could be found in simpler societies, but more important and better known was the existence of slavery in most advanced states. This chapter discusses the spectrum of different types and levels of slave use. It focuses on slavery in pre-state societies and the correlation between slavery and cities, trade, and empires. Historians often distinguish between slave societies and societies with slaves. New World slavery was agricultural and can seem atavistic and primitive in comparison with contemporaneous industrialization with its wage laborers and technology. The growth of state power, like the growth of cities, typically went hand in hand with the increasing inequalities both of wealth and power that produced an elite who might desire slaves for their lifestyle, status, or profit. The racism directed against black Africans in New World slave systems was a modern, relatively systematic, and extreme example of a much more common attitude toward slaves.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History , pp. 76 - 100Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
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