I could not come up with any good title for this one. The subject does not lend itself to any type of levity - even sarcasm.
I should not have to say this, but in today's world, I will: this post, the facts and statements presented here in no way condone or pardon the unspeakable act of slavery. The ownership, control over, and/or forced labor of another human being is reprehensible and cannot be supported with any statements or facts.
This post came about from a "discussion" I had online with someone (as is normal online - I cannot know for certain if they were male or female nor how old they were - they presented with a traditional male name and as a college student in Ohio). They were comparing the condition of African-Americans today to slaves in the US south in the antebellum period. After "talking" some back and forth I came to realize that they truly believed the USA was the historic center of slavery in the world and the nexus of the slavery issue. Although I knew this not to be the case, as is the norm for me I have spent the past few weeks doing some research. Some of the facts I discovered surprised even me.
The most shocking are two I will lead with:
1) the last country to make slavery illegal was Mauritania (a west African country) in 1981! Yes, 1981! More on Mauritania later.
2) there are more people in slavery today than all the slaves that were taken from Africa - if you include forced marriages, it is almost double (one issue I found with getting facts on slavery is that there is no complete and agreed upon definition - all agree that some things are slavery, but not others) a large number of these are women and a large number are children - both of which are part of the sex trade around the world
Now some base facts:
From 1525 until 1866 there were 12.5 million slaves taken from Africa to the "New World" - North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean. This was a very arduous, difficult, and deadly journey, with 1.8 million of the slaves perishing on the trip. That means 10.7 million arrived somewhere in the "New World". Most were not taken to the US (any time I refer to the US historically, I am referring to the British/Spanish Colonies or the US proper once it was formed). In fact, scholars have determined that out of this 10.7 million, 388,000 were taken to the US. A large majority were taken to the Caribbean islands to work the sugar and fruit plantations there.
As mentioned above, there are different types (and definitions) of slavery. The most insidious, or horrific type (if one can define that) to me at least is chattel slavery. This is the type that most think of when they hear the term. The slave is literally property for the owner to do with as they please. All their labor and output belongs to the owner. What makes me use the word insidious is that the children of a chattel slave is also born a slave. This, and illegal trade, is where the bulk of US slaves came from. The number grew from the above mentioned 388,000 to just under 4 million in 1860 in the US.
Historically slavery has been around probably as long as people have. Slavery is codified in the Code of Hammurabi, 282 rules that were formulated and agreed upon @1754 BC. Slavery is specifically outlined and defined in many of these "laws" and is felt to have paved the way for the next 3,500+ years of slavery. The Vikings, Goths, Visigoths, Celts, Greeks, Romans, African Kingdoms, Native American tribes, and almost every other societal group captured and dealt in slaves and the slave trade. Going to war with a neighboring tribe or country was a way to gain laborers as well as sex slaves/wives. Typically after a battle and/or war was won the prime age men were killed (as they could rise up most easily against the victors) as well as the aged (unless they had a rare skill like soothsayer, healer, etc.). The fertile women and children were absorbed into the society as slaves.
As mentioned, there were 3,954,000 slaves in the US in 1960, just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. This was a bit under 13% of the total population. It is estimated (and it is an estimate because it is unknown how many families "rented" slaves, or owned one slave) that 1.4% of the US population actually owned slaves in the 1850-60s. Now that number is a bit bogus as slavery was already illegal in half the States at the time. So another way to look at it is that @4.9% of people in slave holding States owned slaves. (or @20% of families) You can see from these numbers that slavery was not as widespread as one might believe.
The US officially banned the importation of slaves in 1808. That did not stop it (just like making drugs illegal does not stop that), but it did slow the numbers down and make slave trading much more expensive. However, it also made it more lucrative for those that could succeed at it. You all should know the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln in January of 1863 ended slavery in the US. When the Confederacy surrendered and those States rejoined the Union, slavery ended there as well.
As for other countries - slavery was legal well into the 20th century. I already mentioned Mauritania which did not make slavery illegal until 1981. Mauritania still has a large number of its population in slavery, @2% as society has not caught up with the laws.
Eritrea, an east African nation, and successor to an ancient kingdom had legal slavery until 1942. Eritrea was an early provider of slaves in the Middle Ages and beyond. Slaves were a major export into Egypt, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Weaker tribes in Eritrea were kept down by the taking of their young and women. Eritrea also would raid surrounding kingdoms and countries for slaves.
Over 50 countries did not officially make slavery illegal until the 1950s and even into the 1960s. That surprised me, I will admit. Do some research, you may be surprised at some of these nations. That does not mean that they condoned or approved of slavery, but it was legal to carry it out.
Now for some other numbers and some facts about slavery today:
It is estimated that from 26 million to 40 million people are in slavery today. (the number varies so much due to the fact I pointed out earlier - there are different definitions of slavery). The 26 million would be mostly chattel slavery where people are property as historic slavery was practiced. At least 40% of these are children - over 10 million! At least 20% are women being used in the sex trade - again over 5 million. So, 15+ million women and children are being held in slavery mostly for the sex industry around the world.
Another fact that makes modern slavery (human trafficking, sex trafficking) so large is the fact that the modern slave is considered very "disposable". It is estimated that a slave today can be obtained for under $100 versus the equivalent of @$40,000 in 1809. That means no care or concern for welfare is shown as there is minimal investment. People are literally used up and thrown away.
Modern slavery is more commonly referred to as sex trafficking or human trafficking. Around 800,000 children go missing every year in the US alone! (we are going crazy over less than 200,000 deaths from Covid-19! more than 4 times that many children disappear every year!)
What can you do? Reach out to one of the organizations that help fight this evil. Here are some: (this is not meant as an endorsement of any of these - I have not vetted them personally - do your own homework before giving money to any group) I have given money to the GAATW and Love146 (children focused) if anyone cares.
https://gaatw.org/ Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women
https://www.stopthetraffik.org/who-we-are/about-us/ Stop the Traffick
https://swp.urbanjustice.org/about/ Sex Workers Project
https://www.fairgirls.org/our-mission/ Fair Girls
https://freedomnetworkusa.org/ Freedom Network USA
https://love146.org/mission-vision/ Love 146
Slavery is NOT a US problem. It is NOT an African-American problem. It IS history and it IS current as well!
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