IV. Literature. — A calm and complete view of He- brew servitude is given in the above-mentioned treatise of Mielziner, Die Verhdltnisse der Sklaven bei den alten Hebrdern, nach biblischen und tahnudischen Quellen dar- gestellt (Copenhag. and Leip». 1859), which was trans- lated by Prof. Schmidt in the (Gettysburg) Evangelical Revieio, .Ian. 1862, p. 31 1-355. Older treatises are those of Abicht, De Servis Hebr. (Lips. 1704) ; Mieg, Consti- tutiones Servi Heb. ex Script, et Rabbin. (Herb. 1785). See also Barnes, Scriptural Views of Slavery (Phila. 1846); Raphall, Bible View of Slavery (N. Y. 1861); Jour. Sac. Lit. Oct. 1859 ; .Jai'i. 1860 ; ' New-Enylander, May, 1860; Amer. Theol. Rev. April, 1861 ; Ame'r. Presb. Rev. July, 1861 ; Bibliotheca Sacra, Jan. and July, 1862; Row, Hampton Lectures for 1878, p. 147. Comp. the nu- merous earlier controversial articles cited by Poole, In-
dex, s. V. See also the two articles immediately follow- ing.
SLAVERY, MouKKN. Ancient slaverj', especially among the Romans and (i reeks, became a system of ex- treme cruelty. Christianity, though it did not do away with slaverv, tended to ameliorate the condition of the slave. See Si.avkkv, Rklation of, to Christianitv.
1. In Asia and Europe. — Justinian did much to pro- mote the eventual extinction of slaverj', and the Church excommunicated slave-owners who put their slaves to death without warrant from the judge. But the num- ber of slaves again increased, multitudes being brought by the barbarian invaders, and in the countries which had been provinces of the empire slavery continued long after the empire had fallen to pieces. It eventually merged into the mitigated condition known as serfdom, which prevailed all over Europe in the Middle Ages. The contact between Christianity and Mohammedan- ism during the Crusades gave a new impulse to slav- ery, neither party having scruples about the enslaving of those belonging to the other. From the 10th to the 14th century there grew up a considerable slave- trade, of which Rome was the centre. The great com- mercial republics of Italy engaged largely in slave- trading, the Venetians even selling Christians to Mos- lems. Slavery also existed in Florence, the slaves be- ing, however, mostly Moslems and other unransomed prisoners of war. LTnder the Saxons, the slave-trade flourished in England, Bristol being the chief market, whence many slaves were exported to Ireland. But in England slavery was never very popular, and the Irish early emancipated their bondmen. Slavery still exists in most Mohammedan countries, but in a verv mild form. It being a political rather than a social institu- tion, it is possible for the slave not only to obtain lib- erty, but also to secure the highest social position. For a long time the Algerine corsairs took large numbers of captives from among the Christian nations around the Mediterranean, and sailed as far north as Ireland, seiz- ing people whom they reduced to slavery. The Euro- pean powers made frequent wars on the Barbary states, and the United States also resorted to force to secure the liberty and commerce of its citizens. The success- ful bombardment of Algiers in 1816 by an English fleet commanded by lord Exmouth put an end to Avhite slav- ery in Barbary.
2. Negro Slavery. — The slave-trade in negroes existed three thousand years ago, at least, and the Carthagini- ans brought numbers of black slaves from Central and Southern Africa. The Venetians, no doubt, distributed some negro slaves over the various European nations which they visited. Black slaves have been found in Mohammedan countries since the time of the prophet, but they have often risen very high, both in the state and in the hcuisehold. The negro formerly was sold, not because he was a negro, but under the same condi- tions as the (ireek or Arab. The initiative in the Afri- can slave-trade was taken by the Portuguese, who in 1444 formed a company at Lagos, although it is doubt- ful whether it was organized expressly for the trade in men. In 1445 four negroes were taken by the Portu- guese, but rather accidentalh- than of set purpose to make them slaves. The trade quickly increased, and another factory was established in one of the Anguin islands, which sent from seven to eight hundred black slaves to Portugal everj' year. Tbe discovery of Amer- ica (1492) gave a new impetus to the trade, which had declined fully one half. The Spaniards, finding the Indians iniable to do the work retpiired of them, soon began to import nesrroes into the New World, and were encoumged by the priest Las Casas and other Roman Catholic leaders on the plea of preventing the extinction of the natives. The trade, under the stimu- lus afforded by the American demand, rapidly increased, and was engaged in by the English, who had already brought negroes into their own country and sold them as early as 1553. In the time of the Stuarts four com-
SLAVERY
800
SLAVERY
panics were formed for carrying on the traffic, which furnished negroes to America. In ITliJ the privilege of supplying negroes to the Spanish colonies was se- cured by the English for thirty years, during which time 144,000 were to be landed. Other European na- tions engaged in the commerce, and the first slaves brought to the old territory of the United States were solil from a Dutch vessel, which landed twenty at Jamestown, Va., in 1C20. The Continental Congress, ill 177G, resolved that no more slaves should be import- ed ; but wlien the American (,'onstitiition was formed, in 1788, Congress was i)rohibited from inlerfering with the traffic until 1808, at which time it was abolished. In 1820 it was declared to be piracy. The .State of (ieorgia prohibited the trattic in 1798. In P'ngland, as early as 1702, chief-justice Holt ruled that "as soon as a negro comes into England he is free : one may be a villein in England, but not a slave ;" and later, '' In England there is no such thing as a slave, and a human being never was considered a chattel to be st>ld for a price." In 1772 lord Mansfield decided, in the case of .Sharp rs. Somerset [see .Shaki", Granville], that a slave could not by force be compelled to go out of the kingdom. The first legisla- tive action in favor of the abolition of the slave-trade was in 1793, when the Commons jiassed an act for its gradual abolition, which failed in the House of Lords. In 1806 atK)lition was brought forward as a government measure, and was carried in 1807. It received the royal assent on March 25, and made all slave-trading illegal after Jan. 1, 1808. British subjects, however, continued to carry on the trade under cover of the Spanish and Por- tuguese flags. The ships were more crowded than ever, through fear of capture; and the negroes were often thrown overboard when the vessel was pursued. In 1811 an act of Parliament made the trade felony, pun- ishal)le with fourteen years' transportation, or from three to live years' imprisonment with hard labor. An act of 1824 declared it piracy, and as such a capital crime if committed within the admiralty Jurisdiction, but the statute of 1837 left it punishable with transportation for life. Ill the course of time the slave-trade was abol- ished by Venezuela, Chili, Buenos Ayres, Sweden, Den- mark, Holland, and France. The accession of Portugal and .Spain to the princi|ile of abolition was obtained by the treaties of 181.5 and 1817; and by a convention con- cluded with Brazil in 182(5 it was declared piratical for the subjects of that country to be engaged in the slave- trade after 1830. By treaties with dift'erent countries various steps have been taken for its suppression, which have resulted in its almost entire extinction.