slavery

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slavery summary

slavery

Q: What is slavery?

Slavery is a condition in which one human being was owned by another. A slave was considered by law as property, or chattel, and was deprived of most of the rights ordinarily held by free persons.

Q: Should statues of slaveholders be taken down?

Whether statues of slaveholders or other controversial people should be taken down is widely debated. Some argue the statues misrepresent history and are a painful reminder of the past, while other statues would better represent the county. Others argue the statues are part of the country's history that do not cause racism but could educate people, and removal of one statue is a slippery slope to taking down any statue anyone disagrees with. For more on the debate on historical statue removal, visit ProCon.org .

Q: Should the federal government pay reparations to the descendants of enslaved people?

Whether the federal government should pay reparations to the descendants of enslaved people is hotly debated. Some say the wealth and health disparities caused by slavery should be addressed and other groups have been paid reparations. Others say reparations would be too difficult to implement, and slavery is long over so reparations would further divide the country. For more on the reparations debate, visit ProCon.org .

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Written by Richard Hellie

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 12, 2024 • Article History

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Category: History & Society

Key People:: Abraham Lincoln; John C. Calhoun; Benjamin F. Wade; St. Peter Claver; David Hunter

Related Topics:: slave rebellions; debt slavery; slave code; encomienda; sex slavery

On the Web:: Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media - Slavery and the Haitian Revolution (Mar. 28, 2024)

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What is slavery?

Should statues of slaveholders be taken down?

Should the federal government pay reparations to the descendants of enslaved people?

slavery, condition in which one human being was owned by another. A slave was considered by law as property, or chattel, and was deprived of most of the rights ordinarily held by free persons. There is no consensus on what a slave was or on how the institution of slavery should be defined. Nevertheless, there is general agreement among historians, anthropologists, economists, sociologists, and others who study slavery that most of the following characteristics should be present in order to term a person a slave. The slave was a species of property; thus, he belonged to someone else. In some ...(100 of 16450 words)

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