Compare and Contrast Essay on Slavery in Americas vs. the Middle East

Introduction

Slavery was a common practice in many societies around the world. However, the reason for holding slaves varied greatly from one society to another. Comparing slavery in the Americas and the Middle East reveals the similarities and differences of the underlying factors for such a practice.

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One major similarity between slavery in the Americas and the Middle East is that majority of the slaves constituted Africans (Judge & Langdon, 2016). Additionally, the two groups used the vice as a means of accessing labor, where the slaves undertook activities at no pay. Furthermore, the slaves were captured or bought from coastal societies in Africa (Judge & Langdon, 2016). Since in both societies religion, that is Christianity and Islam, demands equality of people, the two groups found reasons to dehumanize Africans to justify the practice (Judge & Langdon, 2016). In this case, both the Middle East and Americas societies considered Africans as savages and equated them to animals, and thus giving them reasons to hold them as slaves (Judge & Langdon, 2016). Consequently, the above similarities reveal the factors shared between the groups in their approach to the practice.

However, the Americas and the Middle East populations differed on several grounds regarding the practice. For instance, the roles that slaves were held for differed whereby in the Middle East, the major reason was for domestic roles, while commercial farming fueled the demand for servitude in the Americas (Judge & Langdon, 2016). Based on the needs that the two groups sought for slaves, Middle East preferred females while the Americas sought for male slaves who were viewed as more energetic and strong for work in the farms (Judge & Langdon, 2016). In the Middle East, slave women were highly prized and viewed as precious commodities from other lands. As such, they not only helped in the domestic chores of their masters but also would sometimes serve as concubines (Judge & Langdon, 2016). Therefore, slaves in the Middle East were not tortured or mistreated to the same extent as what was witnessed in the Americas.

Unlike in the Middle East where slaves were treated as a precious commodity, the Americas treated them as savages equal to animals. For instance, during their transportation, many of them died of disease, exhaustion, suicide, and injuries as the conditions they were put in on the ship were extremely inhumane (Judge & Langdon, 2016). Furthermore, they were chained together and auctioned off in open markets to the highest bidders once they arrived in slave markets in the Americas (Judge & Langdon, 2016). Once in the farms, the slaves were overworked, beaten, and severely punished by their masters for real or imagined errors in their work (Judge & Langdon, 2016). The mistreatment of slaves is also evident from those who escaped and established their cultures and defended against recapture with all their might. It was from the search for justification for such treatment that the concept of racism began, and eventually spread across the world (Judge & Langdon, 2016). Therefore, Americas' slaves were mistreated more than those in the Middle East were.

Conclusion

The comparison shows that slavery was a common vice in different parts of the world. However, the motives behind the practice differed from one society to another. In this case, while Americas have a legacy of worst mistreatment of slaves, the Middle East populations put their slaves in better and humane conditions. Slaves in the Americas were for commercial production while domestic work was the reason for the practice in the Middle East. Consequently, the two societies had varying approaches and ideologies regarding slavery.

References

Judge, E. H., & Langdon, J. W. (2016). Connections: A world history (Vol. 3). New York, NY: Pearson.