Slavery
Part of a series on
Slavery
Early history
History of slavery
Antiquity · Aztec
Ancient Greece · Rome
Medieval Europe · Thrall
Kholop · Serfdom
Spanish New World colonies
Religion
The Bible and slavery
Judaism and slavery
Christianity and slavery
Islam and slavery
By country or region
Africa · Atlantic
Arab · Coastwise
Angola · Britain and Ireland
British Virgin Islands · Brazil
Canada · India
Iran · Japan
Libya · Mauritania
Romania · Sudan
Swedish · United States
Contemporary slavery
Modern Africa · Debt bondage
Penal labour · Sexual slavery
Unfree labour · Wage slavery
Opposition and resistance
Timeline
Abolitionism
Compensated emancipation
Opponents of slavery
Slave rebellion · Slave narrative
Slavery is a form of forced labor in which
people are considered to be, or treated as,
the property of others. Slaves are held
against their will from the time of their cap-
ture, purchase or birth, and are deprived of
the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to re-
ceive compensation (such as wages). Evid-
ence of slavery predates written records, and
has existed to varying extents, forms and
periods in almost all cultures and contin-
ents.[1] In some societies, slavery existed as a
legal institution or socio-economic system,
but today it is formally outlawed in nearly all
countries. Nevertheless, the practice contin-
ues in various forms around the world.[2][3]
Freedom from slavery is an internationally
recognised human right. Article 4 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
states:
No one shall be held in slavery or
servitude; slavery and the slave trade
shall be prohibited in all their forms.[4]
The English word slave derives - through Old
French and Medieval Latin - from the medi-
eval word for Slavic, a people of Central and
Eastern Europe, many of whom were sold in
slavery after conquest by the Holy Roman
Empire.[5]
History of slavery and
the slave trade
Slave market in early medieval Eastern
Europe. Painting by Sergei Ivanov
Slavery can be traced back to the earliest re-
cords, such as the Bible an