Mr. B's Graphic Organizer on - Forced Labor Systems

8/16/2019 Mr. B's Graphic Organizer on - Forced Labor Systems

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Comparing Forced / Coercive Labor Systems During The Early

Modern Period: (1450-1750)

AP World History

Mr. Blankenship

Slavery Russian Serfdom Encomienda /Mita Slavery as an institution had existed for thousands of

years before the early Modern Period and throughoutdifferent regions of the world – what the AP guys will

probably want to know is: 1) African slavery to the

Western Hemisphere and 2) Slavery in North Africa andthe Middle East – in the Gunpowder Empires.

Slavery to North Africa / The Middle East and the

Swahili Coast

Estimates vary but historians debate that between 8th

century and the 19th

century somewhere around 10

million people were taken as slaves and sold in ports

along the eastern coastline of Africa (Swahili Coast), or

North along the North Africa coast. They were sold to

Mediterranean, Indian, Muslim, Jewish and Persian

merchants.

Most of the slaves were female and destined to work as

either household slaves, concubines in the harems of

Islamic rulers or the males as soldiers to fight in the

Gunpowder Empire armies or as eunuchs.

African Slavery to the Western Hemisphere

Direct acquisition of African slaves from Sub-Saharan

Africa were brought in by Portugal after the 1440’s as

they explored the West African coast.

Before 1500 between 500 and 1000 slaves were brought

into Iberia and sold in port cities – where they were usedas porters in the docks or as household servants – many

were able to buy their freedom and filter into Portuguese

and Spanish society.

Before the Mongol period in Russian

history – Russian peasants had been

largely free farmers with a legal

position superior to that of the

medieval Western counterparts.

After the expulsion of the Mongols in

the 16th

century – Russian peasants

fell into debt and had to accept

servile status to the noble

landowners when they could not

repay.

The Russian government encouraged

the process of Serfdom – it gave the

government a way to satisfy the

nobility and regulate peasants when

the government itself lacked the

bureaucratic means to extend direct

controls over the common people.

In Russian serfdom: Serfs could be

bought and sold, gambled away, andpunished by their masters.

They could not marry or move away

without their masters’ permission.

In 1649 an Act passed by the

government fixed the hereditary

status of the serfs – so that peopleborn to that station could not legally

escape it.

The Encomienda system

was used primarily for

agricultural work. Natives

in an area were placed

under the authority of an

encomendero – or Spanish

boss – who could extract

labor and tribute

according to the needs of

the area. This system onlylasted during the 16

th

century – because so many

natives died.

The Inca had made

extensive use of the mita

system – a sort of labor tax

to support elites and the

elderly. Generally, an

adult make had to spend

1/7 of his time working for

the Inca – a few months at

a time.

When his obligation to the

state was complete, he

would return home until

his service time came up

again.



In the 16th

century (the 1500’s) – around ½ million

African slaves were brought to the Western Hemisphere – mainly to work in urban settings: metal workers, dock

workers, gold and silver mines and small agricultural

settings.

In the 17th

and 18th

centuries (the 1600 and 1700’s) –

sugar would become one of the most important exports of

the Spanish empire and in these two centuries 8.5 millionAfrican were brought to the Western Hemisphere – the

vast majority went to sugar producing areas such as

Brazil and the Caribbean.

1/2 million slaves also made it to British North America

where they worked in tobacco fields in Virginia and later

in the late 1700’s and into the 1800’s – cotton fields of the

southern U.S.

The vast majority of these slaves were “chattel” meaning

“property” – and their status was passed on to theirdescendants.

The way that Europeans acquired slaves was that they

tapped into existing slave markets – and coastal African

peoples – using the newly acquired guns from Europeans

– raided the interior to provide the large amount ofslaves needed for the newly created economic systems of

the Atlantic world.

Historians debate the number of Africans that died in the

capturing process and along the Middle Passage becauseof disease – the numbers are around 3 to 5 million.

Once in the Western hemisphere – and most likely on

sugar plantations – slaves faced horrific conditions –

sugar production was grueling and disease was rampant

in the Caribbean and Brazil because of water

contamination and malaria.

Most serfs were illiterate and quite

poor – they paid high taxes or

obligations in kind – and they owedextensive labor service to the

landlords or the government – most

often in agriculture but sometimes in

mining and manufacturing.

This system was a very unusual case

in which a people essentially

enslaved many of its own members – in contrast to most slave systems that

focused on outsiders.

The serfs in this coerced labor

system were used to produce grain

surpluses sold to Western merchants

for the growing cities of westernEurope – in return manufactured

goods including the luxury

furnishings and clothing essential to

the aristocratic lifestyle were

brought it – this relationship made

Russia and parts of Eastern Europe

– subordinate to the West.

The Spanish adopted this

system, particular for their

silver mines in Bolivia andsurrounding areas.

Other projects were:

Church building, building

roads, new Spanish cities

or in agricultural projects.

Native Americans were

paid for their work – but

the pay was very low and

there were abuses of the

system by the local

officials.

One of the problems was

that so many natives died,that the Spanish kept

having to increase the timespent in the mines that itbecame impractical.

In order to avoid this

labor system – many

Natives left their villages – they went to work for

Spanish landowners or

sought employment incities.

Mr. B's Graphic Organizer on - Forced Labor Systems

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