Slavery, and How Did Your Ancestors Treat Theirs?

Nadene Goldfoot
                                                      

The business of buying and shipping slaves to market

Slaves were punished by whipping, shackling, beating, mutilation, branding, and/or imprisonment. Punishment was most often meted out in response to disobedience or perceived infractions, but masters or overseers sometimes abused slaves to assert dominance.

Rankin, a Presbyterian Minister,  presented the depressing conditions of life as a slave: "As the making of grain is the main object of their emancipation, masters will sacrifice as little as possible in giving them food. It often happens that what will barely keep them alive, is all that a cruel avarice will allow them. Hence, in some instances, their allowance has been reduced to a single pint of corn each during the day and night. And some have no better allowance than a small portion of cotton seed!! And in some places the best allowance is a peck of corn each during the week, while perhaps they are not permitted to taste meat so much as once in the course of seven years, except what little they may be able to steal! Thousands of them are pressed with the gnawings of cruel hunger during their whole lives — an insatiable avarice will not grant them a single comfortable meal to satisfy the cravings of nature! Such cruelty far exceeds the powers of description! ...Thousands of them are really starving in a state of slavery, and are under the direful necessity of stealing whatever they can find, that will satisfy the cravings of hunger; and I have little doubt but many actually starve to death."

Slavery has been around ever since homo sapiens emerged in this world.  Slavery has been the first industrial revolution to be introduced, man's cook, washer, drying, dishwasher, you name it. Slavery existed in most all parts of the world until the 19th century.  Abe Lincoln put an end to it in the USA but it took the Civil War to stop it.  

 The document, which emerged during the production of Finding Your Roots, a celebrity genealogy show, is neither unique nor unusual. It is one of thousands that record the primal wound of the American republic – slavery. It lists the names of 24 slaves, men and women, who in 1858 were owned by Benjamin L Cole, Affleck’s great-great-great-grandfather. When this uncomfortable fact came to light, Affleck asked the show’s producers to conceal his family’s links to slavery. Internal emails discussing the programme were later published by WikiLeaks, forcing Affleck to admit in a Facebook post: “I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed.”  
                                                       

Making bricks in Egypt during slavery

I knew that my own people, the Jews, had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years building the storage cities for the pharoahs.  We have had a reenactment of this every year of my life with Passover where we read the story about it at a special Seder table using foods to tell the story.  Jews never had a day off, and many died while working.  Moses finally came along and rescued all of them, even those not Israelites, returning them to where we had last lived, and my, how it had changed!  Then they were free and had one day off; Shabbat, time to thank their maker on that one day, and use all the new laws that Moses had given all during the 40 year march back home.  
                                                       

                                                                         

One slave serves food while another plays music for his masters.  

The Greeks had become slaves of the Romans, and what a shame.  They had taught the Romans so many things;  about all their gods on Mt. Olympus, reading, philosophy, etc.  At this time, older boys played sports in the buff, and Jewish boys were the only ones circumcised.  Besides all the benefits, it did act as a method of identification, as only Jews did it.  It had been done in Egypt, however, as pictures of performing circumcision are seen in their art.  This would identify a captured Israelite as a Jew.  

Slaves were often whipped, branded or cruelly mistreated. Their owners could also kill them for any reason, and would face no punishment. Although Romans accepted slavery as the norm, some people – like the poet and philosopher, Seneca – argued that slaves should at least be treated fairly.
Slavery in ancient Rome differed from its modern forms in that it was not based on race.  But like modern slavery, it was an abusive and degrading institution. Cruelty was commonplace.

Another difference between Roman slavery and its more modern variety was manumission – the ability of slaves to be freed. Roman owners freed their slaves in considerable numbers: some freed them outright, while others allowed them to buy their own freedom. The prospect of possible freedom through manumission encouraged most slaves to be obedient and hard working. Formal manumission was performed by a magistrate and gave freed men full Roman citizenship. The one exception was that they were not allowed to hold office. However, the law gave any children born to freedmen, after formal manumission, full rights of citizenship, including the right to hold office.  Informal manumission gave fewer rights. Slaves freed informally did not become citizens and any property or wealth they accumulated reverted to their former owners when they died.
                                                         

Returning from cotton fields in South Carolina

The Blacks of the South were used for picking cotton.  Those were field slaves who were worked to death in the hot sun of the South.  I think they must have identified with the Israelite slaves of the Exodus.  Those chosen as house slaves were the lucky ones.  All were bred like cattle, separated from the children they produced as the next generation of slaves;  hardly treated as humans. Slaves had no rights and earned no money.  They were things owned by their masters.  
                                                          

The Slave Hunter, by Jean-Baptiste Debret, 19th century © Bridgeman Images.

Even American Indians had slaves.  They would attack another tribe and take slaves. In his autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855), the American abolitionist Frederick Douglass wrote:

The slave finds more of the milk of human kindness in the bosom of the savage Indian, than in the heart of his Christian master. He leaves the man of the bible, and takes refuge with the man of the tomahawk. Well, they weren't all kind to their slaves.  They did take white women as slaves when they had kidnapped them, and made them work hard.  

                                                             

Slave Trade, by John Raphael Smith, after George Morland, 1762-12, British print. The print's caption reads: Lo the poor Captive with distraction wild, Views his dear Partner torn from his embrace; In Africa, where the Black slaves of the Southern part of the USA needed them for field work, tribes would raid other tribes and sell the people to slavers who came on ships and took them to America.  Many never made it there, dying during the trip from the treatment they were given; like cattle on a cattle truck, only worse. August 20, 2019 marked the 401 anniversary since the first documented enslaved Africans arrived in the U.S. In 1619, a ship reached the Jamestown settlement in the colony of Virginia, carrying “some 20 and odd Negroes” who were kidnapped from their villages in present-day Angola.

                                                       

Moses with his 613 laws for the Israelites on the Exodus recognized the institution of slavery, as he just rescued about 600,000 Israelites and others who had been slaves.  His laws made detailed provision for its humane regulation.  Moses was born in about 1391 BCE and died at age 120 in 1271 BCE.  Another  astronomer researcher says the Exodus return that took 40 years started in 1579-8 BCE. while Kullook cites the year 1476 BCE.  

And thus the early sages used to do – they gave their slaves of everything they ate and drank themselves, and had food served to their slaves even before partaking of it themselves… Slaves may not be maltreated or offended – the law destined them for service, not for humiliation. Do not shout at them or be angry with them, but hear them out, as it is written [Job 31:13–14]: 'If I did despise the cause of my man-servant or maid-servant when they contended with me, what then shall I do when God riseth up? and when He remembereth what shall I answer?'" (Yad, Avadim 9:8; and cf. YD 267:17). In another context, Maimonides says of the laws relating to slavery that they are all "mercy, compassion, and forbearance": "You are in duty bound to see that your slave makes progress; you must benefit him and must not hurt him with words. He ought to rise and advance with you, be with you in the place you chose for yourself, and when fortune is good to you, do not grudge him his portion" (Guide 3:39).


A Hebrew could not become a slave unless by order of the court  or by giving himself voluntarily into bondage . Other slaves were always recruited from outside the nation. It has been opined that the epithet "'eved 'ivri," and the laws relating to Hebrew slaves (Ex. 21:2–6) would apply also to such non-Jewish slaves as were born into the household as the offspring of alien slaves.
                                                    

Ishmaelites buying Joseph for a slave or to trade
strictly against the rules, can't sell a Jew to a non-Jew
His brothers were being very bad. Joseph's father was Jacob, who 
after this happened went into Egypt with his clan of 70, the start of 
the 400 years in Egypt as slaves.  Selling one's sibling will not
be happening again.  

Slaves are members of the master's household, and as such enjoy the benefit and are liable to the duty of keeping the Sabbath (Ex. 20:10, 23:12; Deut. 5:14–15) and holidays (Deut. 16:11–14, 12:18).

A slave may inherit the master's estate where there is no direct issue (Gen. 15:3) or perhaps even where there is (Prov. 17:2). Although slaves are the master's property (Lev. 22:11, etc.), they may acquire and hold property of their own; a slave who "prospers," i.e., can afford it, may redeem himself (Lev. 25:29; instances of property held by slaves are to be found in II Sam. 9:10; 16:4; 19:18, 30; cf. I Sam. 9:8). The killing of a slave is punishable in the same way as that of any freeman, even if the act is committed by the master (Ex. 21:20).

 No distinction may be made between a slave and a hired laborer (Lev. 25:40, 53). A master may not rule ruthlessly over these slaves (Lev. 25:43, 46, 53) nor ill-treat them (Deut. 23:17); Ben Sira adds: "If thou treat him ill and he proceeds to run away, in what way shalt thou find him?" (Ecclus. 33:31). A master may chastise his slave to a reasonable extent (Ecclus. 33:26) but not wound him (Ex. 21:26–27). The workload of a slave should never exceed his physical strength (Ecclus. 33:28–29). A fugitive slave must not be turned over to his master but given refuge (Deut. 23:16). There was no similar rule prevailing in neighboring countries (cf. I Kings 2:39–40). The *abduction of a person for sale into bondage is a capital offense (Ex. 21:16; Deut. 24:7).

                                                 

A Hebrew could not become a slave unless by order of the court  or by giving himself voluntarily into bondage .

 Other slaves were always recruited from outside the nation. It has been opined that the epithet "'eved 'ivri," and the laws relating to Hebrew slaves (Ex. 21:2–6) would apply also to such non-Jewish slaves as were born into the household as the offspring of alien slaves.  "Of the nations that are round about you, of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondwomen. He she work for 6 years, and go free in the 7th year.  If he arrives by himself, he leaves by himself.  If he is married, his wife will leave with him.  If the master gives him a woman and she has children, the wife and children belong to the master and shall go out by himself.  But if he loves them and his master, he may stay and not go free.  Then he must be taken to court, go home and his master shall bore his ear with the awl and he shall be a slave (forever) to the 50th year.  

A man can sell his daughter as a bondswoman, but not  to a strange man.  One who kidnap a man and sells him, and he was found to have been in his power, shall surely be put to death.  If a man shall strike his slave or his maidservant with the rod and he shall die under his hand, he shall surely be avenged.  But if will survive for a day or two, he shall not be avenged, for he is his property.   

Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them may you buy and of their families that are with you which they have begotten in your land; and they may be your possession" (Lev. 25:44–45).You may also buy a slave from the children of the residents who live with you, from them you may buy, from their family that is with you, whom they begot in your land, and they shall remain yours as an ancestral heritage.  You shall hold them as a heritage for your children after you to inherit as a possession, you shall work with them forever, but with your family, the Children of Israel-a man with his brother--you shall not subjugate him through hard labor.  

A Jew's ultimate degradation is to be sold as a slave to a non-Jewish resident of the land of Israel.The Torah expects his kinsmen to redeem him, but without depriving the owner of his legitimate property rights.  

"For the Children of Israel are servants to Me, they are My servants, whom I have taken out of the land of Egypt--I am Hashem, your G-d."    

Jewish men were bound by Jewish law about taking female slaves in battle. In one instance when seeking retribution against the Midianites because of their responsibility for Jews to be swayed into illegal acts causing Moses to be very angry,  they were to kill all but very young females that they wanted to keep as bondswomen.  Numbers 31. 
                                                       

Battles fought often ended up by taking captives.  Not all men saw a beautiful captive woman and thought of her as a slave.  He may have lustful feelings for her, so there were steps to follow to satisfy his desires for her to cool him down before it caused more harm.  If the soldier felt he wanted to take her for a wife,  this is what he must then do.  He is to take her to the midst of his house and have her shave her head and let her nails grow.  She is to remove her clothes  of her captivity and be able to sit and cry for her parents for a full month.  Then the soldier may come to her and live with her, and she will then be a wife to him.  However, if by that month's period he does not feel the same and has no desire for her;  experienced a change of heart,  then he should send her on her way, but she cannot be sold for money.  She can not be enslaved because  she has already been afflicted by the soldier.  (Deuteronomy 21: 10-14).    

  Scriptural law allowed an Israelite to become another Israelite's slave only for a limited period, with manumission at the 7th year of service or at the jubilee year.  The freed slave was to receive a suitable parting gift.  

                                                          

Being taken to Babylon as slaves

Even this limited form of slavery became impossible after the Babylonian Exile by Nebuchadnezzar that took place from 597 BCE to 586 BCE.  They were able to return to Israel in 539 BCE.  All the Israelites had become slaves to the Babylonians.  

Jews were able to buy non-Jewish "Canaanite slaves from neighboring peoples.  These slaves were proselytes of a kind, as the males had to undergo a circumcision, and the women were subject to the laws binding all Jewish women, like going to the mikva once a month.  

Slaves could marry and it was arranged by the master, and the offspring were the property of the owner.  Although a master could beat a slave, to kill him was considered murder, and if a master destroyed his slave's eye, tooth, etc, the slave went free.  

A slave who escaped was not to be given back to his master, and later, according to rabbinic law, the one who reached Palestine automatically regained his freedom.  Now getting to Palestine from, say, Padua, Italy, was not always so easy.  

Freed slaves were considered proselytes in every respect.  In the Middle Ages, Jewish merchants engaged to some extent in the slave trade, but because of the danger entailed, especially in Christian lands, the slaves generally remained non-Jewish.  Nevertheless, the benediction to be recited on the occasion of the circumcision of a slave continued to figure in some Sephardi prayer books down to the 17th (or in India to the 19th century.  

Great Britain freed their slaves before the USA did.  Slavery Abolition Act, (1833), in British history, act of Parliament that abolished slavery in most British colonies, freeing more than 800,000 enslaved Africans in the Caribbean and South Africa as well as a small number in Canada. It received Royal Assent on August 28, 1833, and took effect on August 1, 1834. The thousands of British families who grew rich on the slave trade, or from the sale of slave-produced sugar, in the 17th and 18th centuries, brushed those uncomfortable chapters of their dynastic stories under the carpet.



Although there were Jewish slave-owners in the West Indies and the southern states of the USA, many Jews were prominent in the struggle which finally led to the abolition of slavery.  Individual Jews in the US such as Judah Touro were among the first to free their slaves.  American Jews as a whole took no stand in the slavery debates which preceded and continued through the American Civil War of 1861-1865.  

Many individual Jews were active in the abolitionist cause, such as Michael Heilprin, August Bondi, and Rabbis Einhorn, Feisenthal, Adler and Szold.  On the other hand, Rabbi Morris J. Raphall of New York City declared publicly in 1861 that the Bible sanctioned slavery.  There were not many Jews in the South, and Jews accounted for only 1.25% of all Southern slave owners.

A number of Jews assisted in the "Underground Railway" that smuggled slaves to free states and Canada.  

Jews who fought for abolition on the political front included Sigismund Kaufman, Philip J. Joachimsen, and Abraham Kohn. 

 In general, "thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt" (Deut. 15:15), and that you are now the slaves of God Who redeemed you from Egypt (Lev. 25:55). 

Resource:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/slavery-in-judaism
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/slaves-and-indians
Tanakh: The Stone Edition  Bible
https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-the-slave-traders-were-african-11568991595
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_views_on_slavery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treatment_of_slaves_in_the_United_States#:~:text=Slaves%20were%20punished%20by%20whipping,abused%20slaves%20to%20assert%20dominance.
https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/slaves_freemen.html#:~:text=Life%20as%20a%20slave&text=Slaves%20were%20often%20whipped%2C%20branded,at%20least%20be%20treated%20fairly.