Although the institution of slavery has existed since classical times and has occurred in many forms in different societies, it was of particular significance in the formation of many post-colonial societies in Africa.
The Negro slave system that was employed and refined over this 300 year period was the extreme form known as commercial slavery, in which slaves were not just made labor in domestic capacities or forced in concubinage but provided the dominant work force of entire economies. The European institutionalization of commercial slavery in the late sixteenth century offered colonizing powers a seemingly endless source of plantation labor, exploited by an ideology of absolute possession in which Africans became objects of European exchange.
The Negro slave system that was employed and refined over this 300 year period was the extreme form known as commercial slavery, in which slaves were not just made labor in domestic capacities or forced in concubinage but provided the dominant work force of entire economies. The European institutionalization of commercial slavery in the late sixteenth century offered colonizing powers a seemingly endless source of plantation labor, exploited by an ideology of absolute possession in which Africans became objects of European exchange.