Slavery And The Hammurabi Code

Slavery has been involved in every culture, race, and religion throughout history. It is now illegal everywhere in the world, but slavery still has not disappeared from society. Slavery has been an ever changing concept, and modern day slavery has simply morphed into what is now called human trafficking. Throughout history, slavery has taken on different characteristics in each culture, religion, and time period from The Hammurabi Code up to the American Civil War and the eventual illegalization of the practice. There is evidence of slavery before recorded history; however, the first written account of slavery is in The Hammurabi Code (the first written law). The Hammurabi Code has many laws that refer to slavery, and these decrees …show more content…
Slaves were treated differently in each city-state. In Sparta, most slaves were owned by the state, and they were called Helots. They were a necessary part of the Spartan society. Helots would work a certain piece of land and give part of their profit to the state. These slaves would farm the land and do other jobs that allowed Spartan men to focus on politics and training for battle. Helots could become free people; this mostly happened if they fought bravely in battle. In Athens, slaves were mostly privately owned, and they were generally treated better. It was against the law for slaves to be mistreated in Athens. Due to most slaves being privately owned, they would sometimes become close with the family that they worked for. Some slaves were even considered part of the family. Athens also allowed many more opportunities for slaves to become free people. Greece fell under Roman control around 146 B.C., but Greek culture stayed mostly the same as it had …show more content…
Most slaves in China were children. Unlike many other cultures where being a slave in higher officials household meant better treatment, Chinese slaves in the Emperor’s palace were treated worse than slaves on farms. These slaves were killed after the death of their master so that they could continue to serve their master in death. Some dynasties treated slaves worse than others. The Quin dynasty treated slaves so badly, that once it was overthrown slavery was less prevalent during the Han dynasty that took control immediately after. The Tang Dynasty also reduced slavery, but after the end of this dynasty slavery rose again. Throughout history, China went through periods of extensive slave trade and periods where slavery was abolished depending on which dynasty was ruling at the