African Slaves Vs Serfs
Throughout history, slavery has been a common method of labor production. Globally, many countries have a history of using harsh labor to assemble goods and services. The Russian Serfs and African Slaves are comparable examples of forced labor. Although both serfs and slaves were put in similar positions, the most notable difference between the two was the difference in reasoning behind the labor. A Russian Serf was a peasant farmer who was “bound” by law to the land he was born. This is the land where they would work and that their masters owned. The practice of serfdom in Russia lasted for several hundred years before Alexander II issued a decree that emancipated serfs. Alexander II believed that “It is better to abolish serfdom …show more content…
The slaves were brought over initially to help the production and meet the demands for cash crops such as tobacco and cotton. African slavery in the U.S started as a tool for agriculture production and developed into a huge racial divide between caucasians and African American that is still prevalent today, years after slaves were emancipated in the U.S in 1863. In the book “Capitalism and Slavery,” author Eric Williams claims that "Slavery was not born of racism; rather, racism was the consequence of …show more content…
During the time of African enslavement, the difference in race fostered the belief that Africans were inferior which was what justified it at the time, besides the demand for labor. The lords did not see the serfs as inferior because of a difference in race, but a difference in class. Culturally, Serfs were also similar to their lords, especially because they were both from relatively the same place, unlike the African American slave and Europeans. In America, the cultures of the slaves was dismantled as much as possible by European settlers. In addition, the Russian serf was not separated from their family like a slave typically was. Both types of labor in the U.S and Russia were also hereditary as well, and typically lasted a lifetime. The African Slave Trade was a relationship with Portugal, Europe, Africa, and the U.S while Russian Serfdom only involved
Slavery Dbq Questions And Answers
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874 Words | 4 PagesMany slaves reacted by going against their owners rights and running away from the harsh conditions that were brought upon themselves. Due to the Atlantic trade England brought many Africans to the Americas in order to work on the crops that needed to be sent to the mother country. While giving the indentured servants minimal work, due to their skin color. The impact of such harsh conditions enforced on the Africans led to the uprising against the whites in the American colonies. Also, it led to a new social hierarchal system in the
Serfdom In Russia
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Historical Archaeology: The Native Alaskan Village Site
1623 Words | 7 PagesAccording to the journal article, Daily Practice and Material Culture in Pluralistic Social Settings, the Russian American Company imposed a colonial hierarchy which defined the status, work, pay, and living arrangements off all its workers. This social hierarchical system is composed of four major “estates” or social classes which started from the Russian estate, then the Creole (people of mixed Russian and native blood) estate, then the “Aletus” or Native Alaskan estate, and finally at the bottom of the social hierarchal system is the Indian estate. (Lightfoot et at. 1998) The Russian American Company recruited the local Kashya Pomo and Miwok tribes as laborers. (Lightfoot 2006:122) The Russian officials needed a source of cheap labor from the local Indian tribes because they wanted to exploit the natural resources within the colony for their own economic interests.
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1826 Words | 8 PagesThrough the comparison of the two texts the essay will argue that serfdom can be regarded as a form of slavery because despite the difference in the scale and race, oppression that existed in Russia and America was
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771 Words | 4 PagesThe indigenous people were required to listen to the encomendero at all times. Similarly, Russia’s serfs were like slaves because the serfs also had to obey their nobles. Serfdom was hereditary, just like slavery. This kept the nobles with constant labor help and essentially kept them happy. In addition, serfs also had to work in agricultural areas, but also in mining and manufacturing.
Labor System 1450 To 1750
928 Words | 4 PagesIn the Americas, the main exports were silver and cash crops, both of which required work that was terribly tedious and exhausting. This led to the overwhelming predominance of slavery in the Americas, since the Europeans were not willing to carry out the hard work themselves. When the Europeans found they lacked a workforce, the sought slaves elsewhere. While the people who were called slaves changed, the institution never did. The same mistreatment, torture, and horrible conditions were evident in American slavery until it was abolished centuries later.
Similarities Between Slavery And Serfdom
858 Words | 4 PagesWhile Caribbean slavery and Russian serfdom are similar in regard to economics costs, they differ in the cultural details and agricultural productions. Both Caribbean slavery and Russian serfdom provided very cheap labor and economically benefited their mother government; however, the two methods came about in different ways. When the Spanish and Portuguese first began colonizing the Caribbean and South America, they stumbled upon a rich supply of native. They soon coerced the natives into working on sugar and tobacco plantations as slaves—the conditions were horrendous and life was short and brutal.
The Impacts Of Slavery In The 17th And 18th Century
1239 Words | 5 PagesThe introduction of slaves shaped the culture in the colonies because people did not grasp any moral implications of slavery. At the time, there were no set concepts of race and racism, the people merely saw the Africans as alien in their color, religion, and social practices (Foner, pg. 99). As slavery developed, people continued to enjoy the benefits of slavery, like how it was profitable. The expense of the slaves’ housing, clothing, and food was considerably
Cultural Influences On African American Culture
706 Words | 3 PagesSlaves worked on farms, plantations, railroads and in mines. The American Revolution was the
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