Compare the extent to which Mid Republican Rome (264BC-133BC) and the Qin and Han Chinese Dynasties were ‘Slave Societies’?
A system in which the elite of that society relied primarily on slave labour to extract a surplus, and in which slave ownership had spread beyond a narrow elite, can be identified a s a legitimate slave society. That is; a kind of society that is decisively dependent on the institution of slavery, in that in the absence of slavery, the society would be markedly different. Mid-Republican Rome meets these criteria, the role of slavery in economic life, and the size of the slave population, while less significant when compared to later periods; was immense. Comparatively in early imperial China, although slavery existed, it was not essential to the functioning of society; instead the Chinese relied on system of forced labour, to meet their societies demand for cheap labour.
General Theories of Slavery
Historiography
Slavery in the Mid to late Roman republic is well documented with a wide range of primary and secondary sources. Information regarding slavery comes from literary, and historical accounts, legal sources, inscriptions and other physical remains. The information conveyed through these sources regarding slavery, indicates that slavery was
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Chinese sources from this period also have their own deficiencies, namely the prevalence of moralizing texts, even more so than in roman literature and accounts, a general lack of documentary evidence on economic structures. Modern Chinese assessments of slavery in Qin and Han China have also somewhat been hampered the relative immaturity of regional archaeology. Despite this deficiency in sources from the Qin and Han period, there are still sources that provide clear evidence for and perspectives on Qin and Han
The era of the Han dynasty in China, simply referred to as ‘Han China,’ was an extremely prominent one, with power that almost rivaled the Romans themselves. During this period of China, achievements and accomplishments reached new heights as the Silk Road opened, which allowed connection with the western world. However, even with all this, Han China still fell, thanks to opposing forces in the form of nomadic tribes, several natural disasters that were interpreted as angry messages from the gods, and internal/political unrest. During the Han dynasty and the opening of the Silk Road, there were several aggressive, nomadic tribes that centered around the Asian area.
In An Empire for Slavery: The Peculiar Institution in Texas, 1821-1865 Randolph B. Campbell discusses the institution or empire of slavery in Texas from early 1821 until its somewhat conclusion in 1865. In Campbell’s book he provides readers with a look at the slavery existence in the state of Texas and how it was an empire that was a major part of Texas’s growth and history. Throughout the book Campbell explores many different aspects of the slave institution throughout the many cities and counties in Texas. Campbell discusses the perplexing economic impact of slavery, the relationship between slave and slave master, the life of a Texas slave and delves into the physical and psychological effects of both slaves and their masters preceding the Civil War.
Slavery, an institutional system that dehumanizes all the people, such as the Africans and inhabitants of the new world, through hard agricultural labor and harsh treatment. It originated in the European continent. Slavery then was brought to the new world to be used as a working force. The main customers for the slaves were the people amongst the Spanish and American colonies. The slaves were brought to these colonies for similar reasons, for example, agricultural labor.
The Roman empire was based on slavery: slavery on a massive scale. Therefore The success and spoils of Roman wars meant that slaves were everywhere putting regular Roman citizens out of work. This solution was not ideal but no rich Romans (patricians) seemed willing to compromise and give up their slaves. Attempts were made to base taxes on the numbers of slaves owned but the rich simply freed their slaves to avoid taxation and then added on still to the numbers of unemployed.
Document 7 proves how a whole city is based on the need of slavery, as the author talks about how proud everyone is for their amount of slaves and their comfortable life which revolves around trade. Document 8 shows how a well household is hard to manage unless you have at least one slave to help you out which indicates how much people needed slaves to work for them. As exploration became common as time passed, towns became more reliant on slaves to stay efficient, wealthy, and so that the gap between the rich and poor is there. Although,it would be great to include a document which talks about early civilization and how they particularly used their slaves in everyday life to see if old colonies also functioned heavily off of
Slaves during the civil war saw their ability to act independently and autonomously rise dramatically due to the chaotic time period they found themselves in, while antebellum slaves often had far more restrictive, intrusive, and detailed systems in place to restrict their agency. In the antebellum, slave “autonomy was sharply circumsized” as close contact and operation between masters and slaves meant that “whites were impinged to an unusual degree on slave life”, and used this proximity to restrict the agency of their slaves (Kolchin, pg.118). Masters would often set up a long list of rules which “told them when to rise in the morning, when to go to the fields, when to break for meals, how long and how much to work”, along with a large catalog of other tasks, actions, and privileges which were enforced in brutal fashions (Kolchin pg. 118). In a stark shift from this time period, the civil war allowed slaves to act more autonomously and enact agency they previously had been limited in as both man and woman “took advantage of opportunities the war uncovered to gain freedom” (Manning, pg 109). Other examples of slaves enacting agency include when they would be caught “dressing themselves in their masters’ ‘best apparels’ and ‘valuables’”, an action unthinkable during the antebellum due to the close eye of the owners (Manning, pg. 109).
In my discussion forum post for this unit I will discuss the overall effect slavery had on the Roman economy. Discussion In ancient times, when a civilization defeated a rival army in battle, instead of killing those on the losing side, it was common practice to punish the loser by enslaving them (Kamm, 2009a). Moreover, the Romans were no exception to this rule, employing captured slaves throughout their empire (Kamm, 2009a).
Paragraph 1- Introduction Thesis Statement: Slavery is a cruel way of controlling people to get them to do what you need, at the expense of their lives. The evolution of slavery in Imperial China is a horrific yet fascinating subject. Paragraph 2-12 Body Topic Sentence/ main idea 1: The Xia dynasty was considered by some to be the first regime in ancient China. Even though the dynasty was most likely fictional, slavery was in fact a part of the empire. The slaves in this early period of time were treated terribly.
In fact, slavery was a significant tool used by the Roman Empire in order to flourish economically and politically. It seemed that people of this period accepted the way social hierarchy was established. I shared this knowledge to you because I know that you will react strongly against Aristotle’s words. I hope this information will give you a better idea with how famous philosophers tend to have controversial views about the natural world as well as help you with your future analysis of great thinkers for your political science class. Keep in touch!
Under Roman law, slaves were legal, considered property, rather than people. They had no legal personhood, and slavery was a legal institution under which each household or family had their own way of conducting the actions of their own slaves. Slaves worked in a wide range of occupations that can be separated into five main categories; household or domestic, imperial or public, urban crafts and services, mining and agriculture. As mentioned previously, sense slaves were labeled as property, owners could use them as they desired. In some rare instances, slaves that had become prisoners to slavery possessed a skillset that was more expansive than just that of sheer labor.
In order to understand the similarities of how order was in the Han Dynasty and Roman Empire from 300 BCE to 300 CE, the beginnings of each empire should be understood. Before the Han Dynasty rose, the Qin Dynasty, which overtaxed their citizens and regulated their laws by censoring education (burning books). The Roman Empire started out as a city-state which began to conquer neighboring regions, such as Italy, and expanded through warfare. However, from 300 BCE to 300 CE, the Han Dynasty and Roman Empire both created order in society by having an agrarian economy, ideologies, and establishing an authority that shaped social structures. The first similarity of how the Romans and the Han both created order in society, from 300 BCE to 300 CE, was their agrarian economy.
China’s Han dynasty and the Romans valued technology in their civilizations, but they used technology for different reasons to accommodate their empire. The Hans relied heavily on agriculture and developed technology to make labor easier and more efficient, which is depicted by some of their technology like iron metallurgy and water systems. In contrast, the Romans focused primarily on science and mathematics, so the intellectuals looked down on technology as it was used by slaves and for their labor. Han China’s attitude towards technology was more appreciative and focused on its benefits toward labor than the Romans who viewed technology as inferior and for the laborers in their class-divided society. All the documents written by the Han,
Although this was not a happy lifestyle to live in this was still far superior to being a slave in greece which was a very common occurrence because in greece 36.5% of the population were slaves compared to only 7% of the population being slaves, mean people or other demeaning jobs in Han china. In addition Han china had a population of 65,000,000 vs only 315,000 in athens which was one of the large greek city states. This data proves that Han china’s form of government can control a larger
One of the difference between the Qin and the Han dynasty is that Qin dynasty practiced Legalism and the Han dynasty practiced Confucianism. For the Han dynasty, in Document 3, states that they had a exam system of giving opportunities for everyone across the dynasty who has outstanding moral and learning to have a chance to have a role in the government, which shows that the Han dynasty emperor gave more opportunities to the commoners. For the Qin in Document 2, says that the people follow the rules, and there are no trouble because the people understand what happens when they do not follow the rules, which leads to punishments. Which shows that the Qin dynasty had strict rules for people to just obey for the government and have no say. Taking
The expansion of the Roman Empire led to a greater divide between the rich and poor, a heavy reliance on agriculture, and more war. Those are just a few of the social, economic, and political changes that occurred in the Roman Empire during its expansion. In documents 5, 6, 7, and 9, the social changes of the Roman Empire are brought to light. Document 5 illustrates how the divide between the rich and poor classes widened.