History glossary
Slavery
a system in which people are treated as property and forced to work without freedom.
- Category
- Labor system
What it means
Slavery has existed in many societies, but Atlantic slavery forcibly transported millions of Africans to the Americas and made racialized slave labor central to plantation economies. Its abolition and legacies shaped modern politics, race, law, and memory.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Mali Empire
From Sundiata's victory at Kirina to Mansa Musa's pilgrimage and Timbuktu's rise, Mali turned gold, trade and political alliance into one of medieval Africa's great empires.
The Abbasid Golden Age
From revolution and Baghdad to the House of Wisdom, science, medicine, trade and the fall of the city, the Abbasid Golden Age reshaped global knowledge.
The Roman Empire
From Augustus to the fall of the Western Empire, Rome built a vast imperial system whose law, cities, armies and ideas shaped the ancient and medieval worlds.
The Roman Republic
From the expulsion of Rome’s kings to the rise of Augustus, the Roman Republic built a powerful mixed constitution, expanded across the Mediterranean, and ultimately collapsed into civil war and one-man rule.
The Punic Wars
From rivalry over Sicily to Hannibal's invasion, Zama, and the destruction of Carthage, the Punic Wars made Rome the dominant power of the Mediterranean and changed the Republic forever.
The Age of Exploration
An era of exploration and empire linking continents through trade, conquest, and cultural exchange.
The American Revolution and Early Republic
From colonial tensions to independence, this traces the birth and early struggles of the United States of America.
The Aztec Empire
From migrants to empire, the Aztecs built a powerful civilisation before collapsing after Spanish conquest.
