Comparative Slavery Study Questions

 

W Jan 18 Orlando Patterson, Introduction

1)    To what degree does Patterson disagree with more traditional definitions of slavery?

2)    Why does Patterson equate slavery with “social death”?

3)    Which plays a greater role in explaining slavery, for Patterson: economic factors, or cultural beliefs?

 

M Jan 23 Meltzer, Ch. 1.2

1)    What do you think was the driving force behind slavery in Ancient Mesopotamia (in other words, what created and sustained the slave system)?

 

W Jan 25 Slavery, pp. 93-95, 99-100, Goldenberg, Ch. 9

1)    What similarities and/or differences do you see in the excerpts from the Bible and the Koran, as pertains to slavery?

2)    Based on the Goldenberg article, how important were African slaves to ancient Israeli slavery?

 

M Jan 30 Slavery, pp. 9-11

1)    What assumptions does Aristotle make about human inequality?

2)    What does Aristotle mean when he says that slavery is both “expedient and right”? (on p. 12)

3)    To what degree does Aristotle’s definition of slavery match with that of Patterson?

 

W Feb 1 Wiedemann, introductory outline

1)    Based on this reading, were ancient Greece and Rome “slave societies” – in other words, were slaves crucial to the economic system?

2)    What similarities and/or differences can you find between Greek/Roman slavery and slavery in Ancient Mesopotamia (as per Meltzer, above?).

3)    According to Patterson, slaves are outsiders in a society, “natally alienated”. To what degree does Roman slavery conform to Patterson’s thesis?

 

M Feb 6 Pipes on Mawlas

1)    In the western tradition, “freedom” is seen as the opposite of slavery. Based on this reading, what was the opposite of slavery in traditional Arabian society?

2)    To what degree is the “wala” relationship in Islam similar to the “patron-client” relationship in Roman slavery?

3)    How convincing do you find Pipes’ overall argument that Mawla are basically “unfree” and are little distinguished from slaves?

 

W Feb 8 Lewis Ch. 9 and Bacharach

1)    To what degree did military slaves offer advantage to Islamic rulers, as compared to regular troops?

2)    How convincing do you find Bacharach’s argument that racism was NOT the reason that African military slavery was abandoned after the 11th century?

 

M Feb 13 Race and Slavery in Islam

1)    Lewis’ argument is that the coming of Islam, a colorblind religion, ironically played a role in creating racial prejudice in the Islamic world. How did this happen?

2)    To what degree did Islamic thinkers try to create a scientific and/or an environmental justification for their racial assumptions? See especially chapter 5 and 6.

 

W Feb 15 Agricultural Slavery in Arabia (Reilly, Malaria and Mutawalladeen)

1)    How does Reilly’s treatment of race in Arabian Peninsula slavery differ from Lewis’ treatment of race in Race and Slavery in the Middle East?

2)    To what degree was the Arabian Peninsula, as described in this article, a “slave society” (in other words, economically dependent on slavery)?

3)    Reilly’s text suggests that the environmental conditions that are suitable for date cultivation in Arabia were favorable to slavery. Do some outside research- how does the cultivation of wheat, sugar, and/or rice differ from dates, and how do you think this would have changed the system of slavery associated with these crops?

 

 

M Feb 20 Meltzer, Ch. 1.23 and 1.24

1)    What similarities can be drawn between slavery in Medieval Europe and slavery as practiced in the Roman and/or Islamic worlds?

2)    To what degree was Medieval Europe a “slave society”- in other words, one where slavery was crucial to the economy?

3)    To what degree did religion play a role in medieval slavery?

4)    “Slavery in Renaissance Italy was basically an offshoot of Islamic slavery, though in a Christian nation.” Based on chapter 1.24, to what degree do you agree with this contention

 

W Feb 22 Slavery, pp. 52-56, 399-401

1)    Why do Kopytoff and Miers believe that “rights in persons” are the key to understanding slavery in African societies?

2)    To what degree, according to the Rodney article, is Europe responsible for the current problems of underdevelopment in Africa?

 

M Feb 27 Klein, Ch. 2

1)    According to Klein, what was the most important factor that made Africans desirable slaves in the Atlantic Economy?

2)    To what degree were slaves crucial to the development of Iberian (Spanish and Portuguese) America?

3)    To what degree did later French, British, and/or Dutch colonies differ from patterns set by Iberian slavery in the Americas?

4)    To what degree did slavery practiced in America (the United States) differ from slavery as practiced elsewhere in the Atlantic world?

 

W Mar 1 Equiano, up to at least p. 20

1)    Based on what you have learned about slavery in the Atlantic world, to what degree is Equiano's experience in the Americas typical?

2)    What does this document tell us about Equiano's religious life?

3)    How does Equiano's background as a slave influence his observations of life in the Mediterranean (Turkey, Genoa, etc.)?

4)    Overall, what do you think Equiano's goal or goals were in writing this account?

 

 

M Mar 13 Slavery, pp. 68-72, 142-144

1)    According to Jordan, how did British slave owners manage to reconcile their abhorrence of slavery with the reality of Indian and American slavery in the Americas?

2)    What is the gist of Cobb’s response to the claim, made by Montesquieu and others, that “slavery is contrary to the law of nature?”

 

W Mar 15 Slavery, pp. 105-113

1)    Based on these laws, what do you think was the greatest threat to the system of slavery in 17th century Barbados?

2)    A related question: what sense to you get of the mindset of the average Barbados slave-owner, based on this law? What were their assumptions, their fears?

3)    What sense do you get about the social structure of 17th century Barbados?

 

M Mar 20 Slavery, pp. 20-24, 447-453

1)    On what points Schoelcher and Cobb most strongly disagree, in their respective essays about the relationship between slavery and racism?

2)    Based on the Carlyle document, how did the economic interests of ex-slaves and their former masters differ in the British West Indies?

 

W Mar 22 Slavery, pp. 36-39, 455-458

1)    Based on the Genovese reading and others, to what degree was slavery in the Southern States of the USA really different from that in the rest of the European-dominated Americas?

2)    “Paternalism was a two-edged sword that could be wielded by American planters and slaves alike.” To what degree would Genovese agree with this statement?

3)    What insights does the second document, the resolution by the Mississippi Legislature of 1850, give concerning the causes of the American Civil War?

4)    Based on both documents, what assumptions did southern slave owners make about the desires and wants of their African slaves?

 

W Mar 27 Eaton, Military Slavery in the Deccan

1)    This article is about a military aristocracy of African slave origins which dominated the states of the Indian Deccan from 1450-1650. What were the main factors that brought about this somewhat bizarre phenomenon?

2)    What similarities can you draw between military slave practices in the Indian Deccan and the Arabic world, as described by Lewis?

3)    Why is the author of this piece reluctant to use the term “Islamic Slavery?”

 

M Mar 29 Vatuk, Bharattee’s Death

1)    What differences can you draw between slavery as practices in Muslim India, as described in this document, and the Atlantic World?

2)    What does the case of Bharattee tell us about Britain’s antislavery policies in its Indian colony?

3)    In theory, slave owners in India had total control over theirs slaves and their labor. Based on this reading, was this true in practice?

 

W Apr 3 William Okeley’s Slave Narrative

1)    Based on the other readings in this class, was Algiers a typical slave society, or was it exceptional in important ways?

2)    What similarities, if any, do you note between the system of slavery in Algiers as described by Okeley in the 17th century and contemporary slave practices in the Atlantic Economy?

3)    This narrative was co-written by Okeley and a Protestant Minister. To what degree is the influence of the latter visible in the text?

 

M Apr 10 Reilly, Well-Intentioned Failure (Reilly is not the failure, but British naval manumission efforts, to be clear)

1)    Is this a great article or what? This is not a study question so much as an observation on the text.

2)    More seriously: After reading this article, what do you think played the greatest role in thwarting British anti-slavery measures: British economic considerations, British political considerations, or the tactics used by the slavers themselves?

3)    How convincing do you find Reilly’s use of slave prices as proof that British naval interception of slaves was ineffectual?

 

M Apr 10 Rutter, Slavery in Arabia

4)    What similarities can you draw between slavery in the Arabian Peninsula, as described by Rutter, and African slavery as described by Kopytoff and Miers?

5)    Based on this text, is Arabia a “slave society”- in other words, does its economy fundamentally depend on slavery?

6)    Why does Rutter believe that ending slavery in Mekka is the key to ending slavery in the wider Islamic World?

7)    Do you agree with Rutter that slavery of the “Muhammadan kind” is “the very worst of all forms of slavery?”

 

W Apr 12 Hopper, Debt and Slavery

1)    Based on this reading, to what degree were people of African ancestry able to manipulate British antislavery rhetoric to their own advantage?

2)    Based on this reading, was there a sharp dividing line between slave and free pearl divers in the Arabian Gulf?

3)    To what degree does the treatment of freed slaves, in this document, conform to Daniel Pipes’ discussion of the “mawla,” which we read on Feb 2nd?

 

M Apr 17 Clarence-Smith

1)    After reading this article, do you agree with Bernard Lewis that “Islamic abolitionism is a contradiction in terms?”

2)    Based on your readings, including this one, how useful is Marshall Hodgson’s idea of “Islamicate” culture (the culture associated with, but not necessarily derived from, Islam), in understanding slavery in Arabia?

3)    What were the main arguments used by Islamic “Modernists” in opposing or limiting slavery in Islamic societies?

4)    Overall, which factor was more important in Islamic abolitionism – intellectual trends within Islam, or external pressure from European powers?

 

W Apr 19 Meirs on Abolition

1)    Based on this reading, how strongly committed do you think the British were to suppressing slavery in the Gulf States?

2)     What role did Arab nationalism, as articulated and championed by Egypt, play in the abolition of slavery in the Gulf States?

3)    To what degree did the coming of oil wealth to the Arabian Peninsula play a role in the manumission of Arabian slaves?

 

M Apr 24 Miers on Modern slavery

1)    Based on this reading, why was it so difficult for international agencies to develop a clear, unambiguous definition of slavery?

2)    What does the story of Mauritania tell us about the difficulties faced by slaves in their quest to integrate into society after manumission?

3)    Are you convinced by the Miers article that (pick one) child exploitation, debt bondage, forced marriage, or forced labor should be considered as forms of slavery?

 

W Apr 26 Report on Migrant Labor Recruitment in Qatar, Chapter 1

1)    Based on this document, are the migrant workers in Qatar “slaves” according to Patterson’s definition of slavery (Jan 14)?

2)    Based on this document, are migrant workers in Qatar “slaves” according to Mier’s definition of slavery (April 20)?

3)    What do you think are the most important steps that the government can and should make in order to improve the status of migrant workers in Qatar?