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Not to mention that the origins of the African slave trade began among warring tribes kidnapping and selling one another - much as the slave trade among Native American tribes started.

In fact, when the first white Europeans arrived in Africa, the slave markets were long established and thriving. They simply took advantage of what was already readily available.

Slavery is as old as humankind, and exists today all over the world, including right here in America. It is more common among the poor, but not restricted to them, as even the wealthy have sometimes been held captive against their will, often in the form of forced marriages.

And yes. That really does count as a form of slavery, as ANY woman who is not free to leave of her own accord is, by definition, enslaved.

Yea it been implemented to varying degrees since the beginning of time. I was reading a book about Ancient Babylon and how they had slaves from as far away as Norway, China, and Ghana in lifetime servitude carrying buckets of water for the Hanging Gardens.

Yeah, and people forget - or never knew - that a huge number of the Irish and Scottish immigrants to the New World came over as indentured servants, which was essentially slavery for a specified period of time, in return for passage aboard a ship.

So truthfully, a LOT of the slaves here were poor white people, and a disproportionate number of them were children, many of them sent ahead by parents who might - or might not - ever be able to join them, and buy their way out of servitude.

In many cases the indentured servants were treated far worse than slaves, as slaves were legally transferable property, and thus considered to be more valuable in the long run. Horses and cattle were also considered to be more valuable.

And some of the servants' masters would trump up imagined charges against them, thus prolonging their period of indenture, resulting in many indentured servants never regaining their freedom, and dying in servitude.

In many jurisdictions they had few legal rights or recourse. Most could not read, and it usually came down to who was believed, the owner or the servant - and the servants usually lost.

Theres more side to the story. Kids today deserve better

Giving out free votes to the little guys, I hope you appreciate.

every bit counts. Thanks