A Short History of Slavery | 5 Minute Video

And now for a brief history of slavery.  Here’s the first thing you need to know.  

Slavery was not “invented” by white people.  

It did not start in 1619 when the  first slaves came to Jamestown.  

It existed before then.  It did not start in 1492  

when Columbus discovered the New World. In fact, when the intrepid explorer landed  

in the Bahamas, the native Taino tribe hoped he  could help them defeat their aggressive neighbors,  

the Caribs. The Caribs enslaved the Taino  and, on occasion, served them for dinner. 

Slavery existed in Africa,  Asia and the Middle East.  

The word “slave” actually comes from the Slavs of  Eastern Europe. Millions of them — all white by  

the way — were captured and enslaved by Muslims in  the ninth century and later by the Ottoman Turks. 

Slavery existed when the Roman Empire  controlled the Mediterranean and most of  

Europe from the 1st through the 5th centuries. Slavery existed when Alexander the Great