White people with racial discrimination often insulted black people with the history of black slaves. But they may not have thought that their ancestors had also become white slaves.
If you travel back in time to 17th-century Turkey, the Ottoman Empire at the time, you might see something like this.
At the large construction site, a large number of ragged white men, amid the scolding of the Turkish overseers, worked hard to carry out heavy physical work such as quarrying and logging. Even when exhausted, they don't dare to rest. For as soon as they stop what they are doing, they will be responded by a painful whiplash.
Even if they are beaten to death, no one cares. For their lives are worthless to their owners. If someone died, the generous slave owner could go to the slave market at any time to buy goods. The ruling class at that time did not regard these white slaves as human beings, and the slave owners killing white slaves was like killing pigs and chickens, which belonged to their own household chores.
European white slaves enslaved by the Turks
You can't bear to look at this bloody scene, so you want to go out on the street, but you mistakenly enter the slave market. Here, you see a more devastating scene: many white women with fine skin and tender flesh are stripped of all their clothes and shown to passers-by like commodities. And the women, even if they were very reluctant, did not dare to rebel against the slave traders, and they could only cover their bodies as much as possible with tears.
White slave women who were selected
The shouts of the slave traders soon attracted a large number of passers-by. They watched with interest the naked bodies of the women, and even the colored wolves took the opportunity to rub the oil.
After a while, a few rich people dressed in rich clothes picked out young and beautiful women as little wives. These women were ecstatic to follow their future husbands, thinking that they would henceforth be able to get rid of the miserable life of being trafficked and enslaved, and live a good life without shortage of food and clothing.
But is the brand of a slave so easy to get rid of? Although they were sold to the rich, they were still thrown to other male slaves because of their husbands' boredom, and even sold to the boss of the flesh and skin business.
White concubine of the Ottoman Empire
After a long time, the old women who had no one to care about were also bought. You inquire around to learn that they will be assigned to work in the bakery. These old people were probably grandmothers of a family before they were sold into slavery. If they are not targeted by these slave traders, they are likely to live in the care of their children and live in peace in their old age.
The white slave trade caused them to take on heavy work in their old age. Their bodies are no less than those of young people, and the incompatibility of the water and soil and the scolding of their masters can take their lives at any time, making them die in a foreign land with regret.
This is the white slave trade that took place every day in the Ottoman Empire centuries ago.
The scene mentioned earlier is just the tip of the iceberg of the 300-year-old Barbary white slave trade. According to experts, from the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century, at least 1.25 million white Europeans were plundered by Barbary pirates and then sold as slaves to countries such as the Ottoman Empire and Morocco in North Africa.
Barbary pirates
The reason why this kind of inhumane human trafficking lasted for hundreds of years had a lot to do with the political situation at that time. At that time, the Ottoman Empire greatly crushed Europe in terms of military strength, and Germany, France, Hungary and other countries had suffered its great losses.
1396 Battle of Nikopolis (Defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Hungary)
In order to ensure the import of cheap labor, the Ottoman Empire deliberately connived at barbaric pirates to go to Europe to rob people. The European countries, out of fear of the Ottoman Empire, did not dare to use force to completely eliminate the arrogant pirates, and could only spend a large ransom to buy back their own citizens.
Redemption of european nationals
It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that Europe, which had emerged from the Industrial Revolution, joined forces with the United States to fight back against the Barbary pirates. In 1911, after Italy occupied the Ottoman Empire in the war, European governments officially passed a law to end the barbary slave trade.
1802 The United States goes to war with the Barbary pirates – an action painting by Thomas Luny
But what you might not expect is that Europe and the United States, which seemed righteous at the Battle of Barbary, were themselves beneficiaries of slavery.
Serfdom in Russia is actually a form of white serfdom. The feudal lords distributed a small piece of land to the serfs, and the serfs not only cultivated the land without compensation, but also sent them to labor. In addition to handing over most of their agricultural harvest, their personal freedom and most of their property were also owned by the feudal lords.
In the 18th century, even buying and selling serfs became a common practice. What is frightening is that this totally unjust stench system, which has been in place in Russia for about seven hundred years, has enabled generations of feudal lords to maintain a life of luxury and wealth, but it has also forced the death of countless poor serfs who were struggling to survive.
Russian serfs tortured and killed by feudal lords
In the history of the United States, in addition to the infamous black slave trade, white indentured slaves were also used. The so-called white indentured slavery is the voluntary enslavement of European civilians or criminals in order to raise money or offset crimes, and to undertake about 4 to 7 years of unpaid labor.
From about the 17th century onwards, a large number of European civilians and criminals began a career as indentured slaves in the United States under the temptation and coercion of the colonial government.
British indentured slaves sent to the United States
Although white indentured slaves were enslaved for only a few years, they were treated equally cruelly. Since the period of servitude is limited, their masters tend to exploit as much of their value as possible for a limited time.
A deed of sale of a white indentured slave
Compared with the black slaves who were born for life, the white indentured slaves were treated more severely and cruelly. Not only did they not eat and dress as well as black slaves, but they even had to do more hard and tiring work.
A white indentured slave who was working
If someone dares to resist or flee, what awaits them is a cruel punishment such as whipping and branding, and in serious cases, they will even be directly executed. Under such circumstances, many white indentured slaves simply could not wait for the day when they would become free men. Because most of them were either exhausted alive or died under the punishment of their masters.
Punished white indentured slaves
Having said all that, I discovered that the existence of the slave trade, though related to racial contradictions, was essentially the oppression of the strong against the weak.
I am reluctant to debunk the history of white enslavement. Because of its existence, it is cruel and bloody. As a bystander of these histories, should we take this as a warning while eating melons?