The practice of slavery became very popular in British Isles during the Middle Ages. Britain played an influential part in the Atlantic slave trade, especially after the 15th century. It was recorded that slavery was a legal condition in every one of the 13 American colonies and even Canada. The institution of slavery came in many different disguises in different societies: there were court slaves, slaves incorporated into princely armies, slaves working on the land, in industry, as couriers and mediators, and even as traders.The slaves were regarded as property and had no rights in court of law. Slaves could obtain their freedom by buying it or by being rewarded of freedom for outstanding …show more content…
Basically there were three types of slaves: those who were slaves through conquest, which means that they were conquered upon by a greater force either through a battle or through kidnapping. Then there were those people who were slaves due to their unpaid debt. In order to repay their debts they had to become slaves of their creditor to render both voluntary and involuntary kind of servitude to their masters. Finally, the third kind slaves were those children whose parents gave them up as slaves to their tribal chiefs. Since human resource is the greatest power, slavery mainly functioned on this principle only. Masters felt that their slaves are a great source of income for them. Chieftains would often barter their slaves to European buyers in return of liquor , spices, cloth and other commodities. Most of the bondslaves were acquired through kidnappings, and/or through raids that occurred at gunpoint working together with