Should slavery in the Middle East during the time of the Ottomon Empire really be called slavery?
The conception of slavery that Americans have encompasses the harsh and brutual conditions that countless men, women, and children obtained from Africa suffered during the time of the discovery of the Americas until the time of the Civil War. They faced disease, merciless hours of working, abuse, disgusting and dehumanizing treatment, and so much more. Slaves in America were seen as property.
Slaves in the Ottomon Empire knew a whole different life than those unfortunate enough to suffer through the American concept of being enslaved. When taken from places such as the Ivory Coast of Africa, slaves found in the Ottomon Empire better lives than they had seen before in their homes. Slaves were able to have a place in society, whether it be owning property or even holding some type of power. As shown in The Imperial Harem, the children of a sultan were almost always going to be children of slave mothers! In America, it wasn't practically impossible for a slave child to be anything important in the society unless they were able to escape to the North. In the Ottomon Empire, was there even a reason to try and run away?
True, slaves were taken away from their homes and forced to fight for the Ottomons, but the Ottomons had a strategic way of engaging in the act of takin slaves. Ottomon laws drew up a "human tax" in which at least one boy of some households was to be given to the Ottomons to be raised in the Empire. The boys were strategically placed and trained far from their homelands to destroy any prior attachment they had to the place of their births. The boys were so inspired by the sultan to be completely loyal that once they were trained, slaves were a vital part of the fighting that eventually gave way to the sucesses of the Empire.
So, even though these people were forced to live under the conditions that set forth by the Ottomons, was it really that bad of a life? Should it really be called slavery?
During the colloquiam discussion on The Imperial Harem, the question was posed that, had we not known what slavery was in American history, would we even call what these people were put through actual slavery? My answer is no. For people living in some of the harshest places in Africa even as slaves in their homeland, this could have been the biggest breaks of their lives. Africans had a common idea to enslave their fellow Africans, and getting away to the Ottomon Empire could have been the answer to their prayers.
While all forced living situations do have a downside, I personally think that the slaves of the Ottomon Empire pretty much had it made.
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I think that after reading the text and discussing in class the differences between Ottoman and North American slavery, it has become clear that the only similarities that all "slaves" share is their forced servitude to another human being. Africans who initially practiced slavery and began selling slaves into the North Atlantic Slave Trade did not understand that slavery could be terribly brutal, just as we as Americans have a hard time understanding slavery as anything other than totally brutal. In this particular circumstance, connotations weigh much heavier than true definition.
ReplyDeleteIn class we compared slavery in the Ottoman Empire to slavery in the United States during the colonial era. I believe its fair to say that the conditons of slavery were very different. Slaves in the Ottoman Era were not treated brudally like what we know about the slaves in the colonies. In that sense I feel the Janissary slaves were a bit better off.
ReplyDeleteI was glad that the class discussion on "the Imperial Harem" went in the direction of a discussion on slavery in the middle east vs slavery in America because I was thinking about all those points you had made in your blog. They are very different. I think as Americans, our concept of slavery is that is it a terrible thing and can be looked at now as one of our lowest points in history, where as slavery in the middle east is not viewed that way at all. Slaves had opportunity and could advance in society.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if its really fair to say its not slavery, considering the fact that our crueler type of slavery developed with a more humane model available (in the Middle East and Africa). I think this is part of the West vs. East, Christian vs. Islamic slavery idea as we mentioned in class (also in Chelsea's comment) and that its sad to think that a different form of slavery could have been implemented here although it would not have supported the economic needs of the South. I can really see why you would say they "had it made" but at the same time they were working within a structure which took away their initial free will to decide where they would live and what they would do. They were responding to a dominate foreign state.
ReplyDeleteI think that the slavery in the Middle East during the time of the Ottoman Empire is very different from what we American knows of as slavery. Whenever we hear the word "slave" I think it is understandable to think of the civil war and what it was like to be black in the south in the 19th century. Slaves in the Ottoman Empire were privaledged slaves. They could obtain land and actually had a high status if in the Janissaries, much different from being called 3/5 of a person in the USA
ReplyDeleteI agree with you point of view and comparison with American slavery and the Devshirme system. Janisaries were very loyal to the sultan even though they did not have freedom to go aout of the Topkapi palace but it was compensated with high education, military training and respectable government jobs. While American slavery was more misserable and cruel, with neither respect nor opportunities.
ReplyDeleteI think just because the manner in which Ottoman slaves were treated does not and should not effect them being labeled as slaves. Slaves were treated much more poorly in western culture, but slaves in the Ottoman Empire were still robbed of their freedom. They were not free to peruse their life goals truly under Ottoman rule.
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