HIST 219 - Before the Triangle Trade: Pre-modern Slavery

CR: 3
This course examines the history of slavery in the west prior to the emergence of the Triangle Trade. Topics will include: the nature of slavery in ancient Greece and Rome and in the early Islamic world; the shift from slavery to serfdom in the western Middle Ages; and the reemergence and relegalization of slavery in the early-modern Mediterranean. We will investigate the legal, economic, political, and social dimensions of slavery in these times and cultures. We will also explore the extent to which surviving historical records permit a glimpse not only into the institutions that regulated slavery and into the perspectives of slave owners and traders, but also the experience of enslaved people themselves. V.1