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An Overview of Slavery Slavery is a concept that has been in place for thousands of years, in human society. Slavery existed as early as the Shang dynasty in China, in 18th – 12th century BC (Historical Study). Slavery, in its most generic sense refers to forced labor. Most often, anyone functioning as a servant, within the ancient world, was a slave. There are several forms of slavery, or servitude, which are sometimes indistinguishable from one another. Serfdom, debt bondage, indentured service, peonage, and corvée are all forms of servitude, similar to slavery, and all were utilized for generations (Slavery and Serfdom).
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