The query of whether or not people of European descent had been subjected to enslavement previous to these of African descent is a fancy one which requires cautious consideration of historic definitions and contexts. Enslavement, outlined because the possession and management of 1 individual by one other, existed in numerous varieties all through historical past and throughout completely different geographical areas. Practices resembling enslavement, akin to indentured servitude and compelled labor, had been utilized to various populations, together with Europeans, lengthy earlier than the transatlantic slave commerce.
Understanding the chronological development of enslavement practices requires acknowledging that completely different types of subjugation existed concurrently. Inspecting historic information reveals situations the place European populations had been subjected to pressured labor, bondage, or captivity. Whereas these experiences usually differed in scope and severity from the chattel enslavement that characterised the transatlantic slave commerce and primarily focused Africans, they characterize vital durations of exploitation and human rights violations. The character of those methods, their authorized frameworks, and their impression on the affected populations have to be fastidiously analyzed to grasp the broader historical past of enslavement.
