Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Slavery in The Feudalism Era


Slavery is defined as "the state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or household" (The Free Dictionary). In the Feudalism era, the Lords held all the power and competed with each other for more. The more power you had as a lord, the more control you had. The Lord's held power over the vassals, knight's and serfs (slaves), making them have all the control.

" Peasants were not part of the definition of feudalism since they were seen as degraded humanity, worthy only of providing a labor force for farming and military purposes, unworthy of notice and incapable of making an honorable social contribution" (Enotes, 2011). There was extreme inequality at this time and everyone had to depend on the Lords. They made the lives of their serfs very miserable to show off their power. Once you were born a serf, you stayed a serf. There was no way to achieve a higher status. The Lords did exchange a home and protection for the slaves services, but they still disrespected their feelings and emotions.

Living in Canada in the 21st century, I don't agree with inequality. To me, everyone is equal and we are made in the image and likeness of God. Slavery is harsh and cruel and no person should have to live a life of disrespect and unfairness. Everyone works hard to achieve a higher status and no one should be left degraded. We need to work to survive and support ourselves and families.

"The feudal agreement solved the social problem of landownership and military collaboration" (Enotes, 2011). "The national government did not protect the citizens, so the Lord said he would in exchange for the serfs producing goods for him" ( Yahoo answers, 2008). The Lord stepped up to protect the citizens but the serfs weren't considered honorable to social contributions, they were only used for producing goods.

From the Feudalism era to the 21st century, there has been a lot of changes all to better the lives and support each individual. Living in Canada, we are aware of freedom and equality, people have higher job status' but no one has higher power over your rights. No one is forced to slavery.


By: Alyssa

References:

Feudalism. (2011, November 26). Enotes. Retrieved from http://Enter Uwww.enotes.com/history/discuss/feudalism-115328RL

What Problems Did Feudalism Try To Solve? (2008). Yahoo! Answers. Retrieved from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090209212756AAxBaGF

Definition of slavery. (n.d.). In Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/slavery

2 comments:

  1. In a few years in working in the Social Servies Field, I witnessed a lot of extreme inequality, towards the drug addict, mentally ill, immigrants and especially First Nation people. Lots of people live lives of disrespect and unfairness. I applaude you on your firm belief system of inequality. That alone will give you a drive, to advocate for vulnerable people. They need us to be thier voices. I agree the 21st century created alot of great support services, I hope we dont loose them. In some areas, Feudalism may come back to the deserving poor and the underserving poor. We have to believe that there is no such thing as the deserving poor. Heather on Slavery and the Feaudalism Era

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's interesting to see how far we've come in society with these things like slavery and how it was viewed so differently at another time in life. Especially since at that time the people were born and raised with that knowledge that slavery is OK. Now it's highly frowned upon by most people, which is a good thing because no one deserves to be less than another.

    ReplyDelete