Old, but Newly Interpreted Perceptions of Slavery

Slavery has been defined as “a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another,” or “a person entirely under the domination of some influence or person.” Before the Civil War, the United States addressed slavery that fully reflected that first definition, but slavery in the US went far beyond one human-being being treated as the property of another human-being. This slavery took away what I perceive as basic human rights, it practiced racism and sexism, and the undermining of “different” people and physical abuse and torture were it’s normal standards. As a result, Westerners now have an incredibly skewed vision of slavery and we are so taken aback whenever we discuss slavery of our perception; however, other forms of slavery also exist, forms that are not nearly as drastic or as undermining and I think this idea is crucial to touch on with regards to the Ottoman Empire especially.
Slavery was also a term coined with the Janissary Corps, and women of the Imperial Harems of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These women were referred to as slave concubines and lived in the Harem with a strict set of rules and obligations; this idea of slavery applies to the second definition more so than to the first. The harem was an institution, and as an institution it acted as a training camp for these women to receive proper education and etiquette, these women were treated exceptionally well and lived in a beautiful palace being trained for the elite. Unlike the slavery that Americans understand, slaves within the Ottoman Empire, whether they were slave concubines in the Harem or Slaves in the Janissary Corps, could achieve a high status within the Empire. In fact, they were often trained and taught so well in hopes of their status rising. The Ottoman Empire preferred slaves within the government and as administrators, this way they had little to no ties within the region that would affect their decisions and preferences concerning politics; ultimately, in doing so they hoped to limit corruption.