History of Slavery
Freedom in America
Slavery existed around the world long before it became an issue here in the United States. The word slave comes from the word “slav” which is what Eastern Europeans were called in the middle ages. Slavs were enslaved by the Ottoman Empire, and that is how we got the word “slave.” Earliest records of slavery were around 6000 BC in Mesopotamia. In 1400 BC we see that the Isrealites were slaves. You may remember the story of Moses in the Bible. The Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians for 430 years. God told Moses to go to Pharaoh, the leader of the Egyptians, and tell him to set the Israelites free. He did not listen to Moses, and God caused horrible things to happen to Pharaoh and the Egyptians’ families. One night, after the worst plague of all, the death angel. Pharaoh told Moses to gather his people and go. So that is exactly what Moses did. They fled as fast as they could out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and towards the Promised Land.
