Lucy Edmond
HIST 1040-02

Unfree labor systems were widely used for agricultural production in the period 1450 to 1750. Analyze the major similarities and differences between Caribbean Slavery and the Russian Serfdom.

History has its random ways of recreating itself in which individuals themselves cannot explain why. Between the era of the 1450’s and the 1750’s, history establishes a devastating way of making the lives of certain individuals easier while making lives of others back breaking, cruel, and unethical. Though slavery may have occurred in some small areas of the world, it became popular after the benefits of owning a slave were established. With the dominating countries of Portugal and Spain, historians began to identify their excellence in economy, wealth, and prosperity throughout this era. With their vast migration of slaves from one part of the world to another, the beginning of a new culture was created. Under their free-will, Africans were widely spread out through the western hemisphere of the world. With the Mongols in power, peasants in Russia were considered as free farmers that had legal positions that were high than serfs in the Medieval era. But, it all changed once the peasants soon gained debt after the fall of the Tatar, thus leaving them no choice but to accept a submissive status under the lords ruling. The beginning of the serfdom class was than created as a way to formally help the peasants with their large debt to the government. An individual can find themself comparing and contrasting the different forms of slavery throughout the world due to the many forms of slavery that were being continued during this time of history. Russia in itself also had a different form of slavery which became known as Serfs; Russian Serfdom. Although Russian Serfdom and Caribbean slavery both became popular during this time period, they still had their similarities and differences. They were similar in ways such as the rights and categories of a slave and serf, the way slaves and serfs were punished, owning of a slave or serf, and, lastly, similar unfree laborious work. In terms of differences, Caribbean slavery and Russian serfdom both had different locations, weather, and benefits. In my opinion, I think both of these methods are considered slavery due to the hardships both had their slaves endure, and defining the true meaning of property. Throughout the paper one will understand the similarities and differences of the Caribbean slavery and Russian serfdom, and understand my opinion behind my thoughts towards them.
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves (Abraham Lincoln).” Freedom was not always a given options to individuals between the 1450’s and the 1750’s due to the massive widespread of slavery in the world. For the Russians serfdoms, it created a slight way to consider them as a form of slavery, due to the different rules and benefits serfs had, but they still had differences to a slave. Serfs are defined as “a person in a condition of servitude, required to render services to a lord, commonly attached to the lord's land and transferred with it from one owner to another (dictionary.com).” In 1480, after defeating the Mongols, empires began to expand eastward of Russia in which Peter the Great became the center of authority. Under the various authority powers of Ivan II/IV and Peter the Great, Russia was governed as a feudal society; “the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord's land and provide him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection (dictionary.com).” With Peter the Great encouraging Serfdom, it gradually made a step into history as it changed and provided alterations to what is considered a serf in Russia.
As a peasant in this era, they were divided into sub-categories in which they had different advantages than the other. One was either known as a freeman, villein, cottager, or a slave in whom some still had the same jobs as the other. A freeman only made up 10 percent of the peasants because they were farmers who owned little or no service to the lords but paid rent (referece.com). Villein’s were “freeman’s in the eye of the law” but still had some restrictions which bonded them to their land and their framing. They were not as free as a freeman but still had to work some hours farming the lord’s field and their own fields as well as owning their own property. Cottagers did not own land but were given a small cottage and a portion of the lord’s land to grow the lord’s crops. They spent most of their days farming for the lord. Slaves on the other hand were known as “Kholops,” which were peasants who were kept in control by a master and were able to be killed, sold for unpaid debt, and could not have any form of property. For the slaves in the Caribbean, we find the same slave serfs in the Russian Selfdom because they had no type of rights or benefits as their masters or sub-categories of a slave. Both a serf (slave) and a slave worked excessively, were owned by their landlord or master, were punished, and were not paid for their long days of harsh labor. Slaves and Serf’s did have their similarities despite them being in different areas. Just as a slave was sold, brought, or gambled a serf was done the same way. Serf’s were considered lord’s property due to the large amounts given by their lords to keep their serfs protected and well looked after. The only difference is slaves were auctioned off, after descending from their large slave ship from Africa, while serfs chose which estate they would inhabit to pay off their debt to their government. Property once again is not well defined during this era of history, but was considered whatever was in their possession. The act of punishment was the same for both a serf and Caribbean slave if they did not obey their maters or lord. In terms of the Caribbean slave owners, they punished their slaves any way that they could. For example, slave owners found themselves whipping, shooting, hanging/lynching, and extending their work hours. For Russian serfs, landlords were allowed to severely punish any serf who rebelled or committed any form of crime. As Portugal and Spain soon became the dominating countries to colonize and grow economically, other countries such as the French, the Dutch, and the English soon wanted a share of all their wealth. The Caribbean Islands were known to have more agriculture, migrated people, economy, and down the road became popular for more trades. The first few slaves brought into the Caribbean were used as farm laborers while their masters or owners would stand and watch to make sure that they were actually doing their work. Slaves from Africa were brought over after the Native Indians of the colony quickly died out due to diseases the Portuguese and Spaniards brought over. Throughout the various countries of the Caribbean different crops and items were found to be very valuable to other countries due to the inability to reproduce them due to geographic factors. The mining of gold and silver advanced from the New World to the other side of the globe like Japan and China, where most of the silver and gold were used for trading for other goods. Crops such as sugar, coffee, indigo, cotton, and fur became most of the reason for the use of African slaves. “By 1580, some 74,000 Africans had been shipped from Africa for the Americas, while some 232,000 Spanish and Portuguese left for the Americas during the same period (Peabody, encyclopedia).” By 1788, the French colonist had approximately 693,000 slaves inhabiting Saint Dominque, their largest sugar plantation, where they had close to 150 to 200 slaves working on a daily (Garrigus, encyclopedia). The Europeans made sure they used every last slave brought from Africa for every aspect of their growing economy.
Both slavery in the Caribbean and serfdom in Russia had their difference in which one can identify. Both situations had their difference such as their locations and weather, benefits of a serf or slave, their origins, and lastly, their use to society. To better explain these differences, research has been used throughout various books, websites, and encyclopedia to support such claims. There may be many definitions of a serf, but it’s all the same due to their little bit of benefits one may have had while being a serf. One thing about the Caribbean islands people can always find themselves talking about is their beautiful weather throughout the year. Located in the Atlantic Ocean, different Caribbean islands receive a difference in rainfall and sunlight during different months. For the slaves who worked countless hours throughout the year in the hot sun, the beautiful weather didn’t always seem so blessing. The Caribbean temperatures averages from the low 70 degree Fahrenheit to the high 90 degree Fahrenheit yearly, and can receive an average of 30 feet of rainfall (not including rainforest). Slaves worked backbreaking hours under a hot sun without proper meals or fluids to keep them energized and hydrated for a long day’s work. The production of sugar was slaves biggest and longest process due to the many steps one must follow before having the finished product. It was said; to get the final sugar syrup, sugarcanes could not sit out an hour after it has been cut from the ground. Though there may have been hundreds of slaves in the fields, it took hours to process the finished product thus increasing their time under the hot and grueling sun. Russia, known as the largest country in the world, also has a difference in temperatures where their serfs endure long countless hours of labor. Located in the Northern part of the eastern hemisphere, Russia encounters difference in temperature during its four seasons. One of their well-known cities called Moscow, also the capital of Russia, has long winters between the months of November to March, and hot and humid summers between the months of June and August. Serfs had to work in a rigorous and extreme winter temperature of -10 Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). During the summer months, serfs had it much easier than the Caribbean slaves with an average temperature of 73 degrees Fahrenheit. In my opinion, Serfs were treated better than Caribbean slaves in the 1450s to 1750 due to the fact they had benefits while the Caribbean slaves had no type of benefits as a worker. Serf still had some type of freedom because they knew Russia as their motherland. “Serfs owned only his belly (Serfdom, reference.com),” is a commonly said statement about the serf’s. Everything that they had as property was not truly theirs but owned by his or her lord, but some “well-to-do “serfs were still able to earn their own property and wealth, and as a result, were able to buy their freedom. With the land that was given to them by their lords, they were allowed to grow crops that were suitable to pay off taxes by selling them in the markets. Serfs had it the easy way in terms of security and charity which was provided by the lords as their rewards for living in their estate.
With the deportation of slaves from one continent to a new area of land, Europeans found their most valued property by gaining more slaves to make a fast growing profit. The Russian serfs on the other hand were not migrated from one part of the country to the other due to the fact they were Russians themselves who only wanted to make sure they lived in a proper area that could provide security and food for their families. Though a serf was tied to their land, they were still treated in somewhat way as a slave. Just as the Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Dutch used their slaves to pick, mine, and obey by their rules; serfs did the same to stay alive and earn property by their landlords. Caribbean slaves and Serfs both worked the same amount of days and hours due to the increasing amounts of crops needed to be harvested. Both serfs and slaves were to stay on their masters/owners land due to the fact they were considered property to the colony/estate. If they left or tried to depart, they were considered as runaway slaves because they were considered someone’s property. The uses of slaves in Russia were legal up until 1723 when Peter the Great abolished it but were still considered as serfs.