Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [slavery]

An instance or institution whereby individuals are forced to labor without compensation and usually such persons are considered property of other persons.

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Were 80 million black slaves killed in the USA by the end of the civil war?

I was listening to a speech by Malcolm X, where he said (at 1:57) that over 80 million black people were killed in America (100 million brought over as slaves, but less than 20 million remained at the end of the civil war). You haven't got no time…
Yehuda
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Were slaves involved in the building of the Pyramids of Giza?

The claim: Paid, skilled workers built the pyramids without the use of slave labor. Relevant links: Hawass: ‘The Great Pyramids were not built by slaves’ “Linking building the Great Pyramids to slavery is a comical thing to say,” replied Zahi…
Conor Henry
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Does the Uzbekistan government force children to perfom slave labor harvesting cotton?

A family member posted a link to a blog about companies using slave labor. While the title is a bit misleading because it is not the companies themselves directly employing slave labor but rather their suppliers in foreign countries. Most of the…
Chad
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Do slaves cost only $90 today?

Given how slaves cost tens of thousands of dollars in today's money at the time of the American Civil War, I was surprised to read in a number of places (Wikipedia, Reuters, CNN) that the average price of a slave today is $90. The ultimate source…
Stack Overflown
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Was slavery the principal cause of the American Civil War?

In episode 3F20, "Much Apu About Nothing" of The Simpsons, a proctor is administering an American citizenship test to Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and the following exchange occurs: Proctor: All right, here's your last question. What was the cause of…
Patrick Klingemann
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Did George Washington sell a slave for a barrel of syrup?

I know that George Washington owned slaves, but did he sell one for a barrel of syrup? I found two sources that claim this (one of which doesn't seem to be freely available online): George Washington was a honky slave owner who sold a black woman…
Laurel
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Did the bible say slavery was okay?

I am in high school and we are doing a report on why slavery is or is not okay. A lot of my peers have been saying that the bible says there is nothing wrong with slavery. Is this really true?
Brandon Kheang
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Are sex slaves forced to use drugs?

I recently watched an episode of CSI:NY and a major plot point was that sex slaves were forced to take Heroin, presumably to make them more compliant and to cause an addiction that prevents them from leaving. Is there any truth behind this? Are…
MrHen
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Is Barack Obama descended from slaves?

Is Barack Obama descended from slaves? From Japanese lawmaker apologizes for Obama 'black slave' remark, Japanese politician Kazuya Maruyama claims that he's descended from slaves: "In America, a black man became president. I mean, he's in a…
Andrew Grimm
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Is America's prosperity the result of slavery?

It has been claimed (see below for example) that America's relatively high prosperity is the result of slavery, which enabled the development of American capitalism, by using slaves as, well, capital, in various financial endeavors, which in turn,…
user20902
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Did Islam dominate slave trade, and did Christians enter the slave market only later?

Stefan Molyneux claims in The Truth About The Crusades that: Islam dominated slave trade between the 7th and the 15th century, while the Christians entered the market of human flesh much later - 1519 to 1815 is the period of Christian slave…
Maria check profile
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Was the Jenkins Continuous Build Integration server named after Tom Jenkins, Thomas Jefferson's slave master?

I heard this rumor today and I was wondering if there is any truth to it. I guess there are two parts to it: Did Thomas Jefferson have a slave master named Tom/Thom/Thomas Jenkins? Was the Jenkins CI server named after this person? I tried to…
AHungerArtist
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Does the Constitution of the US have anything to say about slavery?

The Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote an article for the 1619 Project in the New York Times, where she claimed: The Constitution contains 84 clauses. Six deal directly with the enslaved and their enslavement, as the historian David Waldstreicher has…
boatcoder
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Were owners of slaves in 1860, largely Democrats?

According to Dinesh D'Souza "claim that no Republicans owned slaves in 1860 is incorrect. A handful did. " "Here’s the big picture: Out of the 4 million slaves in the US in 1860, more than 99% were owned by Democrats. An infinitesimal number were…
Quora Feans
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