n.
Condition in which one human being is owned by another.
A slave was considered in law as property, or chattel, and was deprived of the rights ordinarily held by free persons. Slavery has existed on nearly every continent, including Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, and throughout most of recorded history. The ancient Greeks and Romans accepted the institution of slavery, as did the Mayas, Incas, Aztecs, and Chinese. Europeans began importing slaves from Africa to the New World beginning in the 16th century (see slave trade ). An estimated 11 million people were taken from Africa during the transatlantic slave trade. By the mid-19th century the slave population in the U.S. had risen to more than four million, although slave imports had been banned from 1809. Most slaves worked on plantations in the South, their status governed by slave codes . Most of the slaves sent to the Americas ended up in South America, where harsh conditions required the constant replenishing of slaves. Following the rise of abolitionism , Britain outlawed slavery in its colonies in 1833, and France did the same in 1848. During the American Civil War, slavery was abolished in the Confederacy by the Emancipation Proclamation (1863), which was decreed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln. Slavery continues to exist in many parts of the world, although it is not officially recognized by any government. See also Dred Scott decision ; Fugitive Slave Acts ; serfdom ; Underground Railroad .