Would one be accurate in stating that it was the general ideological and political consensus and subsequent actions of the Western World during the early to mid 1800s that were primarily responsible for ending slavery and serfdom as legal institutions around the world? Prior to that were slavery/serfdom legally allowed for the vast majority of countries, ruling over the vast majority of peoples around the world? Were any edicts, that may have ended slavery prior to the Western ideological and political general consensus, rather limited in enforcement, time and geography?
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If I read it correctly, your question is:
"Were the Western World's general political and ideological consensus and consequent actions primarily responsible for the global ending [the legal institution of] slavery?"
There is considerable debate in the historical community about this.
One prominent theory is the the industrial revolution led to a structure of labor that was more efficient than slavery. In a few words, the rise of wage labor was more economically efficient than slave labor.
Another theory is that the mechanization of farming led to the end of slavery - that is, machines made agricultural slavery obsolete.
Another theory is that as European culture became more enlightened and democratic, the abolitionist movement naturally gained steam and became mainstream.
While it is likely that these or other theories are responsible for the impetus and motivation behind the ending of the legal institution of slavery, one thing is clear: Slavery as a legal institution was ended was worldwide for two reasons. First, because the Europeans in the 1800's were opposed to slavery. More importantly, the second reason is because Europeans controlled most of the world's legal systems via colonialism, and were thus able to impose their will upon the rest of humanity.
Please note that the Europeans exported their economic models as well, which made the abolition of slavery stick. Whether the export of the industrial revolution was good or bad is, of course, a matter of opinion.
Astor Florida
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2I like this answer. Helps to clarify the question and then offers a survey of the diversity of answers. I'd love it if you could cite those answers so that I could do further research. – MCW Mar 30 '23 at 12:24
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@Astor Florida. As per the industrialization/mechanization perspective, in the early to mid 1800s in Europe, this played a minor role in at least what the majority of people would be toiling at: agriculture. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=5fc30e9853451485126b9216bca7ed5f3d1034b5. An exception would be the cotton gin, which indeed increased productivity by the mid 1800s substantially. However, according to the National Archives: "Cotton growing became so profitable for enslavers that it greatly increased their demand for both land and enslaved labor." – Keith626 Mar 30 '23 at 15:18
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@Astor Florida. Any substantive transference of technologies from colonizer to colony would have been minimal for a long time after the period in question. And, as stated, at the time may have only increased the value of enslaved labor. – Keith626 Mar 30 '23 at 15:37
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@Astor Florida. One more point is I'm not sure how wage labor could be cheaper than slave labor. The implication being that slave labor would be economically preferable to a worker than paid salary. Could this be true? And once again, in other than brief moments in time and history? Would like to see a citation in order to better understand this train of thought. – Keith626 Mar 30 '23 at 17:12
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Sorry, I meant: ". . . in other than brief moments in geography and history?" – Keith626 Mar 30 '23 at 17:20
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@Keith626 The point of my answer is "Thie cause of the end of slavery is an area of debate for what brought about the end of slavery, with no concrete answer". Please understand this. – Astor Florida Mar 30 '23 at 21:02
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@Keith626 RE: industrial revolution, in England, slavery ended in 1807, as the industrial revolution was growing. In USA, slaver ended in 1865, about the time when the industrial revolution was starting in the USA. I will add a reference supporting this theory later – Astor Florida Mar 30 '23 at 21:05
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Concerning colonies, they were tied to the global economy, and thus subject to international economics. This meant in the years after WWII, when they were reverting to independence, they did not re-introduce slavery as it was not a good economic model. I have a reference for this, will add it later. – Astor Florida Mar 30 '23 at 21:07
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The idea that wage labor is cheaper than slave labor comes from Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. That is, slaves have a lot of overhead costs (housing, food, health care, overseers, police, etc) with a lower work productivity. OTOH, in a place where there is a surplus population, wage labor can have a much lower overhead cost while workers compete to a limited number of jobs. In that competition, workers have a better performance with wages that decrease with the supply of workers. – Astor Florida Mar 30 '23 at 21:15
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@ Astor Florida. The platform has asked us to move to chat in order to "avoid extended discussions in comments." If I understand what chat is, a back-and-forth online discussion that involves two people both being online at the same time and when finished, having no history left to point to on how the final conclusions were arrived at, I have three problems with this: 1.) It eliminates time for deliberation and research 2.) it eliminates the ability to demonstrate a logical progression from one idea to the next and 3.) it truncates any attempt by third parties to add to the information. – Keith626 Mar 30 '23 at 22:13
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@ Astor Florida. Sorry, I'm replying to you but not sure who I'm supposed to be responding to. At any rate, a simple fix to any clutter that might be distracting would be the simple addition of a "Reply" option after each comment, which just about every site has. Opening a forum for open discussion in order to arrive at any given truth and then limiting what can be said by quantity or space allotted I find to be rather self-defeating. I have responses I'd like to give to some of your points, but don't know if it would serve anyone by shuffling it off to a private conversation. – Keith626 Mar 30 '23 at 22:22
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I just realized you are new - welcome to stack exchange. I hope you stick around, it is a great place to learn. Generally, comments can be deleted at any time without cause. They are like barn cats – Astor Florida Mar 31 '23 at 02:42
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Also, please note that China's first known ban on slavery is about 2000 years ago.
– Astor Florida Mar 23 '23 at 23:06