Slavery or enslavement was the act of one sentient being having control of another in violation of the other's will. The one so enslaved was referred to as a slave. Slaves were often considered the property of the enslaver, and could be sold.
The Slaver Empire controlled a large galactic empire 1 billion years ago. The Slavers were known as the masters of all intelligent beings in most of the galaxy until one species revolted. (TAS: "The Slaver Weapon")
Slavery was common on ancient Earth, in particular the Roman Empire. It was practiced as late as the middle of the 19th century in the southern United States before being outlawed as a consequence of the American Civil War. Even so, the practice persisted to some degree in less developed nations, in particular Africa and the Islamic nations, under the mantle of "Human trafficking". These events had a great impact on Human history, and were widely remembered to the point that, almost three hundred years later, when Charles Tucker III wondered aloud what kind of people the Orion slave traders the Enterprise NX-01 had encountered were, Arik Soong caustically responded that, given the Florida native's southern accent, he likely had ancestors quite similar to them. (ENT: "Borderland") Tucker previously told T'Pol in a private conversation that slavery went out the same time as arranged marriage on Earth. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")
Around this time, a Skagaran starship was sent to Earth. The vessel's crew abducted several thousand Humans that were taken to help the Skagarans start a colony, and serve as slave workers. (ENT: "North Star")
In 1937, the Briori kidnapped three hundred Humans from Earth and took them back to an unnamed Class L planet in the Delta Quadrant and used them as slaves. The slaves managed to revolt and overthrow the Briori. (VOY: "The 37's")
Though the Ferengi claimed that their society had never engaged in slavery, females in their culture were still considered property and had no rights. (DS9: "The Jem'Hadar", "Family Business")
The Romulan Star Empire used the Remans as a slave class from at least as early as the 22nd century until at least as late as 2379. (ENT: "United", "The Aenar", Star Trek Nemesis)
In 2153, a humanoid named Zjod traded in female slaves, including concubines, of various species from a shop in a floating bazaar on the Xanthan planet. (ENT: "Rajiin")
When the Antican delegates requested their livestock be given to them alive so they could butcher it themselves later, Riker explained that Humans no longer enslaved animals for food purposes. (TNG: "Lonely Among Us")
Slavery was also in operation in the mirror universe. By the mid 22nd century, the Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites, and Orions had been enslaved by the Terran Empire. The Tholians employed slave workers to gut the USS Defiant when it went through an interspacial rift and arrived in the mirror universe. They also employed alien slave masters, one of which was a Gorn named Slar. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II") Following the conquest of their world by the Terran Empire, the Bajorans became slaves to Terrans. When the Empire was subsequently conquered by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, the Terrans were themselves enslaved, as were the Vulcans. Once liberated, the Bajorans went on to become influential members of the Alliance. (DS9: "Crossover", "Through the Looking Glass")
In 2258 of the alternate reality, Admiral Marcus enslaved Khan Noonien Singh, so he could build weapons and warships for Starfleet, after awakening him from cryogenic stasis. Marcus did this by holding the rest of the crew of the SS Botany Bay hostage under a threat of murdering them. (Star Trek Into Darkness)
The Orions used slave labor as late as the 23rd century. Common belief was that Orion women were slaves to the men, when it was in fact the opposite. (TOS: "The Cage", ENT: "Bound") In the 22nd century, Orions frequently kidnapped members of other species for slave trade. (ENT: "Borderland", "Bound")
By the 23rd century, slavery had been practiced by the parallel of the Roman Empire on 892-IV for 2,000 years. They were slave revolts in earlier centuries but slaves gradually received rights to medicine and government payments in their old age, becoming more content in the process. (TOS: "Bread and Circuses")
During the Occupation of Bajor from 2319 to 2369, enforced labor was practiced at labor camps. This was a situation similar to slavery. (DS9: "Emissary", et. al)
The Kazon were a subjugated race, used as slave labor by the Trabe who had conquered their homeworld. They remained in captivity until 2346, when Jal Sankur convinced the various Kazon sects to put aside their differences and rise up against the Trabe. In doing so the Kazon took the Trabe's ships and technology and forcing them to become a nomadic species, never allowing them to settle on a new world. (VOY: "Initiations", "Alliances")
When Bruce Maddox wanted to disassemble Data in 2365 in order to learn how to create more androids, Data refused, but was ordered to undergo the procedure on the grounds that he was Starfleet property. Jean-Luc Picard challenged the ruling but questioned his convictions after hearing the statement of the prosecution. Guinan helped him realize that creating an entire "race" of Datas for use as tools would, in fact, be slavery. (TNG: "The Measure Of A Man")
In 2366, two Breen warships attacked the Ravinok, a Cardassian ship carrying 32 Bajoran prisoners crewed by eighteen Cardassian troops. They forced that ship to crash land on the planet Dozaria. The Breen then used the survivors of this crash as laborers at a nearby dilithium mine. They remained slaves until freed by Major Kira Nerys and Legate Dukat in 2372. (DS9: "Indiscretion")
In the mid-2370s, the United Federation of Planets began using sentient holoprograms, the various types of outdated Emergency Medical Holograms, for slave labor purposes, utilizing them for difficult and dangerous tasks such as warp conduit maintenance and dilithium mining. The publication of the holonovel Photons Be Free by The Doctor, however, caused many in the Federation to begin changing their minds about this practice. (VOY: "Life Line", "Author, Author")
The Emerald Chain used slaves who had accumulated debt and could not repay that debt. (DIS: "That Hope Is You, Part 1", "Scavengers", "The Sanctuary")
See also[]
External links[]
- Slavery at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Slavery at Wikipedia