The slave systems of the world are much more than just the African slaves brought over to the colonies. Forced labor has been around for a very long time. When you are under the influence of forced labor you lose the freedom of choosing where to live and what work to do. Forced labor is due between the number of people available to work and the amount of land worked on. Land was also the primary basis of economy. Forced labor shortened the span of millions of lives and it could be indiginous or imposed by outsiders.
Empires of the ancient world left a legacy of enduring monuments. Temples, palaces, great walls, pyramids, etc. have been built by past civilizations. Forced labor was used to build these monuments. Roman times even used forms of slavery. Roman citizens could not be enslaved. Some adults did become enslaved thugh to make up for debts. Prisons of war mostly represented the slave population. As the empire expanded there was more space for work which meant a higher need for slaves. The extention of road networks was built with slave labor as well while the empire expanded.
After the roman empire, In Western and Eastern Europe, land holding elites made use of peasant labor as well on self efficient manors. Many free peasants became serfs. They had personal freedom but could not leave the land. In Eastern territories. such as Russia, a lot of grain was grown here. This required a large and dependable labor force. Peasants used to be able to move between different estates but now could not. The estates became so large they needed protection. The Zar said that the estates had to serve them just as the serfs had to serve the estates. By the end of the 1600s serfdom was changed over to slavery wehre a worker could be bought or sold.
Slavery in South East Asia developed in a different way. Farm laborers owed a portion of their produce to their lord but were not owned by their