Sometimes, this happened over multiple generations, as children of the enslaved were considered to be free. It was often possible for the enslaved to escape slave states and integrate into new communities. These earlier forms of slavery in Africa saw slaves more like a social class or designation within society. Under this system, slaves were not considered property as they later would be under the transatlantic system.
In some African societies, slave trading was a historical reality, whether based in warfare, debt, religious obligation, or punishment for crimes. Just as in Europe and Asia, slavery existed in some parts of Africa prior to the involvement of Europeans. The Athenians had slavery, as did the Romans, the Assyrians, and early states in China and India. Slaving and slave trading in world history dates back to some of the earliest organized states and agrarian societies.
