Slavery as Capitalism The Shape of American Slavery The slave system in America was unique in human history.

Sometimes slaves were treated cruelly; at other times with kindness.

They were more often used as a sign of affluence, a way of displaying one's wealth and of enjoying luxury, rather than as the means for the systematic accumulation of wealth.

Previously, slavery had existed in hierarchical societies in which the slave was at the bottom of a social ladder, the most inferior in a society of unequals.

While each society normally preferred to choose its slaves from alien people, it did not limit its selection exclusively to the members of any one race.