Slaves In The Aztec Empire Had Much Better Rights Than In Any Other Ancient Society

AncientPages.com - Like most ancient civilizations, the Aztecs used slaves for a variety of tasks. However, ancient historical records show that slaves in the Aztec Empire had much broader rights than slaves in almost any other society in human history.

Slavery in the Aztec Empire was very different from what Europeans of the same period established in their colonies.

Although slaves were owned and regarded as property by the Aztecs, they still had a number of privileges.

Slaves held the lowest rank in the Aztec class society.

According to the Aztec law, slaves were allowed to own their own property and many could be seek legal opportunities to become free. Gaining freedom for slaves was by no means unheard in the Aztec society. When they masters died many slaved also gained freedom. Slaves in the Aztec Empire could even own other slaves. They could buy their liberty, and be set free if they were able to show they had been mistreated or if they had children with or were married to their masters.

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An Aztec master could not sell a slave without the slave's consent, unless the slave had been classified as incorrigible by an authority.

Unlike in many other ancient societies, children who were born to a slave were considered to be free citizens of the empire, rather than slaves themselves.

Aztec slaves were people who had commit some kind of crime or had debts they had been unable to pay, in which case they would become slaves to their creditors. Slaves could also be captives of war. It is fair to say that slavery among the Aztec was actually more akin to the concept of indentured servitude in Europe than slavery as it is traditionally thought of.

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