Slavery is the cruel practice of treating human beings as property that can be bought, sold, and forced to work without pay or freedom. An enslaved person has no control over their own life: they cannot choose where to live, what work to do, or even stay with their own family.

Throughout history, many civilizations practiced slavery, forcing captured enemies, conquered peoples, or those born into enslaved families to labor without rights. Ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt, and many other societies relied on enslaved workers. In America, slavery lasted for over 200 years, from the early 1600s until the Civil War ended it in 1865.

Slavery represented one of history's greatest injustices because it denied people their basic human dignity and freedom. The word enslaved describes someone trapped in this condition, while a slave owner or enslaver is someone who claims to own another person. The fight to end slavery, called abolition, was led by courageous people who believed all humans deserve freedom and equal treatment under the law.

Today, slavery is illegal in every country, though it still exists in some places, and some people fight against similar forms of forced labor that trap workers in terrible conditions.