ABSTRACT
Childhood is central to an understanding of slavery. Children, across a wide range of countries and historical eras, occupied a pivotal demographic and economic role within slavery. For masters, slave children were an important source of wealth and labor. For slave parents, children assisted in a variety of work tasks and supplemented family diets. By focusing on the lives of slave children, much can be learned about the master–slave relationship. Slavery's horrors cannot be fully grasped unless one recognizes its effects on its youngest and most vulnerable victims. In children's lives, we can see the human meaning of exploitation, punishment, and family separation in high relief.
