slavery: a supply of free land. The reason for this is found in the nature of slave labor. The slave was usually unskilled at methods of cultivation, since as a warrior before his capture and humiliation, he was accustomed to regard manual labor as degrading. Moreover, his labor was reluctant, hence he was not interested in making it efficient. And further than this, the slave was stupid and ignorant of right methods. Because of these traits of the slave, his work was wasteful and extravagant. Consequently, the only way to get increasing returns from agricultural work of this sort, was to set the slave at a new tract of virgin soil as soon as he had used up the vital qualities and destroyed the fertility of the land which he had been cultivating. It paid better to bring fresh land under the plow, than to put more effort into old land; it was more profitable to increase acreage than to redouble effort. And so, as long as there was a boundless expanse of good land available, slave labor, which implied superficial cultivation, was still economical, but as soon as the supply of land decreased through occupation or exhaustion of its resources, slavery waned in importance. Thus, although slavery was an institution of great importance in prehistoric and ancient times, with the virtual exhaustion of free land, slavery in modern society has gone, never to return. One consequence of this creation of a surplus, whether by slave labor, or otherwise, has been that certain classes in the community have not found it necessary to devote their entire time to depressing and enervating labor. Some individuals were afforded leisure from the drudgery which dulls the finer sensibilities and reduces bodily vitality. With the attainment of leisure, came the possibility of an increased development of Art, Literature, Science and Philosophy, of all higher arts of life and refinements of living which have enriched primitive cultures and converted them into civilizations. We have indicated another factor as bound up with the creation of a surplus. This was the establishment of a market and trade routes. Probably no other single force in human history has been more important in bringing about the complete transition from tribal to civil society than the growth of commerce. If there was opportunity for commerce the creation of a surplus was favored, since the trading of an excess in the home produce for some new want stimulated the further production of surplus to more fully satisfy that want. In time, new industries originated, and these in turn, were worked for the surplus product which could be exchanged for still newer wants. The resulting diversification of wants was educational for the people and tended to lay the basis for a rich and self-sustaining economy which becomes the foundation of a great civilization. Corresponding to the exchange in wares and articles of commerce, there was a communication of new ideas and transmission of intelligence that could not fail to react profoundly upon the developing culture of the people. The commercial people become tolerant of customs other than their own and learn familiarity with strange and remote localities. All this variety of experience broadens their point of view and gives a ripeness and maturity to their culture which no other influence can bring. Thus, in the transition from tribal to civil society there occur important modifications in the social structure, making it more elastic and broadening its scope and power of adaptation. Men begin to recognize, through force of adverse or favorable circumstances, that the local group which reared and nurtured them is but part of a wider society. A wealth of race experience is acquired along with an increasingly secure economic basis for both individual and social life. Production, local exchange of wares, and extensive commercial relations are developed. Economic and industrial activities become of more importance than warfare, and continuous prosperity and freedom from dangerous famines is the lot of larger and larger numbers of mankind. With a more plastic and flexible structure of social relations, founded upon a substantial and extensive economy, the plane of the struggle for existence is, for most of mankind, once for all raised above the level of the brute, and the increasing dependence placed upon the intellectual and ethical element assures a truer realization of justice, humanity and happiness. SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS. DEALEY, J. Q.-The Family in Its Sociological Aspects. GIDDINGS, F. H.-Descriptive and Historical Sociology. MAINE, H. S.-The Early History of Institutions. MORGAN, L. H.-Ancient Society. MYRES, J. L.-The Dawn of History. SEEBOHM, F.-The Tribal System in Wales. SEEBOHM, F.-Tribal Custom in Anglo-Saxon Law. SEEBOHM, H. E.-The Structure of Greek Tribal Society. TACITUS.-Germania. THOMAS, W. I.-Source Book for Social Origins. |