Before the expansion of the European-African slave trade in the 15th century, slavery was characterized by which of the following?

• A. Widespread, but slaves had certain legal rights
• B. Slavery was rare and had few protections
• C. Slavery did not exist in most societies
• D. Slaves were treated as full legal property with no rights

Answer: (A)

Before the expansion of the slave trade, slavery was a common institution across many societies, but it wasn’t a total, absolute ownership with no rights. Enslaved people often had certain legal protections and could, in some cases, own personal property, enter contracts, marry, or pursue manumission to gain freedom. This combination—pervasive presence within societies along with some rights or paths to improve status—best captures how slavery functioned in many regions before the 15th century. The idea that slavery was rare or nonexistent, or that slaves had no rights at all, doesn’t fit the historical pattern, and treating slavery as entirely unprotected across all societies also overstates the lack of rights that existed in various contexts.