Slavery facts

In Mauritania. Today up to 600,000 Mauritanians, or 20% of the population, are still enslaved, mainly the "black Moors" of Haratin people. Though legally abolished in 1981, slavery did not become a crime until 2007, and since then only one person has been prosecuted for owning slaves. The issue of slavery is still powerful theme in the country's political debate.

Arabia. Slavery had long been practiced in Africa. Between the 7th and 20th centuries, the Arab slave trade (also known as slavery in the East) took 18 million slaves from Africa via trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean routes. Between the 15th and the 19th centuries, the Atlantic slave trade took an estimated 7–12 million slaves to the New World.

Richard Nixon. If you didn't know, presidents owned slaves. Richard Nixon was a president who got impeached, but did not own slaves. Ulysses Grant was the youngest president to own slaves! Zachary Taylor is a president who had slaves. Andrew Jackson had the most, 160 slaves, who could never be freed on his will. James Polk had a few 15 slaves.

At the human zoo in London. Sara Baartman was known women who, due to their large buttocks, were exhibited as freak show attractions in 19th-century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus—"Hottentot" was the name for the Khoi people, now considered an offensive term, and "Venus" referred to the Roman goddess of love. The fame is due to the extensive exploitation of her body by the general public and scientists, as well as the horrible mistreatment she received during her life and after her death. Her body parts were on display at the Musée de l'Homme for 150 years.

In Egypt. The most enduring Mamluk realm was the knightly military caste in Egypt in the Middle Ages, which developed from the ranks of slave soldiers. These were mostly enslaved Turkic peoples, Egyptian Copts, Circassians, Abkhazians, and Georgians. Many Mamluks were also of Balkan origin (Albanians, Greeks, and South Slavs).