Slavery and human trafficking has been, unfortunately, part of the human equation for as long as there have been human civilizations.
I can't think of ANY ancient civilization that DIDN'T have it. This reminded me also of that Mel Gibson movie Apocalypse. That time period wasn't THAT ancient...1490's.
Of course, you're right, cloudmountain. And it's always made me wonder -- precisely when was it, and WHO was it, that began turning the particular American experience of slavery into a cause celebre? Is all of "race stuff" we've taught/learned/endured really just fallout from the Civil War? Was LBJ, all those years later, the one who recognized how to capitalize on it all? I don't know... knowing how modern politicians seem to seize an issue simply for the purpose of "divide and conquer", I have to believe someone or some organization, back in the day (early post-CW), decided race would be THE factor. Do South American cultures agonize over the whole issue (politically) as we have here? Europeans, Asians? Is it our unique Judeo-Christian foundation and independence that make it different here?