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They would be offered at a lower price. Most sales were auctions, so the starting bid would be dropped until someone made a bid.

Slaves that could not be sold were often killed, as it cost money to feed them.

Slaves who were unsaleable were almost never 'killed'. This is a total fabrication. Certainly some slaves were killed for all sorts of reasons, and in most places punishments for these murders were lenient, but killing slaves was almost everywhere illegal. In Africa killing slaves was acceptable in most kingdoms and tribal societies. This was not unique to Africa. In feudal Japan, for example, it was perfectly legal for nobles and members of the Samurai class to kill peasants. Restrictions were imposed under the Tokugawa shogunate, but in general a Samurai could kill an peasant who had committed a minor offence with impunity. This state of affairs persisted in Japan (and elsewhere) well into the 19th century. Prior to European colonization, Aztec and Inca nobles could kill any commoner for any reason.

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14y ago

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