Question

Develop an argument that evaluates the extent to which devshirme was similar or different from slavery in the Americas.

Answer 1

Answer: Devshirma and slavery have both similarities and differences.

Explanation:

The Ottomans practiced Devshirma as a forcible abduction of Christian boys into the elite Ottoman army ranks. These boys were taken from their families and were enlisted in the elite Ottoman military ranks. Slavery, in itself, is a violent process of alienating people for forced labor. If we look at these definitions, they are similar in themselves. A slave could get his freedom in certain situations, but he always remained a slave during the service.

On the other hand, officials in the Ottoman Empire who found themselves in the state under the means of devshirme could advance in the service. There were many examples when people who became residents of the Ottoman Empire came to the country's highest positions. The Grand Ottoman Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolović had just arrived in the Ottoman capital, Constantinople, with a devshirme. He advanced so much in the service that after the sultan, he was the second man of the bulky Ottoman Empire. The very title of Grand Vizier in the empire implied that position.