A List Of Impressive Dissertation Topic Ideas About Slavery


The topic of slavery by itself is too general for a dissertation paper. It must be narrowed down in order to cover it in detail. There must also be a unique perspective, so the dissertation actually adds to the current body of knowledge instead of being a repeat of another paper. In order to get good ideas for your topic, you may need to do a lot of reading as well as browsing through lists of dissertation topic ideas. Remember as you browse through these lists, not to take one of the ideas as-is without adding your own personal slant to it.


  1. Investigating the chain of events that led early colonists to start using Africans for slave labor, what stands out as the tipping point and why?

  2. Was slavery connected with the law in Nova Scotia? What are seen as the inappropriate attitudes towards African peoples?

  3. Debt slavery in Ancient China versus classical in Ancient Greece.

    4. why did not its abolition bring the expected results?
  4. What external social pressures led to the instigation of slavery versus the internal social issues that led to its abolition?

  5. How does economic and educational status of a people serve as predictors of the practice of taking slaves?

  6. Was it truly eliminated? Did the end of the civil war mark the end of it in all its forms?

  7. What role did the mutiny on the Amistad play in American law and diplomacy?

  8. Would the telling of the history be any different if recorded by the African people rather than their slave masters?

  9. What influence did and pro-abolitionist writers have on the outcome of the civil war and the dissolution of slavery in the United States?

As well as browsing lists for dissertation ideas for your topic, you can also go through history books and catalogued journals of people who have written their memoirs about slavery over the centuries. History books are usually only from one point of view, so researching some original manuscripts may also be of benefit to try and find an original idea.

The practice of taking slaves for labor has existed in different forms throughout the centuries. When searching for your ideas, consider famous slaves from long ago such as 6th century BC. Aesop from ancient Greece who wrote Aesop’s fables; Spartacus, a gladiator slave from 100 BC or Saint Patrick who was taken to Ireland into slavery in the 400s AD.


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