Just 150 years ago Russia formally abolished slavery. Slaves in Russia were called “krepostnye” or “fixed” – the ones that couldn’t do anything with their lives without their master’s OK. They couldn’t move away, couldn’t marry, couldn’t change who they worked for. They were often beaten and were more or less property. They could be bought and sold for cash or gold. Just like African slaves in USA, except they were local Russian white skinned people.

So how much money did you need 150 years ago to buy a Russian man, woman or a kid?

The prices were different. For example in earlier times, like 1782, they say that a one year old Russian girl would cost you just 1/2 ruble to buy as property.

It was more than a price of a pig, but cheaper than a horse.

More expensive were skilled men – such as cooks, barbers, etc.

Also soldiers were expensive humans.

Sometime later prices began to rise a lot.

Here is an archive document listing a property forfeited by a debtor to a bank who couldn’t pay his debt. They listed all his property, including the slaves, namely:

“Leonti, male, 40 years old, price 30 rub

his wife Marina, 25 y.o., 10 rubles,

Efim, 23 y.o., price 40 rub,

His wife Marina, 30 y.o., 8 rubles,

their kids:

boy, Gurjan, 4 y.o. 5 rub,

daughters (virgins), Vasilisa, 9 y.o., 3 rub,

Matrena, 1 y.o., 1/2 rub,…”

…and so on. Just imagine.

Fifty years later you had to pay around 80 rub per person for slaves, and you could use people you own as collateral for loans in banks. However banks gave no more than 40 rub per person.

And just ten years later the price of slaves was as high as 400 rub for each man or woman. They could separate families at some time of the history as well.

In the country side prices were lower, and in capital cities like St.Petersburg and Moscow it was more expensive to buy a human as a slave.

A skilled slave cook in a big city could cost you 2000-3000 rub. Compared to 0.5 rub for a peasant one year old girl.

Also, there were a high demand for entrepreneurial slaves. Yes, that is right, they were finding people who had a talent for trading stuff for profit and then bought them and taxed them heavily (taking away all the profit they make). This could bring you a lot of cash for nothing!

Some of those wanted to buy their freedom and were saving up their money for this, however their masters often didn’t let them go even for 5,000 rub – just because they didn’t want to loose the hen laying the golden eggs.

There are stories that some commerce skilled peasants could buy freedom for themselves and their families for the breath taking sum of 25,000 rub (probably worth about $2,500,000 adjusted for inflation today). At the same time, a normal peasant would refuse to buy back his own freedom for just 25 rub. Makes you think about the real price of your freedom and who really needs it?

The white slaves were sold on markets or at home at their master’s mansions. There existed special third-parties, realtors or brokers of sorts, who sped up the sale process.

With the arrival of Alexander I, he abolished some of the most inhuman practices, like publishing newspaper ads about selling people. However he didn’t abolish ads about renting out your slave and it was used as a loophole for the human trade.

It wasn’t until 1833 that it was forbidden to separate families during the sale, now you had to sell the family members all together.

In 1847, peasants got the right to buy back their freedom if their owner goes bankrupt.

And then finally in 1861 all people were declared free.

And it makes you wonder why the revolution of 1917 happened? People, opressed, beaten, raped and separated for hundred of years really hated rich, white capitalists and as soon as they got a chance they had no mercy for them. Just 40 years passed since they were liberated.