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In the famous Boonta Eve podrace from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Sebulba taunts a young Anakin:

'You won't walk away from this one, you slave scum.'

To what extent is there truth in the "slave" part of this?

Were the Skywalkers, and all humans, slaves? Or is this just interplanetary trash talk?

My question is more about the origin of their slavehood, and slavery of humans, in general. Are there any hints that anyone ever hunted Anakin as a runaway slave?

Voronwé
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Vekzhivi
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    The fact that the Skywalkers were slaves was a pretty big subplot of that film. – DaaaahWhoosh Mar 06 '17 at 16:14
  • Anakin wasn't a runaway slave – Valorum Mar 06 '17 at 16:47
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    If he was born a slave, then he had to be freed, officially. Otherwise he was still a slave. or so it seems to me. – Vekzhivi Mar 06 '17 at 16:59
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    Yes, but Qui-Gon won his bet with Watto, and received ownership of Anakin. Although it's not stated explicitly in the film (though it is in the novelization), we're meant to assume that Qui-Gon legally freed Anakin – Jason Baker Mar 06 '17 at 17:04
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    @JasonBaker Not to mention slavery is illegal in the Republic, and ownership of property by Jedi was forbidden. Even if Qui-Gon hadn't explicitly "freed" Anakin, legally speaking he couldn't really own him in the first place. – Ajedi32 Mar 06 '17 at 21:48
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    @Ajedi32 wouldn't that make the transaction over him illegal and thus, still watto property? – CptEric Mar 07 '17 at 10:43
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    @CptEric I guess we can only really try to apply our real-world analogues to the situation. In our world, usually if you travel to another country you are subject to their laws while there, but if you do something there which is illegal in your own country you may be prosecuted on your return. So assuming slavery was legal there it would be legal for Qui-Gon to receive the slave on Tattoine but he'd be subject to prosecution on his return to the council. Of course the fact that he'd freed the slave in the interim would likely negate any such charges, indicating no crime was intended. – delinear Mar 07 '17 at 11:45
  • @delinear I see where you are coming from. However, what made me think of the legal issues is how Han Solo had a bounty on him from Jabba the Hutt that resulted in him being captured by Boba Fett and taken to Tatooine, home of Watto, among others. If a bounty could be placed on Han, then perhaps on Anakin too? just speculating – Vekzhivi Mar 07 '17 at 14:25
  • The buying/selling of a slave is different from freeing a slave. When you free a slave you pay the owner to relinquish their ownership of the slave but you then DO NOT assert ownership, thus freeing the slave to their own recognizance. This is what I assume happened with Anakin. – BradV Apr 23 '23 at 02:13

2 Answers2

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From the script:

PADMÉ: (amused): Have you been here long?

ANAKIN: Since I was very little, three, I think. My Mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt, but she lost us, betting on the Podraces, to Watto, who's a lot better master than Gardulla, I think.

PADMÉ: You're...a slave?

ANAKIN looks at PADMÉ defiantly.

ANAKIN I am a person! My name is Anakin.

So the Skywalkers were slaves. It isn't clear how they came to be slaves in the first place or if this extended to humans as a species.

Non-canonical sources say

At the age of six, Shmi and her family embarked on a space voyage to the Outer Rim Territories, where they were captured by pirates and sold into slavery.

(Shmi being Anakin's mother.)

This suggests that slavery was not extended to all humans.

Quentin
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3

Anakin was born a slave

We have (canon) confirmation from the Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know Updated Edition that Shmi was captured by slavers when she was a girl. It follows that Anakin was born into slavery.

LIFE AS A SLAVE

Anakin's mother, Shmi Skywalker, is captured by pirates and sold into slavery when she is just a girl. She and Anakin end up as the property of Gardulla the Hutt on Tatooine. Later, a Toydarian junk-dealer named Watto wins them both in a bet with Gardulla.

Valorum
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