How the Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews?

The simple answer is that it was not managed for a few hundred years: it was managed for three generations. And the Hebrews were subjects, not slaves.

The basic source is the Book of Exodus, which states (Ex 1:8-10):

"Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, 'Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war befall us, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.' "

The new king was a usurper, and his real motive was to justify his usurpation. The Book of Jesher written by Caleb indicates that he equalised the tax burden: the Hebrews had previously paid no tax, and the Egyptians a fifth of their produce. Now all inhabitants, Hebrew and Egyptian alike, were to pay one tenth.

Along with the tax came the compulsory work obligation, which the Hebrews shared with the Egyptians. The Hebrews were quickly assigned tasks.

"They set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens; and they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pi-Thom and Ramses." (Ex 1:11)

These cities were to store the tax, most of which was in grain. The two store-cities, one for the Pharaoh (Pi-Thom, the 'House of Thom') and one for the province (Ramses, also called Goshen). This was in line with Joseph's reforms during an earlier reign, introducing this 'double buffer' storage system against famine.

Successful management was largely a matter of the Hebrews not being in a position to differ. It appears they had a military service obligation, but most of the weaponry available was stored in Egyptian forts, and the Hebrews had no command and authority system outside the Egyptian government, which they looked up to as the legitimate authority.

The next Egyptian ruler, also a usurper, acquired a Hebrew boy whom he brought up as a prince (Moses). Moses is stated (in sources other than the Bible) to have led campaigns for this pharaoh into Ethiopia and to have been generally useful much of the time. He also gained the authority and leadership skills (and skill in 'the magic of the Egyptians') which made all the difference when the crunch came.

The last ruler before the Exodus, yet another usurper, sought to justify his usurpation by removing the entire tax and compulsory work burden from the Egyptians and laying it on the Hebrews. This is strictly the only point at which the Hebrews might be considered 'slaves', and even then they retained their personal possessions, which is not compatible with a status of true slavery. The Hebrews themselves, however, considered they had suffered a fifty-year period of bondage (Jesher VI:23).

The only difference in Egypt's ability to enforce this arrangement lay in the fact that Moses now had the leadership potential and authority to lead the Hebrews. Without him there would have been no Exodus (although there might have been a short-lived rebellion led by Caleb). But Egypt was now stricken with strange and unexplainable plagues, and Moses demanded that the pharaoh let the Hebrews go.

Naturally, the pharaoh was reluctant: any ruler would hesitate to permit the departure of his entire tax-paying population, and have to say to the people he had exempted from tax: "Sorry, everyone, but I have to not only reimpose the taxes I abolished for you, I have to double them." He could see himself having a remarkably short reign under such circumstances. So it was not until the Egyptians themselves clamoured for him to let the Hebrews go (and hopefully take the plagues with them) that the pharaoh could even consider letting them go.

So they went. But as they departed, they engaged in a little trading with the Egyptians - and cheated them. The angry populace demanded that pharaoh pursue the offenders and retrieve the lost treasures. The poor ruler, his life and legitimacy hanging by a thread, had no option but to do so. He never came back.

The socio-psychological process seems to have been quite simple in operation: the legitimate ruler of the land (insofar as he had been accepted following the demise of the previous legitimate ruler) issued a decree, and the officials of the land executed the decree. In everyone's mind would have been the fact that disobedience to the will of the pharaoh would have been countered by Egypt's numerous and capable soldiery. Until the final reign before the Exodus, the burdens borne by Hebrew and Egyptian alike were equal. The pharaoh was universally acknowledged as the legitimate authority. And, as mentioned above, what the Hebrews endured was the normal work and tax burden of an ordinary Egyptian subject, not slavery as such.

According to the Book of Genesis around 1800 B.C. a famine in Canaan forced many Hebrews to migrate to Egypt. There, they were eventually enslaved by the Pharohs and forced to labour for the Eygptians, until liberated by Moses who parted the Red Sea, and led the people out of bondage.

The process would be simple enough the state passes certain laws and minorty groups lose their rights and civil liberties. A process that was to be repeated in 20th century Europe which lead to the Holocaust.

Here's a good site on Egyptian slavery in general

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topi...

And a quote from that site references Hebrews...

"In many countries foreigners had few rights during ancient times, and their status was at times little better than that of slaves. In Egypt resident foreigners had rights, sometimes secured by bilateral international conventions. Their person and property were protected by law, though sometimes their kings had to intervene on their behalf [13]. Only in the case of their having fallen into captivity during a war could they be enslaved. It is unlikely for instance that the Hebrews after entering Egypt peacefully, would have been treated as slaves, but they would have been drafted like everybody else and set to work on public buildings at Per-Atom (the biblical Pithom)"

No one here should be writing your essay for you... but I believe this link might give you some of the answers you're looking for:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/270596/th...

i like you so much girl

They didn't.

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