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>>17917614
The collapse in trade networks and the rise of Christianity as a political force during the early middle ages ended up eliminating most slavery in Western Europe.

The Black Death broke the back of serfdom in Western Europe —> Rise of the Middle Class —> Social Mobility —> Society turns into a meritocracy. The real great change was England between 1100 ad and 1500 ad where there was a miracle which took place of most the population going from being illiterate serfs to being freemen who were aspiring professionals. This broke down regional markets and created waves of medieval urbanisation which led to nation-wide economy and economic viability of widespread mechanisation.

There were Greek and Roman republics to imitate. The Printing Press made dissemination of information orders of magnitude more easy than it had previously been. Europe developed colleges which spread knowledge of science. Patent laws created a unique incentive to create and publicize economically useful technologies.

The combination of all of these produced the Scientific Revolution in 1500-1600s. Industrial revolution in the 1700-1800s was started by scientific achievements. You can make railroads in Rome if you now how and no slave labor cant even pretend they could compete with railroad. But Romans didn't know how, they had no science.