Prior to the People’s Revolt, as much as 30 percent of Andoran’s population consisted of slaves. Toiling away on nobles’ lands or in other servile pursuits, Andoran’s slaves occupied a vast majority of the nation’s jobs, contributing to a crippling unemployment rate and widespread poverty. With no other choice, many out-of-work citizens turned to banditry. The nobles responded harshly, erecting prison camps throughout the land where countless people were sent to toil away in mines or quarries. After a time, the prison camps became so profitable that the nobles began rounding up citizens who had committed no crimes but were merely unemployed, stating that such people would no doubt turn to banditry sooner or later.
After the People’s Revolt, one of the first acts of the new republican government was to empty all of the nation’s prisons and free all of the slaves, both of which had become powerful symbols of decadence, corruption, and tyranny. Slaves were granted citizenship. Prisoners were granted co-ownership over whatever mine or quarry they had been forced to work. Not only did this fulfill a sense of justice, but it was also a wise move on the part of the fledgling government, as it ensured that the resources would continue to yield the same productivity, as those who knew the trade most intimately were suddenly in charge of running it.
While some were satisfied with abolishing slavery within Andoran, many—particularly ex-slaves—raised their voices against the practice of slavery everywhere. The People’s Council voted and decreed that it was a criminal act for bankers to invest in foreign slave trades, including lending foreign slavers money or accepting their deposits. As such, economic ties with many nations were strained, and for a time those with Katapesh were severed completely.
Upon his appointment to office in 4704 ar, Supreme Elect Codwin I passed a motion in the People’s Council that made it legal for any Andoren ship to seize or sink any Katapeshi slave galley sailing the Inner Sea. The following year, the Gray Corsairs sank three such ships, marking the beginning of what some are calling the War Against Slavery.