Summary Of Eric Williams: Capitalism And Slavery

The transatlantic slave trade or triangular trade was a trade system involving Britain, Europe, Africa, America and the West Indies. Goods such as firearms and alcohol were taken from Britain to Africa in exchange for slaves. The slaves were then taken to America and the West Indies where they were exchanged for rum and sugar for the voyage back to Britain. It can be argued that the key reason for the development of the British economy in the 18th century was its role in the slave trade, although there were many other factors involved such as the industrial revolution and the British Empire.

These slaves provided labor for European slave owners and led to the depletion of African societies as a whole. During the spice trade the Dutch and English as well as the French paid charters for private companies to establish trade post empires in the Indian Ocean. Although these were private companies, they were working for their respective countries and directly benefitted Europe through their involvement in the spice trade. Despite the Russian fur trade not directly

David N. Gellman is a professor of Early American History at DePauw University in Indiana and his written work focuses greatly on colonial America and emancipation in the United States. As an expert in Early American History, David N. Gellman gives us a strong background on the institution of slavery in New York in his book Emancipating New York and the road to the emancipation of African Americans in the state of the New York. David N. Gellman’s book Emancipating New York describes the process by which the state of New York abolished slavery with a combination of white opposition, black resistance and political changes. The abolition of slavery in New York was an effort of the above-mentioned sectors of society and government, all with differing views, interests and agendas.

During the slave trade Britain’s economics was thriving through all the imports and exports on trade. Planters, slave owners, stock holders on slaves, even banks made a profit. During this period, they helped the economy out a lot but times change.

In the book Alexander talks about how plantation owners decided to ship slaves directly from Africa rather than importing English-speaking slaves who were more likely to rebel. “These slaves would be far easier to control and far less likely to form alliances with poor whites.” (Alexander,2011, p.24). The author also talks about the status of African slaves and slavery. “By the mid-1770’s, the system of bond labor had been thoroughly transformed into a racial caste system predicated on slavery.

It is stated, “The first half of the eighteenth century…a period of increased purchasing power for laboring people…,” (Mintz, 118). It is this dependency of the English populace to a large influx of sugar which, in line with the supply-demand theory, lowers the price of sugar and makes it more affordable. Where there was not demand, the sugar trade effectively created one. Though not nutritionally beneficial, sugar became a proletarian commodity which helped sustain England’s labor force. However, the increasing dependency reinforced and propelled the enslavement of Africans for the cultivation of the sugar cane in the West Indies.

The Atlantic Slave Trade, this part of the history talk about of the demand for agricultural labor in the Atlantic world created a strong market for African slaves and led to a dramatic increase in the seventeenth century.

The introduction of slavery to the New World was an important aspect that shaped and influenced American culture to what it is today. The introduction of slaves set up the scene for white superiority and domination amongst American society. Slavery started in 1619, when Africans were brought from Africa over to the New World, through a transport system called the “Middle Passage”, to serve as free labor for tobacco production. African slaves became essential to tobacco production and the economy, as the Native Americans that were previously used as slaves, died off from smallpox and other European diseases. With no other option for free laborers, they looked to Africans.

From mid-15th century to the end of the 19th century, in order to provide labor, the western colonial countries took a large number of black people from Africa to American colonial plantations and mines. Since the slave trade was mainly carried out on both sides of the Atlantic, the western countries generally call it “the Atlantic slave trade”. Although it brought huge profits to the capitalists of Western Europe, it is the darkest period in African history. We can say that the slavery in the New World was absolutely dehumanizing, and it’s extremely cruel. It has caused billions of Africans lose their lives and has had a very serious impact on the development of Africa.

In an effort to discourage allyship, captains encouraged sailors to use force to control slaves which later bred the invention of race. All the while captains reaped the enormous benefits of the capitalist system that was the slave trade. While it’s history may be still be a bit of a mystery, Marcus Rediker shows us the massive social and economic aftermath of the slave

The transatlantic slave trade was a brutal and inhumane enterprise, where millions of Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas under brutal conditions (Bailyn 140). The conditions for enslaved Africans on English sugar plantations were often horrific, with harsh punishments and long working hours in hot and humid conditions (Fisher 47). Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the use of enslaved labor was a crucial factor in the success of the English colonies in the Caribbean. The use of slave labor allowed the English to cultivate crops such as sugar cane at a much lower cost, and thus gain a competitive advantage in the global market (Fisher 34). Without the labor of enslaved Africans, it is unlikely that the English would have been able to establish such profitable and successful sugar

The transition from indentured servitude to reliance on slave labor shows us one of the many changes inflicted upon the labor system in British North America as a result of the transatlantic

I. Slavery and the Empire A. Atlantic Trade 1. “Triangular Trade” a. Africa, Europe, America 2. Caused the racism 3. Central to world economy B. Africa and the Slave Trade 1. African elites sold their people to slavery.

In the Americas, the main exports were silver and cash crops, both of which required work that was terribly tedious and exhausting. This led to the overwhelming predominance of slavery in the Americas, since the Europeans were not willing to carry out the hard work themselves. When the Europeans found they lacked a workforce, the sought slaves elsewhere. While the people who were called slaves changed, the institution never did. The same mistreatment, torture, and horrible conditions were evident in American slavery until it was abolished centuries later.

"The slave trade actually prevented the coming into being of an agrarian revolution in Ghana, and likewise an industrial revolution. Because before you can industrialize you need to have stable agricultural production.” (“Slavery 's long effects on Africa”, para 6) Since during that time they got attacked to kidnap people and burn places they had nothing to start living. “The period between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries was a time of economic stagnation for Africa, which fell further and further behind the economic progress of Europe as the years passed by.” (“Riches & Misery: The Consequences of the Atlantic Slave Trade”, para 5)