The economic consequences of the Atlantic slave trade / Barbara L. Solow.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Solow, Barbara L. (Barbara Lewis), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slave trade--Africa--History.

Slave trade.

History.

Africa.

Slave trade--America--History.

America.

Slave trade--Europe--History.

Europe.

Physical Description:

xv, 141 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Maryland : Lexington Books, [2014]

Summary:

The Economic Consequences of the Atlantic Slave Trade shows how the West Indian slave/sugar/plantation complex, organized on capitalist principles of private property and profit-seeking, joined the Western hemisphere to the international trading system encompassing Europe, Africa, North America, and the Caribbean, and was an important determinant of the timing and pattern of the Industrial Revolution in England. The new industrial economy was no longer dependent on slavery for development, but rested instead on investment and innovation. Barbara L. Solow argues that abolition of the slave trade and emancipation should be understood in this context. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Capitalism and Slavery in the Exceedingly Long Run 1

Early Italian Colonization in the Mediterranean 2

Slavery and Colonialism 4

Transfer of the Sugar/Slave Complex to the Atlantic 6

Portugal and Spain in the Western Hemisphere 11

Caribbean Slavery and British Economic Growth: The Eric Williams Hypothesis 15

Chapter 2 Slavery and Colonization 25

Slavery Made the Atlantic Trading System 26

Colonization Where Land Is Abundant 35

Chapter 3 Eric Williams and His Critics 47

Chapter 4 Why Columbus Failed: The New World without Slavery 61

Spain's Failure to Profit from Columbus's Discoveries 62

Underlying Reasons for Failure 64

Other European Nations Struggle to Create Profitable Empires 65

Slavery and the Founding of American Empires 73

Chapter 5 Caribbean Slavery and British Growth 77

The Williams Hypothesis 79

Criticisms by Engerman and Thomas 82

Model of Williams Hypothesis 88

Implications of British Growth 90

Appendix 91

Chapter 6 Marx, Slavery, and American Economic Growth 97

Chapter 7 The Transition to Plantation Slavery: The Case of the British West Indies 111.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739192467

0739192469

OCLC:

870098212