The Economic Consequences of the Atlantic Slave Trade

By (author) Barbara L. Solow Foreword by Dale Tomich

Publication date:

05 May 2016

Length of book:

150 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739194003

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. Solow argues that abolition of the slave trade and emancipation should be understood in this context.

Chapter 1: Capitalism and Slavery in the Exceedingly Long Run
Chapter 2: Slavery and Colonization
Chapter 3: Eric Williams and His Critics
Chapter 4: Why Columbus Failed: The New World without Slavery
Chapter 5: Caribbean Slavery and British Growth: The Eric Williams Hypothesis
Chapter 6: Marx, Slavery, and American Economic Growth
Chapter 7: The Transition to Plantation Slavery: The Case of the British West Indies

Solow’s book...will give students an interesting and useful introduction to examining major aspects of the history of slavery and the way it effected (and was affected by) its role in the world economy.