The Economics of Slavery in Colonial America

Slavery was a practice in many countries in the 17th and 18th centuries, but its effects in human history was unique to the United States. Many factors played a part in the existence of slavery in colonial America; the most noticeable was the effect that it had on the personal and financial growth of the people and the nation. Capitalism, individualism and racism were the utmost noticeable economic factors during this most controversial period in American history. Other factors, although less discussed throughout history, also contributed to the economic rise of early American economy, such as, plantationism and urbanization. Individually, these factors led to an enormous economic growth for the early American colonies, but collectively, it left a social gap that we are still trying to bridge today.

Capitalism has always been a double edge sword for this country. It began as the driving force in pushing along our economic growth, but in the South, it came at the price of creating a deification of the African society. It was implied, and enforced, that Africans were of a lesser class through the means in which they were "used" by the slave owners to promote their wealth and stature. The plantations competed amongst themselves in the growing free enterprise system to produce enough crops to promote the wealth and stature of the plantation owners.

In order to do this, the plantation owners needed workers, but if they had to pay workers reasonable wages, they could not yield a profit. Also, in the South, it was hard, grueling work in the hot sun and very few whites were willing to do the work, therefore, most plantation owners purchased slaves to work the land. The plantation owner gave the slaves shelter and a small food allowance of a peck of corn and four pounds of pork per week as a "salary." Thereby, the plantation owner "saved" his money to invest in more land, which of course required more slaves to continue to yield a larger profit. An economic cycle was created between plantation owner and slave, one that would take generations to end. Slaves were now a necessity on the larger plantations to work the fields. They were pieces of property that quickly transformed into required elements of plantation machinery. African slaves were regarded as a large, dependable, and permanent source of 'cheap labor' because slaves rarely ran away and when caught they were severely punished. The creation of the plantation system of farming and the ideals of an agrarian, were essential factors in maintaining the status quo of slavery.

Ironically, the New World was created to find political and religious freedom and escape oppression. It would later be built on the principal that "every man was created equal" and the ideas of personal worth and individualism. How strange then for such a society that encouraged and promoted such beliefs would contradicted itself by excluding the African slaves who were not considered equal to whites. They were considered the lowest of the low on the social ladder. The colonial society believed in providing the necessary means for personal growth and development, and yet limited and controlled the lives of slaves. Personal development and growth was not an option for slaves. They were unable to attain any personal wealth or economic growth, which left them "dehumanized" and limited in life they could lead. They were given no means to better themselves, and this was done so that the slaves had to remain dependent upon the slave owners for their survival. A dependency that left the slaves no chance of ever having the means to be able to sustain themselves off the plantations and farms. Therefore, the slaves had no other choice but to live in the shadows of their white owners under strict limitations and watchful eyes.

Perhaps the most profound factor, and the one most difficult to discuss in slavery, is racism. The concept of servitude is far older than that of colonial America. It probably reaches back before recorded time. The ideas of serf and king or indentured servant had all been around before the colonies were established; so, why was it so different in the Americas? The belief in white superiority and black inferiority was imposed upon the African slaves. With very few exceptions, all slaves were African and brought to America for the sole purpose of free labor and thereby all people with dark or black skin were labeled something less than human in comparison to the white population.

In America, Africans were put "out of bounds" of regular society because their place was racially defined and therefore, incurable. So, the South saw the slave as a burden and as if an ill for which there was no cured then masters had to devise a plan to control with this depraved part of the population. Slave owners believed that there were five steps in the character molding of a slave: 1) strict discipline, 2) a sense of self-inferiority, 3) a belief in master's superiority, 4) an acceptance master's ideals, and 5) a deep sense of their own dependency and hopelessness. Sometimes when the master believed they had the ideal slave, that slave was shown extra attention and given an education, but this was not a common occurrence. Most of the time, the slaves were exploited for the accumulation of the wealth of the whites. The Africans could escape slavery, but not their race and if ever caught they would be punished harshly.

The marriage between capitalism and agriculture influenced the social structure and economic power of the South. For a time tobacco and rice had been the staple crops for the majority of the South and slave ownership had not hit its fevered pitch. That was until the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney. The cotton gin was the invention that revitalized the growth of slavery and increased the production of cotton. The cotton gin increased the westward movement of plantations and farms from the Carolinas to Georgia and then southward to Mississippi and Texas towards more abundant and fertile land. Cotton growing was an extremely labor intensive cash crop and the demand for slaves increased to an insatiable levels. Colonial legislation passed laws that would give legal justification to slave ownership and thereby leading to the rapid growth of the African population in America.

The dye had been cast between the New World and old. The colonies harvested raw materials like cotton, tobacco, and other cash crops to send home to imperial countries like England. They in-turn would change the raw material into goods that would be sold back to the colonies. Slavery would be entrenched in the New World for well over 100 years. Even after the colonies broke free from their sovereign hold, the South would transfer its production of raw materials to the newly established factories in the North. This economic interdependency, either on the imperial countries or the industrialized North, allowed the South to build its' economic existence on the coattails of slavery.

Strangely enough, the urbanization and industrialization of early America became yet another underlying factor in the economics of slavery. Initially, Southern slave owners thought that the slaves were "too stupid" to understand the machinery, so they would not work well in urban areas. They were also believed to be "too careless" to use complex tools in the factories. As a result of this thinking, it impeded the growth of industrialization in the South and maintained the chains of slavery. The theory of, "why fix it if it is not broken" seem to be the consensus.

It was not until the Civil War, when the South faced with a mass manpower shortage and a rapid need for industrialization, that the whites had no choice except to swallow their pride and use slaves in their factories. Usually Southern factory owners did not buy slaves but hired them out from the slave owners. The reason behind this was that the factory owners did not have to pay or to oversee them outside the factory. In addition, the slave owners in the upper South found this favorable since then they could profit from the excess slaves rather than sell them. Southern factory owners actually preferred the slaves to the white men. The slaves did the same job as the white men and could be paid less, if they were paid at all.

Slaves were an economic positive but a social negative in history. They helped the economics of the country thrive and grow, but it was also a defamation of a race. Africans also had a history that they should have been proud to have. Instead, they were denied their heritage and were made to be ashamed of the people that they were. The development of slavery was the white slave owners' way to maintain control of the growing population of Africans, socially and industrially. If the slaves were confined to the fields of the plantations for supervision, the whites would remain dominant race and maintain their theory of "white supremacy." It also freed the slave owners from the worries of labor strikes and unemployment. It proved to be a strong economic advantage. One could state that the increasing economic growth of early America was due to the slave's labor. One could also state that the growth was due to the investments of the land and crops by the white slaveholders. Either way it is stated, it is true, slavery had a huge impact on the growth of a new and emerging nation, but it was also the defamation of a race.

Works Cited

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