Slavery and Its Role in Capitalism, Essay Example

There are a lot of things in the past with a lot of historical significance and that historical significance is the reason some of the things that people have today can be enjoyed such as the invention of the Cotton Gin, the light bulb and printing press. These historical artifacts have given the people of the 21^st century, as it did for the people back in the days of old, things that have made them significantly profitable. Let it be known that there are some things about the past that wasn’t so good that has a significant impact on history, things like slavery for example.

Some people would argue that slavery was a necessary evil because it allowed the existence of things that enabled people of that time to enjoy some of the finer things in life, this is not a declaration in justifying slavery; slavery was wrong for all intents and purposes. There are some historians that would argue that people can get the things that they wanted back in those days without the use of slavery which could very well be true, slavery wasn’t a light issue that many could see the benefit in. Make no mistake, slavery had its purpose in the ‘universe’ at the time that it was prevalent and it has brought about many things.

During slavery, slave owners were ‘generals’ holding all of the monetary gain in the land as it was meant to be at that time but that was later changed when those who didn’t have any land at all were given land in which to live and grow things on. There’s no mistaking the fact that slavery was wrong and it dealt a great historical blow to generations at that time, people were distrusting of other people and slave owners pretty much had their work cut out for them trying to keep slave revolts to a minimum.

Ultimately, slavery and free labor were the law of the land and there wasn’t much in the way of trying to not take advantage of it for the simple fact that it was ubiquitous; slave owners never worried about not making a profit off something or someone.

Free labor was more profitable than slave labor for the simple fact that with slave labor, the slaves were working for a living wage and the slave owners capitalized on the slave’s hard work. The slave owners got their share of the profits, all though very small, they did profit from their slave’s hard work and the hard work was plentiful. However, the slave labor aspect started to decline after a while because slave labor was only contingent from the farming perspective and there wasn’t much else being taught or the slaves weren’t being shown anything new that the slave owners could benefit from.

It can be argued that because slave owners didn’t have to pay the slaves anything, they could pocket the money that they made off of their slaves’ hard work which was exactly what they did. According to Leigh (2014), “slave labor was entirely a concept at the time that gave slave owners power, but that power was limited when free labor became more profitable than slave labor” (Leigh, 2014). Slave labor was cheap to keep and maintain, that was the reason why it can be argued that slave labor was better. Most slave owners knew that slave labor would only benefit them if the slave was up to the task of serving them, slave labor was one aspect of history that never seemed unprofitable because the master and owners of the slaves always had a way of making a profit.

Williams’ analysis clearly states that African slavery was the reason why capitalism was such as possibility because Africans could withstand pretty much anything and there were some African slaves that were ‘born’ with the ability to read and write which allowed them to possibly better themselves as well as their families. Williams’ analysis also goes on to say that the role that African slaves played in slavery was crucial to slave labor being the profitable business that it was at that time. African slavery was the key to capitalism because the slave owners exploited the African slaves many talents especially those who had children by their master.

Free labor was better and played its role in capitalism in the aspect that slaves were being paid to not just work, but paid to learn something new so they could continue benefitting everyone who relied on their form of labor; it was as if slaves were being paid to give back. Slaves that were free felt like they had a choice as far as earning money to learn something new, a comparison of that is slave labor that doesn’t really pay slaves to pick cotton or entertain the master’s children with their own brand of amusement or those picked out for the master. Free labor was pretty much a slave being paid to learn several different ways to entertain not just the children, but entertain thousands of people as if they were going to put on a show.

Free labor from the perspective of the North meant that all slaves were paid for free labor because it had become apparent that cotton was no longer something that people could profit off of and were turning their attention to other aspects of things that were bringing in profit, sugar for example. Countries that were paying slaves to harvest their sugar cane as well as the actual grain, were taken care of. There were more people getting rich off of the free slave labor and even though most of the slaves were rented out for a price, the free labor trade allowed everyone including the slaves to benefit from the free labor; it was even said that free labor was just an extension of slave labor but the slaves were being paid to learn something that was going to benefit the entire economic backdrop of society at that time.

Free labor meant that slaves were paid a wage and they were treated better and more fairly than their southern brethren who were forced to work in the cotton fields for no living wage except free land to live on as well as being entitled to a meal, free labor also meant that many of the slaves could quit anytime they desire for any reason and since they were technically free then there was no retribution of corporal punishment of the south. However, everyone including slaves profited from free labor so they didn’t make it their life’s work to quit.

African slaves were preferred over Native American slaves because African slaves could endure more of the harsher punishments as well as the amount of diseases that were prevalent at that time, it can be argued that slave owners had to protect their investment was well as that of their investors; a slave was no good to an owner or master if they were dead. Native Americans were very susceptible to a lot of the diseases that were existed at that time not just because a cure was not invented yet but they were not as exposed to any and all forms of disease as African slaves were. It can also be argued that a lot of the African American slaves’ immunity to certain diseases can be tied to the idea that they encountered a lot of the same diseases in their hometown, village or country or that of a neighboring country. According to Ott (2014), “slave owners and masters of the plantations had a preference as far as who they wanted to serve them and their children, Native Americans were always on the bottom of the totem pole because of their inability to withstand the harsh realities of slavery (Ott, 2014). African slaves were bringing capital to their masters and slave owners because of the innate abilities and immunity to the different diseases at the time, Native American slaves’ lifespan ranged anywhere from birth to about 25 to 30 years of age.

Native American people’s efforts were still valued to the highest bidder, but they didn’t last very long in order to make that capitalist concept a reality; for them. Native Americans were used to harvesting their own food and being exposed to harsh temperatures of the land they lived upon because they always had shelter that they made for themselves. African American people had the experience and the exposure of working in extreme heat as well as foraging for their own food, they worked hard because they knew their survival depended on it so they were more than used to hard work. As previously stated, they were possibly exposed to some of the diseases in their country which built up their immunity to any diseases that they caught.

The comparison between Conrad’s work and Williams’ analysis of economic realities was Conrad’s work told of how certain native ‘recruits’ were given specific tasks to do with certain other aspects behind them, capitalism was at the forefront of their work which required them to work in the name of being prosperous. Williams’ analysis of economic reality was that the work that slaves did was at first, about making their owner and master rich, but later slaves who partook in free slave labor were pretty much the owners of their own capital.

Staple crop production was also the key to maintaining capitalism for the sake of all concerned because it wasn’t an unreal concept for people to grow their own food and be taught how to do so from other perspectives, the comparison also points out that the staple crop production wasn’t just important for selling and trade but it was also mandatory because people could eat the things that were born from the crops which kept them alive long enough to continue figuring out different ways to maximize their profits.

The moral ideals of Conrad’s work in comparison to Williams’ analysis was that even though some of the characters in Conrad’s work didn’t quite have any idea of what it took to build an empire, the characters in Conrad’s work wasn’t forced into slave labor for the good of making someone else rich; they were pretty much trying to establish a free slave labor concept. However, that compared to Williams’ analysis, Williams’ analysis was clearly all about trying establishing slave labor for the good of making the owners and masters rich, harsh punishments awaited those who either opposed the owners or told the masters that they were not going to work.

Ultimately, the comparison between Williams’ and Conrad’s is that both told of a struggle that was necessary to maintain a way of life that was evident at that time in history. There was little in the way of debate as far as what was necessary and what wasn’t.

Slavery in the agrarian culture was a necessity in order for the landowners at that point to survive, slavery was the biggest means of capital back in those days, there were landowners who were afraid of losing their means of capital so they sought to prevent that by capturing as many slaves as possible not to mention that a lot of the slaves in the agrarian society were central in helping landowners get the land that was the most profitable.

As the need for capitalist rose, merchants often found themselves increasing in number whereas the need for slavery wasn’t as needed to help make a profit or to help keep those earning capital. According to Wood, “the agrarian society was not its own separate “plane” of existence so to speak, it consisted of merchants who were selling a service in order to make a profit that would put them well about the normal profit margin” (Wood, 25, 1998).

Capitalism was a necessity in order for cities to flourish and prosper not to mention that many people relied on capitalism in the agrarian society in order to not just live but to make a life for themselves as well as their family. Different markets that were being exploited for different goods was central to the economic uprising in the different cities in which this took place, it can be argued that the agrarian society was all about making a profit off the land using the labor that was readily available which weren’t slaves or slavery.

Merchants were exploiting the concept of trade or a trade in order to get goods in exchange for other goods, it was the natural order of things. The merchants were, in a sense, slaves to the trade or to making trades so as to keep ongoing capital going, the merchants knew that the capitalism aspect was working wonders on the city.

It can be said that slavery was the way that capitalism came to exist, it is what made people work to get what they wanted or the wealth that they wanted; slavery was a requirement. It can also be said that slavery was a necessary evil in order for capitalism to exist.

In conclusion, slavery was a very ugly time in U.S. history and it can be said that aggression toward slavery still runs deep in the heart of slavery’s descendants. However, there are some that would say that despite the fact that slavery was evil, it was a necessary evil in order to live the capitalistic lifestyle that so many are accustomed to today.

Slave labor was of no benefit to those who were doing the work and their living wage was non-existent which caused problems for those who couldn’t do anything about it as far as taking care of their families. Even though slaves and their families were owned by their master, slave labor pretty much gave birth to capitalism which benefitted the owners as much as it did the master.

Free slave labor meant that everyone, slaves as well as owners, were benefitting from their labor because free slaves had everything that they wanted which was a decent living wage and to be treated fairly instead of being judged by the color of their skin. Free slave labor was the root cause of capitalism because the motivation behind it was all about people being treated like their efforts mattered, free slave labor also made African slaves and their descendants masters of their own destiny which was what they always wanted to be. It can be argued that slave labor and free slave labor did more damage than can be estimated, Williams’ analysis of the African slavery’s role in capitalism was absolute.

African slaves were able to be the founders of capitalism because of their ability to work hard at what they want which was all about independence and a life free of slavery, there was some slaves who partook in free slave labor, they were able to do great things for the economy as well which helped more than several thousand maintain both health and prosperity. Ironically, Conrad’s work tells its own story of how greed and capitalism can cause even good men to become different people just based on their desire to become their old master’s equal.

References

Leigh, D. (2014, July 8). Review of Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams. Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://lakefronthistorian.com/2014/07/08/review-of-capitalism-and-slavery-by-eric-williams/

Ott, J. (2014, April 9). Slaves: The Capital that Made Capitalism. Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.publicseminar.org/2014/04/slavery-the-capital-that-made-capitalism/#.VkOIevmrTIV

Wood, E. (1998). The Agrarian Origins of Capitalism. Monthly Review, 50(3), 25-25.