Capitalism & slavery

Alternate Titles

• Capitalism and slavery.

Description

“Una sola idea” recorre este libro: La esclavitud es promovida y organizada por los europeos en el hemisferio occidental entre los siglos XVI y el XIX, no fue un hecho accidental en la historia económica moderna. No fue un fenómeno marginal, merecedor de oprobio y vergüenza, pero felizmente superado por la marcha triunfante del capitalismo y del régimen contractual del trabajo libre, que siempre parece caracterizar a las economías modernas. La esclavitud fue, antes bien, una pieza crucial en los primeros momentos de la formación del capitalismo mundial y del arranque de la acumulación en Gran Bretaña” y en la otra orilla del Atlántico. Traduciéndose como la propia historia de un mundo hecho global, tanto por la evolución del tráfico y el comercio, como por una larga secuencia de migraciones y diásporas masivas, pero también de deseos y luchas de libertad y emancipación.”

First Sentence

WHEN IN 1492 COLUMBUS, representing the Spanish monarchy, discovered the New World, he set in train the long and bitter international rivalry over colonial possessions for which, after four and a half centuries, no solution has yet been found.

Description

Slavery helped finance the Industrial Revolution in England. Plantation owners, shipbuilders, and merchants connected with the slave trade accumulated vast fortunes that established banks and heavy industry in Europe and expanded the reach of capitalism worldwide. Eric Williams advanced these powerful ideas in Capitalism and Slavery, published in 1944. Years ahead of its time, his profound critique became the foundation for studies of imperialism and economic development. Binding an economic view of history with strong moral argument, Williams's study of the role of slavery in financing the Industrial Revolution refuted traditional ideas of economic and moral progress and firmly established the centrality of the African slave trade in European economic development. He also showed that mature industrial capitalism in turn helped destroy the slave system. Establishing the exploitation of commercial capitalism and its link to racial attitudes, Williams employed a historicist vision that set the tone for future studies. In a new introduction, Colin Palmer assesses the lasting impact of Williams's groundbreaking work and analyzes the heated scholarly debates it generated when it first appeared.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Capitalism & slaveryUniversity of North Carolina Press1994-01-01
• Capitalism & slavery.University of North Carolina Press1944-01-01
• Capitalism and slavery.University of North Carolina Press1944-01-01
• Capitalism & slavery.Univ. of North Carolina Press1944-01-01
• Capitalism and SlaveryHardcoverRussell & Russell Pub1961-06-01
• Capitalism & slaveryAndre Deutsch1964-01-01