Slavery, Industrialization, and the Origins of Modern Consumer Culture
Industrialization was a pivotal moment in the creation of modern society. It can be considered a turning point for the modern world and the era that truly defined how the rest of the future of the world was going to play out. The Industrial Revolution introduced capitalism and mass production, which drive the current economy and have remained vital to the American, and global, infrastructure. This era of industrialized progress and prosperity began with the institution of slavery and the implementation of production within the major world powers, including Britain, France, and Spain. It later spread to countries all over the world, and eventually to the Americas in the twentieth century. This was a time when the world began to change, and societies began to transform. Urban cities became populated with families looking for work, and more businesses and industries began to develop. The working world was created and embedded within society. Through the introduction of machinery and mass production cultivated by slave labor, industrialization blossomed and created the modern world.
The Industrial Revolution occurred in the late eighteenth century and continued through to the mid-nineteenth century. The dates are not exact but are estimated to be about 1750 to 1850 (More, 2000, p. 2). In that hundred-year span, the world was engulfed by major changes that shaped the way that industries, economies, and the working world were structured. Britain was the hub of the major activity during this time, but the movement spread throughout Europe. Industrialization began with the introduction of machinery, particularly the steam engine. By 1830, the steam engine was widespread and railways were prominent in Europe (More, 2000, p. 2). Railways allowed the process of industrialization to speed up because it was now easier to transport goods, and workers, to more places in a faster amount of time. This meant that the products would reach their intended markets sooner and profits would be sent back to Britain in immediate time. The adaptation of machinery in the workplace allowed more goods to be produced by machinery instead of human hands. While the machines were doing the work that had previously been done by man, jobs were plentiful because of all the accompanying positions that could open up. The population began to increase, and more people experienced a growth in personal income (More, 2000, p. 1). This was revolutionary, because population increase had never been associated with growth of personal income before (More, 2000, p. 1). Part of this increase in income was due to the fact that many people did not need specific artisan and craft skills anymore to work for a living; machines did not require skilled labor and therefore anyone could become a factory worker (Morus, 1996, p. 408). The Industrial Revolution affected many different industries and allowed an increase in production for almost every job sector, from mining to crafting and glassworking (More, 2000, p. 3). The workplace itself faced many changes, including regulations and control within the factories and businesses (Morus, 1996, p. 407). Society therefore changed to adjust to the new type of working world that had been created.
When the Industrial Revolution began, agriculture was the main industry in many societies in Europe and the Americas. Many of the materials that became part of mass production were cultivated in other countries and then shipped as raw goods to factories, where they were processed for consumption. Since machines could now produce more items in a faster amount of time, consumer culture was born. Advertising and marketing became prominent during this time, and early advertisements showcase the importance that society placed on having material items. Machinery also ensured uniformity, which guaranteed that all of the products would be of the same quality and reputation (Morus, 1996, p. 407). “Slave-grown products” were considered exotic goods back in Europe, and people were buying them at increasing rates (Eltis & Engerman, 2000, p. 125). When people believed something was exotic, they wanted to purchase more of it at a time and keep a stock of it in their homes, prompting more of the product to be exported at once. People also began to focus on the idea of “exhibition,” and society became fixated on the idea of collecting and displaying things in order to display wealth or prominence (Morus, 1996, p. 419). Exhibitions were held all over the country, where items were put on display or purchased in large quantities. These exhibitions were also expanded to the United States, where people would flock in large numbers to get a glance at the exotic items that were available (Morus, 1996, p. 420). This was also a prime opportunity for early mass consumerist advertisers to attract customers and clientele, and modern marketing tactics were soon invented. People began to demand items such as sugar and tobacco in larger quantities, which called for an increase in labor for raw material collection. Britain in particular began to look increasingly more toward Africa to provide a solution for this.
The solution to the increase in demand for labor was found in the institution of slavery. Slavery quickly became the major source of labor and cultivation in the countries that were producing the agricultural products for the rest of the world. Britain profited immensely from bringing ships to the New World full of African slaves, who were sold to plantation owners across the Americas to perform forced labor on the farms. They paid little to nothing in regards to capturing, transporting, and maintaining the slaves, and plantation owners only paid to buy the slaves. Through forced labor, these plantation owners saved money on paying laborers and increased their own profit margins. This meant that the more slaves that were captured from Africa, the more there would be available to sell to plantation owners, who were having trouble keeping up with the demand and willing to purchase as many slaves as possible. The British sent African slaves to their colonies in the Caribbean, where the sugar plantations were, and what would become the United States, where cotton and tobacco plantations were. It is argued that slave-produced sugar was the most important British product in the implementation of industrialization (Eltis & Engerman, 2000, p. 125). This is likely because the surge in demand for sugar surpassed the demand for every other product. Since sugarcane can only be grown in specific areas and climates, Britain relied solely on slave labor to ensure that the work was getting done in order to meet demand. In addition to providing cheap labor on the plantations that produced the raw goods, slavery allowed industrialization to prosper through profit margins. Britain was able to use its profits from the slave trade and invest them into banks, streets, factories, canals, roadways, and other public developments (Eltis & Engerman, 2000, p. 125). Since these areas were becoming central to population growth, it was important that they were improved and modernized.
Industrialization relied heavily on slave labor to create modern consumer culture based on mass consumption and mass production. The Industrial Revolution changed the way that society worked, urbanizing many cities and creating hubs of industrial activity that would drive the economy forward. People began to demand products in larger quantities, increasing the demand for raw materials from the colonies. From this time on, people were transformed into consumers who were buying and selling goods to make a living, or working in factories producing those goods. The slave trade accounted for a significant amount of progress in regards to industrialization, because without the forced labor of slaves, the plantations would never have been able to keep up with demand while still making money. Slave profits drove the economy forward, and until there was a time when machines did enough work to make the institution of slavery obsolete, this was enough to help the Europeans succeed.
References
Eltis, D. & Engerman, S. L. (2000). The importance of slavery and the slave trade to
industrializing Britain. The Journal of Economic History, 60(1), pp. 123-144.
More, C. (2000). Understanding the Industrial Revolution. New York: Routledge, pp. 1-5.
Morus, I. R. (1996). Manufacturing nature: Science, technology, and Victorian consumer culture.
The British Journal for the History of Science, 29(4), pp. 403-434.
