Slavery as an institution takes various forms and it spans numerous centuries. The compatibility of slavery with different economic systems is evident from a simple analysis of the existing economic systems. The narrative of rise and fall of slavery have been used to depict the development of the modern capitalism. By looking at various aspects of a capitalist economy, it is apparent that slavery has major contributions to the success of the modern capitalists. Great differences in economic power, competitive ability, production efficiency, cultural orientation, and political powers exist between the capitalists and the wage earners. Karl Marx described a capitalist economy as a system in which some individuals control major resources in the economy. From the Marxist viewpoint, the capitalists and wage earners are always at conflicts because each has their interests that they wish to meet at the expense of the other. Capitalists exploit and enslave the wage earners to increase the profitability of their business. On the other hand, the slaves are fighting for fair wages and favorable working conditions. Thus, an analysis of slavery’s rise and fall can be very useful in the understanding of the rise of the modern capitalism.
The modern capitalism is characterized by an economic system in which few individuals own and manage the resource of the entire economy. In this type of economic c system, slavery is evident in different aspects of the economy. Unfavorable competitions and cultural differences are some of the traces of slavery that are manifested in the modern capitalism (Schermerhorn, 2015). The capitalists of today owe a great part of their success to the slavery. There are huge disparities among the economies that use or have used slave labor and those that use free labor. The owners of reputable industries and plantations in the western economies are representatives of the renowned capitalist whose success has root in slavery (Schermerhorn, 2015). Thus, the exploitation of some individuals with low social and political powers has contributed significantly to the rise of the modern capitalism.
The production of sugar in the European plantations is one of the examples of how slavery has promoted the rise of capitalism. Capitalists used slaves as their property. Some banks like the Canal Bank took slaves from the capitalists as collaterals to the loans issued to these capitalists (Justin, 2011). Additionally, racism is an element of slavery that is manifested in market competitions between the whites and the blacks. Most of the whites particularly in America are indigenous while the blacks are immigrants. Furthermore, the blacks constitute a significant part of the enslaved because they worked for the whites. As such, competition for resources was not favorable between the two races.
The rise of capitalism can also be traced from the political systems in different economies. Individuals with political and social powers are the elites, who amass significant economic resources due their political positions. The elitism in these people enables them to rise above the ruled in terms of the amount of economic resources they control. Additionally, individuals with economic power have the opportunity to travel and acquire business ideas. For example, the development of the tourist sector came up as a result of people moving to explore places with tourist attractions (Richards, 2005). However, such idea could not emerge among the slaves since they were always busy working for their employers who are the capitalist.
Richards (2005) found that the high rate of attack by different epidemics as well as illiteracy among the slaves could not allow them to develop business ideas. The little wages paid to slaves could only enable them to sustain themselves and their families and not to compete with the capitalists. Additionally, the slaves were not civilized and culturally oriented. As such, they lacked the opportunities to participate in cultural events that exposed the capitalist to business opportunities. However, the capitalists would not have the opportunities to travel or take part in cultural events without the assistance of slaves. Additionally, the production of cheap commodities that compete well in the markets could not be possible without the cheap labor provided by the availability of slavery. For example, the production of sugar in the Barbadian plantations could not take place efficiently without the cheap labor from the African slaves (Justin, 2011). Therefore, slavery has played a contributory role in the emergence of the modern capitalism. The control of resources, which is the foundation of the modern capitalism results from differences in power between individuals within the economy. People with high political powers are able to amass economic resources, which they use to enslave the poor. Thus, a capitalist economy can be seen as an economy owned and controlled by few individuals who succeed through the efforts of other people with less power.
References
Justin, R. (2011). Uncertain Business: A case study of Barbadian Plantation Management. Slavery and Abolition, 32(2), 247-268.
Richards, S. L. (2005). What Is to Be Remembered?: Tourism to Ghana's Slave Castle-Dungeons. Theatre Journal, 57(4), 617-637.
Schermerhorn, J. L. (2015). The business of slavery and the rise of American capitalism, 1815--1860. United States: Yale University Press
