Economics of Slavery
The Slave Dwelling Project
Now that I have the attention of the public by sleeping in extant slave dwellings, it is time to wake up and deliver the message that the people who lived [...]
Contributor: Joseph McGill
As horrendous as the enslavement of African people was in terms of how men, women and children were treated inhumanely, its role in stabilizing European (French, Spanish and English) settlements was based on it being a system of great economic advantage for whichever country utilized it. Building empires on the backs of the less powerful has roots throughout human history, but distinct differences emerged in the ways “New World” slavery not only defined bondage by color of skin, but also as a permanent status to assure keeping a multi-generational unpaid labor force. According to South Carolina historian, Walter Edgar, “Money/profit was at the root of the system.”