“The capitalists had first encouraged West Indian slavery and then helped to destroy it. When British capitalism depended on the West Indies, they ignored slavery or defended it. When British capitalism found the West Indian monopoly a nuisance, they destroyed West Indian slavery as the first step in the destruction of West Indian monopoly.”

To understand the origins of modern capitalism it is essential to trace its roots back to slavery. This truth has been undeniably and irrefutably established by Dr. Eric Williams in Capitalism and Slavery, his PhD dissertation cum historical primer. Dr. Williams’ scholarly masterpiece substantiates that slavery in all its inhumanity, savagery and greed is ingrained fundamentally in the DNA of capitalism. The crux of Dr. Williams’ thesis is essentially that the enormous wealth generated by the European enslavement of Africans on plantations in the Caribbean, spawned an affluent mercantile class in England in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, who in turn used their vast capital to bankroll the industrial revolution thereby paving the way for modern capitalism. What I found most insightful in Capitalism and Slavery was Dr. Williams’ proposition that the demise of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the British West Indies did not come about due to the concerted moralistic efforts of abolitionists nor to the sudden dawning of conscience on the part of the British government about the barbarity of slavery, but rather it was wrought by purely economic imperatives in the early part of the 19^th century. In particular, the monopoly on slave-based cash-crop cultivation in the British Caribbean islands was no longer profitable by the late 18^th century, in the face of pervasive soil exhaustion (caused by the extended period of monoculture cultivation in the long colonized British islands) and stiff competition from the French and Spanish, on the larger Caribbean islands, that were vastly more profitable (by a factor of an order of magnitude or more). This dire economic situation was further compounded by the devastating loss of America as a colony in 1776. Out of desperation stemming from their waning economic fortunes, Britain first sought to abolition the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807, in order to cutoff the replenishment of the African slave labor supply of their European competitors. However, this failed to achieve the desired debilitating economic effect. As a result, by 1834, when it was abundantly clear that slavery in the British West Indies was untenable and would never make it a comeback to its glory days, and furthermore that it no longer served the economic interests of the metropolis that favored free trade, the British unceremoniously abolished slavery. Although Britain was the second European country to abolish slavery in 1834 (officially France was first in 1794, although it was later reinstated by Napoleon in 1802), it had no qualms, even in the late 19^th century, about consuming slave produced goods and commodities from Cuba, Brazil and the United States. This convincingly reveals the absence of any scruples on the part of the British with regards to ending slavery or the slave trade. In summary, Capitalism and Slavery is essential reading for student’s of Caribbean as well of modern economic history.

Thanks as always for stopping by! Please feel free to share your thoughts or reactions in a comment below. Also, if you would like to receive more updates about my writing please consider joining my newsletter mailing list by subscribing below.

Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano is a must read for anyone interested in understanding Latin America through the crucible of its history from European colonization until the present day. Galeano, without a doubt, has a socialist/communist bent, yet if you can overlook this ideological slant in his writing, you will reap the benefits of the profound insights and truth that he shares throughout this book. In short, Galeano argues that Latin America (and the Caribbean by extension) is the most exploited region in the world. It’s wealth and resources (material and human) have been and continue to be plundered by an oligarchy of colonial and neocolonial powers from the “North.” The region’s leaders have been manipulated and forced into perpetual servitude of these greedy foreign imperialist powers. Collectively this has led to a stunting of the region’s development tragically condemning most of its population to abject poverty. Through meticulous research, including sources dating back over five hundred years, Galeano builds his case meticulously and lays down a vicious indictment against the deleterious effects that capitalism, colonialism and imperialism have wrought in Latin America. From Potosi to Tenochtitlan, Buenos Aires to Port-au-Prince, Galeano highlights countless examples of the ruthless exploitation of the region and its people. At times, as he recounts these travesties of history, Open Veins of Latin America reads more like a long sorrowful lament than a masterful work of historical scholarship. This is underscored by the fiery, revolutionary rhetoric infused with emotionally charged, poetic prose which peppers the narrative. In summary, I highly recommend this book despite the fact that it might be polarizing for some. You will likely either hate or love this book depending on which side of the political spectrum you fall.

Have you read Open Veins of Latin America or another of Eduardo Galeano’s books or essays? What resonated most and least with you in his writing? Please feel free to share your thoughts in a comment below. Thanks as always for visiting my blog! Also, if you would like to receive more updates about my writing please consider joining my newsletter mailing list by subscribing below.