Feb 23, 2005
Bury the Chains?
The book review media is right now filled with ethical comments about Adam Hochschild's new book on the British Anti-Slavery movement, Bury the Chains, including a lengthy one at HNN, reprinted from Tom's Despatch.
I made the following comment there:
"While I would not deprecate the efforts of the British Anti-Slavery movement, it is worth noting that it coincided with the rise of the contract labor movement using Indians and Chinese.
Slavery had supplanted indentured servitude of whites as better terms and costs rose. Likewise, the cost of slavery, as it rose, made contract labor more attractive.
How convenient that the economic and moral motives of those benefitting from such labor, now so nicely coincided!" The economic motives for keeping Slavery were dropping greatly.
I made the following comment there:
"While I would not deprecate the efforts of the British Anti-Slavery movement, it is worth noting that it coincided with the rise of the contract labor movement using Indians and Chinese.
Slavery had supplanted indentured servitude of whites as better terms and costs rose. Likewise, the cost of slavery, as it rose, made contract labor more attractive.
How convenient that the economic and moral motives of those benefitting from such labor, now so nicely coincided!" The economic motives for keeping Slavery were dropping greatly.