Slaver and capitalism are two distinguishable concepts that intrinsically correlate. Slavery as an institution fundamentally involved forced labor and other adversities meted upon slaves who were legally viewed as property. On the other hand, capitalism as a system regards an economic ideology based on private ownership with profits as the overall target. Despite the ubiquity regarding capitalism expressed in the belief that it entails structures that would benefit economies or societies, the system fundamentally propagates the tenets of slavery magnified by concerning impacts by increasing inequality and what it means for communities.
Slavery
Slavery, which basically meant bondage in offering work services, was a system with ancient origins whose premise magnifies inhumane afflictions upon slaves. According to Fudge (2018), slavery regards “a practice or institution that treats or recognizes some human beings as the legal property of others.” Slavery regards the state of subjection like that of a slave whereby the structure forbids quitting service for another person when treated as a property. The slaver made the enslaved individual perform specific tasks with the autonomy regarding the location of slaves lying dictated by the slaver. Fudge (2018) submits that slavery started way back with Africans and Europeans exchanging goods and services including people across the Mediterranean for a very long period. During such times, the enslaved individuals got such predicaments due to failing to adhere to set regulations in the law, having a debt to settle, or a community suffering military defeat leading to their capture. Therefore, slavery was voluntary or involuntary based on the contributing factors and the predicament of the slaves. Some individuals had fixed periods that they would spend as slaves with the end of the duration guaranteeing their freedom while others had to endure slavery for life. Therefore, the slavery has ancient origins with the practice magnifying how inhumane the system was to slaves.
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The association of people as property facilitated inhumanity exhibited by slavery as an institution with slaves undergoing tough conditions as they provided their services. According to Gordon-Reed (2018) slavery detailed the condition that a human being owned another as a slave who the law considered as property. Slaves legally lacked most rights that ordinary free persons held with some societies considering the slaves as movable property while others such as real estate regions subjected them to immobility. In some societies, slaves legally and socially lacked kin with prohibition for relatives to champion for their rights or seek vengeance for their slavery. Apart from most instances involving the slavery institution depriving slaves of their freedom of movement, many cases involved limitation on capacity of making personal choices with the main element being occupation moving to aspects like sexual partners. The offspring of slaves would equally join the system and serve the masters to their parents subject to designated jurisdictions for service provision. As a property, slaves did what the slaver commanded without question. Their existence significantly relied on their masters as they provided their services without expecting or receiving any returns. Although some cases involved settling debts. Therefore, the institution of slavery by propagating the concept of people as property led to an infringement of human rights with slaves enduring challenging conditions as they provided their services.
Forced slavery developed in America and lasted for centuries with Africans suffering ill fates from kidnapping and ferried to the country to endure exploitation as slaves. Transatlantic slavery began in the 17 th century with European settlers who had settled in North America using enslaved Africans for plentiful labor. They had poor Europeans as indentured servants while Africans provided incentives for mass production given they were a source of cheaper labor compared to others and came in plenty. The enslaved Africans worked on huge plantations of rice and tobacco, among other large-scale produce like cotton with their slavery moving to the 18 th century and gaining ground from North America to South America. The slaves’ predicament involved suffering starting from the point of capture in their native homes moving to their journey. The captors and purchasers (the sailors) placed the slaves in shackles and into ships that could not effectively accommodate the lot. Many died due to unsatisfactory ventilation systems and the crowding effect that facilitated widespread of diseases, especially communicable ones. Some starved preferring death over their predicament with the captors leashing lashes to prevent attempted revolts and suicidal attempts. The captors sold the captured individuals upon arrival on American soil with different individuals categorized according to qualities and the type of labor that best fits them. Therefore, unfortunate Africans bore the burden of transatlantic slavery, suffering ill fates due to their predicament.
The slaves initially suffered extensive adversity with most regions vastly using slaves, a fate that gradually changed with relaxation of measures. The law recognized slavery and recognized slaves as property to the slaver which made the institution prosper. Apart from offering services, forced labor, for no pay, slaves faced other adversities such as being treated as scam, poor eating provisions, lack of autonomy over personal choices such as operating region or who to establish a relationship. The slavers preferred the main focus for slaves to be work and low production or laxity when performing duties was met with heavy lashes or extreme rationing on food. Slaves endured shackles, canes, and in extreme cases being stripped naked and mauled for wrongdoing. Some slavers forced sexual relationships with their slaves, treating them as objects for sexual satisfaction as they would please. The terrible conditions facilitated many slaves attempt escapes or revolts whereby most witnessed miserable failure and the law ensured those involved witnessed stringent punitive measures. Gordon-Reed (2018) submits that between 1774 and 1804, almost all northern states abolished slavery recognizing the ills caused; however, the institution remained significant for the south. The author further submits that the U.S. Congress outlawed African slave trade in 1808 which eradicated transatlantic slavery. The changers magnify how slavery gradually changed due to relaxation policies influencing the institution
The change of heart concerning slavery led to further forces to alter the institution such as the abolitionist movement which culminated in the civil war. Despite the eradication of African slavery, the domestic case did not stop with owners of vast land for production sticking to taking advantage of cheap labor provided by slaves. However, the slaves became weary of their situation and heard of some of their compatriots gaining courage leading to revolts. The consideration led to many revolts with the situation causing an alarm with the resulting challenging environment leading to the abolishment movement. Vastly occupied by free Black people accompanied by like-minded White supporters, the abolitionist movement gained traction based on the belief that slaveholding was sinful while others believing slave-holding was regressive and inefficient from an economic standpoint. Abolitionists used their free state to assist those held in captivity to escape from their slavers in what became known as Underground Railroad (Gordon-Reed, 2018). Such practices facilitated the changing dynamics concerning slavery as an institution, especially for the North who later convinced the pro-slavery southerners concerning the oppressed determination to eradicate the system that sustained them. The President Abraham Lincoln expressed anti-slavery views upon election which culminated through the Civil War. During the Civil War, the central Union initial aim involved preserving the U.S. as a united nation with abolition becoming a later goal facilitated by the military situation as anti-slavery sentiments from the North became prevalent, mirrored by self-emancipation of many who escaped enslavement when Union troops swept the South. The beginning of the end of slavery in America was in 1862 when President Lincoln issued a preliminary emancipation proclamation that freed slaves within states in America (Gordon-Reed, 2018). Therefore, the civil war was the start of the end of slavery as an institution.
The Emancipation Proclamation did not official eradicate slavery in America; however, it was a starting point that led to later changes that facilitated the end of the institution. After the Civil War, America enacted the 13 th Amendment stating “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (Gordon-Reed, 2018). The 13 th Amendment was the official policy eradicating slavery in America. Despite the inception of the policy, the status for free Blacks remained precarious leading to challenging situations for the Reconstruction era. Other acts that sought to improve the 13 th Amendment in restoring rights for the slaves and completely freeing them of the pangs of bondage included the 14 th Amendment and 15 th Amendment (Gordon-Reed, 2018). The constitutional provisions lacked emphatic effects due to frequent total disregard which hurt the Black citizens who were the descendants of slavery. There was a change in Black participation in American politics; however, a new form of slavery developed through racist organizations in the rebirth of white supremacy. The African Americans bore the burden through acquiring lowly-paying jobs which their bosses would take advantage of their situation placing them through hard tasks with pay that did not match their input. They lacked incentives to earn means of production with many white supremacy viewing them as slaves. The situation led to the activism against racism and discrimination which was an aftermath of slavery, leading to the civil rights movement during the 1960s that achieved socio-political gains for Black Americans (Gordon-Reed, 2018). Despite the changing environment in the eradication of slavery, capitalism as a system facilitates adversities that propagate the tenets of slavery.
Capitalism
Capitalism regards a system of operation magnifying two fractions involving property-owners and those who offer their services in the form of labor for returns in wages. According to Zalizer (2021), capitalism is “an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit with central characteristics such as capital accumulation, competitive markets, a price system, private property and the recognition of property rights, voluntary exchange and wage labor.” The wealth owners in such structures have an advantage due to their endowments with their situation acting as an incentive towards influencing decisions. They control how the system operates through decision-making and investing facilitated by their production ability to earn returns in capital and financial markets. Zalizer (2021) submits that in the capitalist system, the competition within commodity and services markets determine their prices and how they would be distributed. The author further submits that the purest form of capitalism regards the lasses-faire capitalism, also known as free market, where there are no restrains for private individuals who determine investment areas, commodities and services to produce or sell, and the price level exchanged products. Such a system demonstrates operation lacking checks and controls. Therefore, capitalism as a system fundamentally facilitates two parties involving property-owners and laborers with the former being the privileged group in determining significant issues such as investment areas, prices, and what to provide.
The different forms of capitalism magnify contributions by different scholars such as Adam Smith and Karl Marx that developed the system from an economic, political, or sociological standpoint. In the 18 th century, Adam Smith fronted the ideology of classical capitalism expressed in his publication, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” where he suggested letting economic decisions to the framework of free play by trusting in the self-regulating market forces (Milanovic, 2019). The author further submits that many nations adopted the ideologies of Adam Smith following the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars that eradicated what was left regarding feudalism. Some witnessed policies in the adoption of classical capitalism include “free trade, sound money (the gold standard), balanced budgets, and minimum levels of poor relief” (Milanovic, 2019). Karl Marx proposed a revolutionary philosophy in response to classical capitalism in the 19 th century facilitated by industrial capitalism and the growth and development of the industrial system that led to miserable conditions for industrial workers (Zelizer, 2021). Therefore, contributions by Karl Marx and Adam Smith are examples of fronted ideologies that impacted capitalism as a system leading to different types; however, various elements remain integral to the structure.
Property, profits, and losses are significant attributes in capitalism due to their significant contributions to prosperity or failure of economies. Zelizer (2021) submits that private property rights are an integral aspect for capitalism whereby in most cases human beings claim ownership by mixing their labor efforts with unclaimed resources. Following ownership, the only legal means to transfer property includes voluntary exchange, providing another party gifts, inheritance, or re-acquisition of abandoned property. Zelizer (2021) suggests that private property in capitalist structures promote efficiency as the owner acquires incentives by extension of ownership to maximize on inherent value provided by their property. The more valuable the resource, the more trading power provided with property owners in a capitalist system being entitled to the value associated with his or her property. Capitalism posits that when a property lacks ownership leading to sharing by the general public facilitates the tragedy of the commons which can cause problems (Zelizer, 2021). The net result involves every person having incentives to extract value from resources without limits which may lead to deploring scarce resources that hurts conservation efforts or capability to reinvest. Another significant aspect for capitalism regards profits whereby property owners gain extra returns from operations (Zelizer, 2019). The author further suggests that such conditions facilitated reinvestment and acquiring value for provided output, thereby encouraging competition which benefits the economy. The rich history of economic structures mirroring capitalism and development through different eras conceptualized the contemporary capitalist structures and consideration of the mentioned components.
The inception of capitalism as a system is traceable in modern times from early Renaissance moving to other European nations and eventually the U.S. According to Milanovic (2019), there are antecedents of capitalism as a system during the ancient world; however, its modern form emerged during early Renaissance through agrarian capitalism and mercantilism. Merchants were the propagators of the system as they held capital and performed practices such as lending and renting to the small-scale industries using wage labor. Other practices included commodity and service exchange leading to commodity production that was the premise for capital growth from trade. Arabs extended the system by practices like bookkeeping which facilitated capitalist economic policies like banking and free trade (Milanovic, 2019). Such innovative practices became prominent in Europe facilitated by trade partners from various cities that acted as economic hubs. The European Middle Ages facilitated the growth and development of capitalism with the growth of the English cotton industry spearheading the process (Milanovc, 2019). The author further submits that in the first half of the 18 th century, England witnessed a transformation in the capitalist development which changed from commerce to industry. There was a steady accumulation of capital leading to practical accumulation of technological ideologies facilitating the Industrial Revolution (Milanovic, 2019). The conditions ushered modernity with globalization during modern times facilitating the integration of the system across many nations. According to Milanovic (2019), an assessment of the U.S. suggests the economy became predominantly capitalist in 1900. Currently, America has a mixed market although it is widely considered a democratic capitalist political-economic system (Zelizer, 2021). An in-depth assessment regarding capitalism in regions such as America communicate how the system fundamentally propagates the tenets of slavery.
Impact of Capitalism and Connection to Slavery
Those who support capitalism suggest the benefits such systems can have for economies; however, the real impact suggests the opposite. Proponents of capitalism such as Adam Smith argued for establishing the system under the pretext that free markets in goods and labor had the potential to benefit people (Milanovic, 2019). The author further states that such people believed such conditions would facilitate competition and the ability to invest money for profits would improve social welfare leading to general benefits for society. The system thereby expresses ubiquity by suggesting property-owners or those with means of production such as company owners will make profits facilitated by the system. The profits would therein provide more resources for sharing with workers leading to a theoretical improvement for everyone’s standard of living. The case of regions such as America depict an opposite case concerning the impact of capitalism. According to Roberts and Kwon (2017) the varieties of capitalism in the contemporary vastly industrialized economic systems such as America facilitated the high level of inequality in the country. The property owners earned huge profits and instead of sharing the proceeds with the economy, conceptualized other means to benefit themselves. The situation left many individuals lacking considerable levels of endowment with wealth in the hands of the few. The current situation in America involves high levels of income inequality with the majority suffering deplorable social welfare while the minority having high levels of endowments (Roberts and Kwon, 2017). Therefore, despite the idealness communicated through capitalism for economies and social settings by extinction, the real impact pinpoints the opposite by propagating income inequality.
Apart from inequality, capitalism facilitate other adverse impacts on social welfare through market failure, environmental damages, and excess levels of materialism. As demonstrated earlier, proceeds from capitalism in profits are not equitably distributed with wealth getting to the hands of a small percentage of the population at the expense of majority. According to Zelizer (2021), the intrinsic nature of capitalism such as inherited wealth and interest from assets further propagate the inequality and propensity to increase. Those with assets pass them to their children which maintains the status quo for those who lack. The earned value from assets leads to further purchases to create more wealth leading to a wealth multiplier effect at the expense of those without resources. Secondly, capitalist systems led to an urge for more success compared to others leading to the establishment of monopolies for the very successful firms magnifying market failure through incentives to set higher prices and offer quantity of goods at will; not guided by supply and demand (Zelizer, 2021). Such conditions hurt the common citizens by incurring high costs for acquiring specific goods and services. Thirdly, capitalism facilitates an eye for profits at the expense of the environment with minimal-to-no intervention by government (Zelizer, 2021). Such adversities of mass production for more returns propagate population through wastes and release of dangerous gases from industries to the atmosphere. The contemporary society is thereby suffering the adverse impacts of global warming. Lastly, the excess levels of materialism with an urge for more endowments facilitates further adversities on society with inhumane practices mirroring slavery.
The connection between capitalism and slavery regards the adverse impacts arising from the former structure propagating the tenets of slavery in inequality and the social welfare impacts for communities. Inequality fundamentally is a system that resembles slavery due to the negative impact entailing those with high levels of endowments against those who lack. The privileged influence decision-making due to their stature with their young ones attending good schools with high probability of landing a good job and inheriting property ownership. On the other hand, those without means of production live in deplorable conditions with low chances of improving their social welfare. The situation mirrors slavery whereby slaves lacked incentives for personal growth and development and their children equally did not have the opportunities to improve their social welfare. Furthermore, the adverse impacts of capitalism such as excess materialism facilitates crimes against humanity exercised by various international businesses, thereby establishing modern slavery (Stringer and Michailova, 2018). America currently appears like a two-country economy entailing the rich against the poor leading different lives. The rich have ideal structures such as schools providing incentives for further progress while the poor live in poor neighborhoods challenged by crime and poor health. The latter lack incentives for further development. Capitalism is the premise for such conditions that places a system that may not alter which magnifies how the system fundamentally propagates the tenets of slavery by increasing inequality and what it means for social welfare of societies.
Slavery and capitalism explicitly differ due to the former being the institution propagating forced and unpaid labor while the latter being an economic concept championing for private ownership and profits. The two are inherently similar based on the actual impacts of capitalism magnifying how the system propagates the ideals of slavery through income inequality and other adverse impacts and the negative impact on social welfare for societies. The situation opposes the ideal image capitalism professes to benefit society through increased competition and sharing of earned resources for the benefit of everyone.
References
Fudge, J. (2018). Slavery and unfree labour: The politics of naming, framing, and blaming. Labour, (82), 227.
Gordon-Reed, A. (2018). America's original sin: Slavery and the legacy of white supremacy. Foreign Aff. , 97 , 2.
Milanovic, B. (2019). Capitalism, alone: The future of the system that rules the world . Harvard University Press.
Roberts, A., & Kwon, R. (2017). Finance, inequality and the varieties of capitalism in post-industrial democracies. Socio-Economic Review , 15 (3), 511-538.
Stringer, C., & Michailova, S. (2018). Why modern slavery thrives in multinational corporations’ global value chains. Multinational Business Review, 26 (3), 194-206.
Zelizer, V. (2021). Circuits within capitalism. In The economic sociology of capitalism (pp. 289-322). Princeton University Press.
