Introduction
The era of the slave trade remains a major historical milestone the world over. The unjustified atrocities committed against humans especially Africans remain a major reference issue in the modern contemporary world. Many viewed the slave trade as unavoidable for the industrial revolution largely touted to be the source of the current capital abundant in the west. Others consider the presence of capitalism to be the root of the slave trade as humans were in the earlier times viewed as factors of production similar to the current labor factor but different in the way of handling and respect for basic human rights, which characterize employment in the current day. This paper discusses these two views as displayed by different authors and offers a comprehensive comparison before endorsing the argument that it is capitalism, which led to the rise of the slave trade, and that the industrial revolution could not have been successful without the presence of slave trade.
Slave trade in the Atlantic occurred in the period between 1650 and 1850, a period of about 200 years. The consequences were remarkable.
The discovery of the “new world” by Christopher Columbus rallied Europeans to America. This was a disaster for indigenous people as well as Africans (Eric 198).
Contribution of slavery towards capitalism
The West African nations were most affected. They were the hotspots of the slave trade due to their vicinity to the west. A few influential Africans collaborated with westerners to get the able-bodied Africans from the interior African villages and ship them to the US and the UK. Men were the most affected due to their physical strength required to provide manual work. As Africa continued to lose a valuable workforce and African families were disintegrated, the “new world” was experiencing a completely different scenario. The shortage of manual labor was being solved. It became the wish of everyone investing to access labor from Africans since the indigenous populace was not adequate and very few were willing to migrate from continental Europe for purposes of offering labor in the US. Plantation agriculture was vibrant and required many laborers (Eric 200).
In Europe, slaves took part in operating the then common British cotton mills and other industries such as sugar. They were an extra source of capital, which offered extra profits to the British economy.
At the start, Portuguese seamen landed in Africa and shipped Africans to Europe. Prince Henry from Portugal once received ten Africans from the Guinea coast as a gift. Some Africans were even shipped to Europe to be sold as objects of curiosity. Much later, the port of Lagos in Portugal became the iconic port of trade in African slaves. A triangle trade between Europe, Africa, and The new world was established. In the US, the African slaves were first taken to supplement locals in the West Indies. With time, the trade became a flood. Portugal was the monopoly up to the sixteenth century, which saw the entrance of France and England. The number of people estimated to be shipped from Africa is in the range of 30 to 200 million (Eric 205).
An analysis of the demand for slaves shows that most of them were sold to capitalists in the western world in furtherance of their business objectives. It is well known that labor is an important and very crucial factor of production. Wages contribute a significant proportion of the costs of producing goods. A reduction in these costs leads to higher profitability for the firms.
This prompted the economic focus of the slave trade. Even before the slave trade, the relationship between Africa and Europe was economic. When demand for slaves increased in the new world and Europe, the slave trade became a full-blown profession. African rulers and military aristocracies started capturing slaves from the neighboring communities and selling them out. The aim was to become rich. Duarte Pacheco a Portuguese writer who visited Benin reported that communities in Africa were always in war as they sought to capture each other. The exercise became so rampant that many kings were able to build strong kingdoms and increase their capacity to capture and sell the slaves. This introduced some capitalist attributes to the African mind. Each kingdom wanted to capture more people from neighboring communities (Eric 215).
Most importantly, the west was able to accumulate capital. Using the very cheap and at times free labor, economies such as the UK could build banks to keep the extra profits and accumulate funds. Cotton farmers could produce cotton at very low prices. This means they were able to sell their produce at very competitive rates both in the local as well as international markets. Members involved in the slave trade founded banks such as Liverpool Heywood established in 1773. The merchants were making huge profits, which were large enough to establish financial institutions of such scale. This is evidence that profits from slavery were a significant source of industrialization.
The development of colonies and the capitalist transformation of the agricultural sector established a new form of slavery even within Africa, which could be exploited through cheap labor. Even more important is the fact that the displaced people were now available and willing to travel to England to offer labor voluntarily. Immigrants would be mad to work for plantations for at least five years before securing their freedom. Servants were slowly replaced by cheaper slaves.
Karl Max, a well-known sociologist argued that capital accumulation necessitated surplus value in the form of high profits. The surplus value on the other hand indicates the presence of a capitalist system of economy. Again, the capitalist system means the existence of powers of labor and capital in the economy. Therefore, he termed the accumulation in capital resulting from the exploitation of slaves as primitive accumulation. This accumulation was not only possible at the beginning of capitalism but was primitive in the sense that it overlooked the power of labor to compete for returns. The free or extensively cheap labor meant that almost all returns to factors of production were transferred to the capital. The effect is an abnormal hence ‘primitive’ accumulation of capital (Robert 205).
As can be seen, the slave trade had a significant contribution to the industrial revolution, which transformed western economies and gave them a strong footing towards growth into what is the modern West. It is the ‘primitive accumulation, which gave undue advantage to western nations to be able to accumulate wealth and build financial institutions as well as gain sizeable investments in the process.
This view has however been disputed over time mostly by European Authors who give little credit to the value of slaves in building Western economies. They argue that the industrial revolution would still have occurred even without the input of the millions of slaves who offered cheap labor. They claim that the transatlantic trade did not result in more than two percent of the respective economy’s GNP. In addition, the total export goods recorded in 1800 could not be the most significant supporter of the economic activities witnessed in the industrial revolution era (Robert, 209).
In Britain, historians claim that the 17th and 18th centuries saw foreign trade with Africa amount to just over 2.5% of per capita export and that profit was not any big. To them, the slave trade was done on a very small scale. They also argue that a large number of companies, which emerged during the industrial revolution, were not involved in the Atlantic trade. They were engaged in local agriculture and incorporated professions. These views are however flawed. The measurements used cannot be accurate. Certain evidence proves otherwise. Population in the British Caribbean islands was dominantly black. This area produced large amounts of agricultural production. In other areas like Northeast Brazil, African populations were sizeable. A clear understanding of the process of industrialization clarifies the issue (Robin Par 14).
Industrialization represents the movement from agricultural-based economies to the upsurge of industries for value addition. The agricultural background is the base for growth in industries. It provides the raw materials for use in the production of final goods. It also provides the incomes for locals to use in purchasing industrial goods. More importantly, it provides the capital to be used in setting up the industrial plants. Considering these, the roles of slaves cannot be over-emphasized. They provided cheap labor for the plantations. Despite the low wages, they still consumed a sizeable proportion of the industrial output. In addition, the newly set up industries required a large number of unskilled laborers, which they offered. Truly, the labor and production elements fully supported by slaves ensured the realization of the industrial revolution (Obadina Par 3).
Capitalism as a source of slavery
The argument that the presence of capitalism was the root of the slave trade can only be agreed to part. This is because some elements of communism point to biasness towards slavery. Full ownership of all factors of production by governments instead of the private sector required that the work conditions were dictated by the government. No one is supposed to own any means of production just like in the case of slaves (Robert p 207).
However, the capitalist ideals may have indeed fueled slavery. The main aim of capitalists is to generate the highest returns for the factors of production they apply. Capital gives a return in the form of interest. Labor on the other hand gives returns in the form of wages. More importantly, the return to capital goes back to the entrepreneur while the return to labor goes to the worker. In a case where labor is abundant or cheap, return to capital is very high and vice versa. Therefore, in a bid to maximize their returns, entrepreneurs seek to obtain the cheapest labor possible. This ensures that the returns from engaging in productive activities largely fall on the capital side rather than the labor side (Robin Par. 6).
These facts led to the creation of demand for slaves by the western entrepreneurs. The demand was so high as to make the trade-in slaves a full-time engagement for merchants. Again, there was the preference of the stronger male slaves by the entrepreneurs. This ensured the optimal utilization of slaves. A smaller number of strong slaves were better than a large number of weak slaves.
Indeed the interplay of capitalist profit motive contributed largely to the growth of slavery. The atrocities meted towards African slaves both in America and Europe continue to be a subject of debate. Many feel the abuse of human rights and the torture underwent through the slave trade era deserve adequate recognition. The insistence by European historians that slavery was not a significant contributor only worsens the problem. The fact that the largest percentage of slaves was blacked brings in the racism twist to slavery (Obadina Par 4-6).
Conclusion
The debate develops tension between blacks and whites. Refusal to recognize the contribution of the blacks in the ‘industrial revolution’ is seen as a way to belittle the black race. The acknowledgment of the role of slaves in developing the modern world is a fundamental step in appreciating the black race. The facts drive to the belief that without the black skin, the industrial revolution would never have occurred or would have taken much longer to be accomplished. Technology alone could not have resulted in the immense accumulation of wealth and capital in the scales witnessed. The facts about capitalism only serve to reaffirm the position. The need for cheap labor and high capital return is a reasonable reason for the proliferation of the slave trade. The high capital accumulation must have resulted from the high returns from capital generated by the use of cheap labor. These two arguments reinforce the important roles played by slaves in fueling the industrial revolution.
Works Cited
Eric, R. Europe and the People Without History. University of California Press, 1978. pp. 195-231
Obadina T., Slave trade: a root of contemporary African Crisis. 2000. Web.
Robert, C. The Marx-Engels Reader, 2nd ed. Norton. 1978. pp. 203-217
Robin, B. The Making of New World Slavery: from the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800. 1998. Web.