Friday, June 15, 2012
Atlantic Communities
There are several reasons that Atlantic communities continued to grow during the 18th century. One of the main reasons could be the economic prosperity that many benefited from during that time. Brazil discovered several precious items in its Minas Gerais, including diamonds and gold. In order to mine those items quickly, slave traders brought African slaves to Brazil and sold them to the mine owners. This would allow cheap labor to quickly mine and would mean a larger profit for the mine owners. In the Caribbean, sugar plantations were the main source of income for plantation owners. A large plantation in the Caribbean would have required around 150 slaves in addition to bondsmen that were brought over from Europe. Life on the plantation was harsh in general and working the plantations for sugar and other items like rum was very dangerous work. The life expectancy of a slave working the sugar plantations was about 7-8 years. This was good news for the slave traders who would constantly being slaves to the islands to be auctioned. Establishing trading posts along the Atlantic coasts of Africa and the Americas contributed for the growth in communities as well. Law and Mann pointed out that the creation of efficient commercial networks, however, fostered continuing demographic, social, and cultural exchanges that shaped not only the history of the community itself, but also that of the regions of the world connected by it (Law and Mann, 307). Many traders would marry local girls and begin having children. Those children would sometimes return to Europe for schooling but would return home to manage the family business. Those same traders would travel between their posts and the destinations of their cargo and would establish roots there as well. Slave labor and economic goods were extremely prosperous for all involved. Demand drove the supply on both ends of the spectrum. Demand for products, like sugar, in Europe increased the need for production which required more labor to meet those needs.
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I don't really think that "slave labor and economic goods were extremely prosperous for all involved." Leaving aside the losers in the trade which would have been a majority, I think that equating prosperity with wealth generated over bare subsistance is a mistake. The Atlantic economy was extractive and was sustained by force. It was extractive of raw materials in terms of minerals, food and labor both from the earth and from the African slaves and the European underclass who were the net losers in the global trade of the day. Communities built on extractive economies have bubble wealth, subject to booms and busts with external events. Thus, the international trade of Bristol, Brazil and the African coast on which the power of their elites rested, diminished after the collapse of the slave trade, although there would presumably have been an increase in domestic subsistance farming and local bartering exchanges tied to the relative improvement in the domestic standard of living of their respective underclasses. The external trade of Georgia, on which the power of its elites rested, diminished after its ability to use force to compel work from former slaves was impaired by abolition. Again, this decrease in external trade would have been outweighed by the relative improvement in the domestic standard of living of its former slaves, even though this wouldn't have a price tag. One doesn't pay oneself for working on a subsistance farm, nor can one put a price tag on leisure. But wouldn't one prefer to be a hunter gatherer and work 5 hours a week rather than be a slave on a sugar plantation working 20 hours a day 7 days a week, or even a cubicle dweller in a "good job" working 8 hours a day 5 days a week?
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with a point you made in your blog post. You claim that “Slave labor and economic goods were extremely prosperous for all involved”. When making this statement, did you take into account the well-being of the slaves? You point out yourself that the lifespan of an African slave was 7-8 years. These individuals were ripped away from their lives and families in Africa, against their will, and forced to work a harsh land for someone else’s profit. You are right in that there was much profit to be made, but there is an entire demographic of the population for which this business was not only unprofitable, it was downright devastating.
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