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drewbutler 's review for:
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism
by Edward E. Baptist
“Free Labor Is The Cornerstone Of U.S. Economics”
- Killer Mike, ‘Reagan’
If you want to really understand The United States of America, really understand what makes this country the way it is, you need to read this book. Edward E. Baptist gives a comprehensive and unflinching look at slavery in the US, its economic motives and results, and how a country built its wealth and power on stolen labor and stolen human lives.
There’s so much to be said about this book, but I think at its core it is an unremitting indictment of the United States, and a case for reparations as good as any. Baptist focuses primarily on the economic scope of slavery, and shows how wealth and global political power were amassed through the forced labor of Africans brought against their will to America. It’s impossible to see what slavery did for America’s fortunes and global standing, see that North and South were both responsible for its growth, and not come to the conclusion that reparations are owed. Simply put, slavery is the reason that the United States is the country it is today- all of its economic might, from conception to current day, was built on the backs of slave labor. This is capitalism in its purest form, and it was the kind that the country tolerated and maintained for hundreds of years.
Beyond the sweeping economic ramifications, Baptist also focuses on the truly brutal and unrepentant dehumanization wrought upon slaves by their owners. Family separation was commonplace, methods of torture became more elaborate as the price of cotton rose, and it was all done without remorse, driven by the pursuit of profit. He takes time to demonstrate that even in other countries where slavery was legal, none went to the lengths that the United States did- it was truly in a league of its own in regards to the unyielding cruelty and evil.
However, I think the deepest and most searing focus of this book isn’t the focus on the methods and practices of the South-it’s that Northern states bankrolled this operation, and relied on it for their own wealth. For all the criticism they had for the institution of slavery, Northern creditors and investors were more than happy to monetarily support its expansion into new territory, and process the raw material of cotton to be sold overseas. With extensive data and research, Baptist shows that the entire country, rather than simply the South, was responsible for slavery, and all benefited from it. In contemporary recounts of the Civil War, little seems to be mentioned regarding Northern complicity in slavery, and instead the issue is presented as unique to the South, when in reality the North was financially tied to it. It’s a damning point that Baptist hammers home on many occasions, and truly reveals the stain that slavery left on the entire country.
This book will leave you sad and despairing at how deep the roots of slavery truly go, but hopefully angry enough to want to do something about it. In an era where truths like these are forcibly suppressed by those who wish to write over them, it’s vital to learn them and fight for those who have ceaselessly born their weight.
- Killer Mike, ‘Reagan’
If you want to really understand The United States of America, really understand what makes this country the way it is, you need to read this book. Edward E. Baptist gives a comprehensive and unflinching look at slavery in the US, its economic motives and results, and how a country built its wealth and power on stolen labor and stolen human lives.
There’s so much to be said about this book, but I think at its core it is an unremitting indictment of the United States, and a case for reparations as good as any. Baptist focuses primarily on the economic scope of slavery, and shows how wealth and global political power were amassed through the forced labor of Africans brought against their will to America. It’s impossible to see what slavery did for America’s fortunes and global standing, see that North and South were both responsible for its growth, and not come to the conclusion that reparations are owed. Simply put, slavery is the reason that the United States is the country it is today- all of its economic might, from conception to current day, was built on the backs of slave labor. This is capitalism in its purest form, and it was the kind that the country tolerated and maintained for hundreds of years.
Beyond the sweeping economic ramifications, Baptist also focuses on the truly brutal and unrepentant dehumanization wrought upon slaves by their owners. Family separation was commonplace, methods of torture became more elaborate as the price of cotton rose, and it was all done without remorse, driven by the pursuit of profit. He takes time to demonstrate that even in other countries where slavery was legal, none went to the lengths that the United States did- it was truly in a league of its own in regards to the unyielding cruelty and evil.
However, I think the deepest and most searing focus of this book isn’t the focus on the methods and practices of the South-it’s that Northern states bankrolled this operation, and relied on it for their own wealth. For all the criticism they had for the institution of slavery, Northern creditors and investors were more than happy to monetarily support its expansion into new territory, and process the raw material of cotton to be sold overseas. With extensive data and research, Baptist shows that the entire country, rather than simply the South, was responsible for slavery, and all benefited from it. In contemporary recounts of the Civil War, little seems to be mentioned regarding Northern complicity in slavery, and instead the issue is presented as unique to the South, when in reality the North was financially tied to it. It’s a damning point that Baptist hammers home on many occasions, and truly reveals the stain that slavery left on the entire country.
This book will leave you sad and despairing at how deep the roots of slavery truly go, but hopefully angry enough to want to do something about it. In an era where truths like these are forcibly suppressed by those who wish to write over them, it’s vital to learn them and fight for those who have ceaselessly born their weight.