- Joined
- Aug 12, 2011
- Location
- Elliott Bay
One of the calculations of the value of slaves in the U.S. in 1861 makes it second only to the land itself. The numbers don't really mean anything, but slaves were worth more than the entire U.S. merchant fleet, more than all the mines, and more than all the factories. For the moment we will assume this is accurate.
Emancipation removed this asset from private hands, but was this the great theft that it has been portrayed? The assets were still there, they just weren't under the absolute control of the slave holders. The holders could still employ workers whose labor would be used to turn a profit. It's not like emancipation killed off this labor source like the buildings of Atlanta and Richmond and the railroads were destroyed. If someone had invested thousands of dollars in cash in slaves before the war I can understand the loss of an asset, but most slaves were inherited in some way and not the product of an investment.
There is no question that the war and emancipation were nothing short of a revolution and imparted a negative economic impact to the South, but is it accurate to focus on this loss of assets?
Perhaps someone with economist training or who has read more about this can weigh in.
Emancipation removed this asset from private hands, but was this the great theft that it has been portrayed? The assets were still there, they just weren't under the absolute control of the slave holders. The holders could still employ workers whose labor would be used to turn a profit. It's not like emancipation killed off this labor source like the buildings of Atlanta and Richmond and the railroads were destroyed. If someone had invested thousands of dollars in cash in slaves before the war I can understand the loss of an asset, but most slaves were inherited in some way and not the product of an investment.
There is no question that the war and emancipation were nothing short of a revolution and imparted a negative economic impact to the South, but is it accurate to focus on this loss of assets?
Perhaps someone with economist training or who has read more about this can weigh in.
Bringing the