Economics of Slavery
by Steve Battaglia
University at Buffalo Honors Program
Slavery is a topic that has been discussed throughout history, from the time of ancient Rome all the way up to mid-19th century America. When people discuss slavery, they tend to discuss the social aspects of it; they focus on the moral correctness of one human being having ownership of another. But slavery goes much deeper than just a social and moral level, it goes all the way to the economy of the slave holding people. Slaves are used as an inexpensive source of labor to produce a product, whether it is through agriculture, or in more rare cases, skilled labor. These products that are produced by the slaves are then sold by the slaveholders to make a profit; a profit that is derived directly from the use of slave labor. Not only can profit be made through the use of slave labor but can also be made through the sale of slave labor. Slave holders must pay slave traders a premium in order the reap the benefits of slave labor. If the profit of a group of people is based upon something, it is said that the economy of these people is based upon the same thing. With this said, the mid-19th century South can then labeled as a slave-based economy, because the majority of its profits were based upon the use of slave labor.
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