Comments on: Slavery Part I – The Economics of Slavery http://www.ultimateminority.com/2009/10/29/slavery-part-i-the-economics-of-slavery/ Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform - Mark Twain Sun, 30 Oct 2011 05:21:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: DM http://www.ultimateminority.com/2009/10/29/slavery-part-i-the-economics-of-slavery/comment-page-1/#comment-48 DM Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:25:43 +0000 http://www.ultimateminority.com/?p=251#comment-48 It's an interesting case, the decline of slavery - one that I haven't studied all that much. But it seems that along with a shift in the general cultural norms, the rise in productivity due to expanding markets, more efficient methods of transportation, and production techniques would have been a major factor in the decline of slavery, as it is simple to make the economic case that a system of slave labor cannot compete with free markets and a system in which the worker is owner of his labor and exchanges it voluntarily with the employer. As I noted in the post, the state played a major role in supporting and perpetuating chattel slavery. It gets the credit for abolishing it, but this is a falsehood. As is always the case, the state is decades behind the people in changing norms. It was no longer socially acceptable decades before the state was forced to stop supporting it. It’s an interesting case, the decline of slavery – one that I haven’t studied all that much. But it seems that along with a shift in the general cultural norms, the rise in productivity due to expanding markets, more efficient methods of transportation, and production techniques would have been a major factor in the decline of slavery, as it is simple to make the economic case that a system of slave labor cannot compete with free markets and a system in which the worker is owner of his labor and exchanges it voluntarily with the employer.

As I noted in the post, the state played a major role in supporting and perpetuating chattel slavery. It gets the credit for abolishing it, but this is a falsehood. As is always the case, the state is decades behind the people in changing norms. It was no longer socially acceptable decades before the state was forced to stop supporting it.

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