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The Making of New World Slavery: From the Baroque to the Modern 1492-1800
At the time when European powers colonized the Americas, the institution of slavery had almost disappeared from Europe itself. Having overcome an institution widely regarded as oppressive, why did they sponsor the construction of racial slavery in their new colonies?
Robin Blackburn traces European doctrines of race and slavery from medieval times to the early modern epoch, and finds that the stigmatization of the ethno-religious Other was given a callous twist by a new culture of consumption, freed from an earlier moral economy.
The Making of New World Slavery argues that independent commerce, geared to burgeoning consumer markets, was the driving force behind the rise of plantation slavery. The baroque state sought—successfully—to batten on this commerce, and—unsuccessfully—to regulate slavery and race. Successive chapters of the book consider the deployment of slaves in the colonial possessions of the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Dutch, the English and the French. Each are shown to have contributed something to the eventual consolidation of racial slavery and to the plantation revolution of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is shown that plantation slavery emerged from the impulses of civil society rather than from the strategies of the individual states.
Robin Blackburn argues that the organization of slave plantations placed the West on a destructive path to modernity and that greatly preferable alternatives were both proposed and rejected. Finally he shows that the surge of Atlantic trade, premised on the killing toil of the plantations, made a decisive contribution to both the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the West.
Robin Blackburn traces European doctrines of race and slavery from medieval times to the early modern epoch, and finds that the stigmatization of the ethno-religious Other was given a callous twist by a new culture of consumption, freed from an earlier moral economy.
The Making of New World Slavery argues that independent commerce, geared to burgeoning consumer markets, was the driving force behind the rise of plantation slavery. The baroque state sought—successfully—to batten on this commerce, and—unsuccessfully—to regulate slavery and race. Successive chapters of the book consider the deployment of slaves in the colonial possessions of the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Dutch, the English and the French. Each are shown to have contributed something to the eventual consolidation of racial slavery and to the plantation revolution of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is shown that plantation slavery emerged from the impulses of civil society rather than from the strategies of the individual states.
Robin Blackburn argues that the organization of slave plantations placed the West on a destructive path to modernity and that greatly preferable alternatives were both proposed and rejected. Finally he shows that the surge of Atlantic trade, premised on the killing toil of the plantations, made a decisive contribution to both the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the West.
608 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 31, 2023
A detailed, comprehensive Marxist history of the rise of colonial slavery. It also discusses the debates about the role slavery played in the rise of industrial capitalism in northern Europe. It makes a very convincing argument in favour of the ‘Williams thesis’ from Capitalism & Slavery, which says slavery played a very big part in capitalism’s development.
This book probably deserves more than 3 stars. It’s a rigorous and often insightful work of scholarship. It rewards close reading but it’s also very dry, with an emphasis on recounting facts and figures (so many figures!) at the expense of narrative. It took me two months to finish it. An excellent reference book, but not a great option for those wanting an introduction to the topic.
This book probably deserves more than 3 stars. It’s a rigorous and often insightful work of scholarship. It rewards close reading but it’s also very dry, with an emphasis on recounting facts and figures (so many figures!) at the expense of narrative. It took me two months to finish it. An excellent reference book, but not a great option for those wanting an introduction to the topic.
“We have seen that the pace of capitalist industrialization in Britain was decisively advanced by its success in creating a regime of extended primitive accumulation and battening upon the super-exploitation of slaves in the Americas. Such a conclusion certainly does not imply that Britain followed some optimum path of accumulation in this period, or that this aspect of economic advance gave unambiguous benefits outside a privileged minority in the metropolis. Nor does our survey lead to the conclusion that New World slavery produced capitalism. What it does show is that exchanges with the slave plantations helped British capitalism to make a breakthrough to industrialism and global hegemony ahead of its rivals. It also shows that industrial capitalism boosted slavery. The advances of capitalism and industrialism nourished, in fateful combination, the demand for exotic produce and the capacity to meet this large-scale demand through the deployment of slave labour.”
December 30, 2024
This book is considered a classic on the subject of slavery in the Americas for good reason. Robin Blackburn presents a detailed, heavily researched account of slavery up the early decades of the Industrial Revolution, demonstrating clearly how slavery was a significant component of the rise of the capitalist system, and in the last chapter, demonstrates how the profits from slavery and the profits from the slave trade bootstrapped the Industrial Revolution.
That last demonstration is of crucial importance as much ink has been spelled by writers attempting to underplay, or even deny, the role of slavery in capitalism's rise to become the globally dominant form of economics. Denying the major role of slavery is either because of a desire to deny racism or a desire to present capitalism as some "pure" system outside repression.
Any realistic examination of either the rise of capitalism and the start of the Industrial Revolution or more specifically of the systems of New World slavery must draw obvious conclusions. This The Making of New World Slavery does. Given the unapologetic white supremacy and the accompanying censorship efforts ongoing in the United States, a book like this is a necessary corrective. Although there may be more detail at times than a reader might want, persevering through a lengthy read is well worth the effort.
That last demonstration is of crucial importance as much ink has been spelled by writers attempting to underplay, or even deny, the role of slavery in capitalism's rise to become the globally dominant form of economics. Denying the major role of slavery is either because of a desire to deny racism or a desire to present capitalism as some "pure" system outside repression.
Any realistic examination of either the rise of capitalism and the start of the Industrial Revolution or more specifically of the systems of New World slavery must draw obvious conclusions. This The Making of New World Slavery does. Given the unapologetic white supremacy and the accompanying censorship efforts ongoing in the United States, a book like this is a necessary corrective. Although there may be more detail at times than a reader might want, persevering through a lengthy read is well worth the effort.
December 18, 2020
A very dense socioeconomic history and I certainly can't/won't explain every point. In contrast to the rather elementary discussion of race and slavery often found today in the American media, this work depicts slavery as not evolving strictly on race-based lines initially. Instead, African slavery was slowly introduced to the European colonial system after previous labor supplies were exhausted: native populations dwindled, traditional white slaves (Eastern and Southern Europeans) and indentured servants became either newly freed or they refused to do the work any longer. Racial lines only hardened in the mid 1600s after two centuries plus of contact. During the Renaissance, new ideological mechanisms were invented to allow slavery while in the "Mercantalist age" of the 17-18th centuries, white servitude declined dramatically because of a number of factors. Finally, the demand for Atlantic trade products dramatically increased the shift to African slavery as the main colonial powers experimented with efficient plantation systems.
This work is about labor supply and the effect of plantation capital on the Atlantic system. Cultural impacts of maroon communities, social classes, female slaves' differing roles in different national economies after being taken from their homelands, and how creole cultures and languages adapted to the horrific conditions are all discussed. However, labor and markets are the main focus so that's what I'll briefly review.
First, through disease, overwork, and resistance, native populations proved inadequate as a labor supply to produce Blackburn's main product of interest: sugar, which Europeans had gotten a taste of from the Crusades on and struggled to find suitable locations to grow it for themselves when cut off from the Holy Land and the Eastern Mediterranean by the Ottoman conquests. There were too few of the natives left to enslave in the Caribbean islands where sugar grew best and where the natives were most numerous (in Mexico or Peru), sugar was least suitable, especially when silver could be mined and was even more valued (Peru).
White indentures were the next largest, initial labor supply. There was much hesitancy to bringing back enslavement especially when much of Western Europe had largely moved past it from the Middle Ages. Instead, white indentured labor was cheaper, often more expendable, and more available than the risky African trade. Since a Christian hierarchy was natural and acceptable and indentures willingly signed contracts, no Christian bonds were broken.
Economically, 4 whites could equal 2 blacks in terms of cost, work, and life expectancy, and because the white indentures were not slaves, moral dilemmas could be avoided, and the Africans wouldn't have to be converted to Christianity and treated potentially equally. Some plantations had an equal number of blacks and whites, occasionally with both working the fields on an equal basis. Even though African slaves were more expensive, they were preferred because of the superior work and survivability in tropical conditions. In terms of life expectancy, it's interesting to note how low that was in general in an era where most people lived and worked in brutal, quasi-Medieval conditions or that the average impressed galleyman/sailor up until the 18th century was about as likely to die on a ship from the conditions of overwork, disaster, malnutrition as a plantation slave.
Whereas another work "A Fistful of Shells" studies the impact of trade with African kingdoms for gold and precious metals on a fairly equal diplomatic basis, and slavery being introduced as a result of that connection, Blackburn focuses on the market economy in the Americas and how those slaves made their way particularly to the Caribbean to produce sugar. Commodities that the African kingdoms had (gold, ivory, and diamonds) or the spice trade that required the support of them along the route to India and China are minimized by Blackburn to focus on the capitalization of the plantation system and how sugar was desired above other colonial products like tobacco, rice, and indigo. Whereas in "A Fistful of Shells," European labor issues were alongside a desire for specie because of the Ottoman Empire's control of that trans-Saharan trade, in "The Making of New World Slavery," sugar was the deterministic factor and driving force behind the need for slave labor.
African slavery was not exclusively race-based until the transitional era of the late 16-17th century economies. As Blackburn states, many in Christian Europe hoped that the double-edged Noah Myth (that black Africans were the descendants of Noah's son Ham who was seen as human, but more sinful) would provide African allies, especially in Christian Ethiopia, against Muslim powers. The other side was that black Africans were naturally lesser because they came from Ham's sinful (black) line and thus worthy of enslavement. Dehumanizing them evolved over time as it conflicted with the notion that black Africans might be naturally sinful, but by descending from Noah, were still humans and not a commodity. The natural order of God's world was a very medieval/feudal notion that in one sense rejected slavery (especially of Christians), but also could be used to enslave non-Christians when labor needs gave added impetus.
Overall, this was a very thoughtful and important work. However, the last quarter or so of the book gets bogged down in economically-dense theory (traditional capitalist vs. Marxist comparisons), number jumbles of 18th century British colonial trade, and historiography. It is a good book to read in conjunction with "A Fistful of Shells" to see two economic views of the same horrific system.
This work is about labor supply and the effect of plantation capital on the Atlantic system. Cultural impacts of maroon communities, social classes, female slaves' differing roles in different national economies after being taken from their homelands, and how creole cultures and languages adapted to the horrific conditions are all discussed. However, labor and markets are the main focus so that's what I'll briefly review.
First, through disease, overwork, and resistance, native populations proved inadequate as a labor supply to produce Blackburn's main product of interest: sugar, which Europeans had gotten a taste of from the Crusades on and struggled to find suitable locations to grow it for themselves when cut off from the Holy Land and the Eastern Mediterranean by the Ottoman conquests. There were too few of the natives left to enslave in the Caribbean islands where sugar grew best and where the natives were most numerous (in Mexico or Peru), sugar was least suitable, especially when silver could be mined and was even more valued (Peru).
White indentures were the next largest, initial labor supply. There was much hesitancy to bringing back enslavement especially when much of Western Europe had largely moved past it from the Middle Ages. Instead, white indentured labor was cheaper, often more expendable, and more available than the risky African trade. Since a Christian hierarchy was natural and acceptable and indentures willingly signed contracts, no Christian bonds were broken.
Economically, 4 whites could equal 2 blacks in terms of cost, work, and life expectancy, and because the white indentures were not slaves, moral dilemmas could be avoided, and the Africans wouldn't have to be converted to Christianity and treated potentially equally. Some plantations had an equal number of blacks and whites, occasionally with both working the fields on an equal basis. Even though African slaves were more expensive, they were preferred because of the superior work and survivability in tropical conditions. In terms of life expectancy, it's interesting to note how low that was in general in an era where most people lived and worked in brutal, quasi-Medieval conditions or that the average impressed galleyman/sailor up until the 18th century was about as likely to die on a ship from the conditions of overwork, disaster, malnutrition as a plantation slave.
Whereas another work "A Fistful of Shells" studies the impact of trade with African kingdoms for gold and precious metals on a fairly equal diplomatic basis, and slavery being introduced as a result of that connection, Blackburn focuses on the market economy in the Americas and how those slaves made their way particularly to the Caribbean to produce sugar. Commodities that the African kingdoms had (gold, ivory, and diamonds) or the spice trade that required the support of them along the route to India and China are minimized by Blackburn to focus on the capitalization of the plantation system and how sugar was desired above other colonial products like tobacco, rice, and indigo. Whereas in "A Fistful of Shells," European labor issues were alongside a desire for specie because of the Ottoman Empire's control of that trans-Saharan trade, in "The Making of New World Slavery," sugar was the deterministic factor and driving force behind the need for slave labor.
African slavery was not exclusively race-based until the transitional era of the late 16-17th century economies. As Blackburn states, many in Christian Europe hoped that the double-edged Noah Myth (that black Africans were the descendants of Noah's son Ham who was seen as human, but more sinful) would provide African allies, especially in Christian Ethiopia, against Muslim powers. The other side was that black Africans were naturally lesser because they came from Ham's sinful (black) line and thus worthy of enslavement. Dehumanizing them evolved over time as it conflicted with the notion that black Africans might be naturally sinful, but by descending from Noah, were still humans and not a commodity. The natural order of God's world was a very medieval/feudal notion that in one sense rejected slavery (especially of Christians), but also could be used to enslave non-Christians when labor needs gave added impetus.
Overall, this was a very thoughtful and important work. However, the last quarter or so of the book gets bogged down in economically-dense theory (traditional capitalist vs. Marxist comparisons), number jumbles of 18th century British colonial trade, and historiography. It is a good book to read in conjunction with "A Fistful of Shells" to see two economic views of the same horrific system.
March 24, 2021
A powerful, Marxist analysis of how colonial slavery emerged, culminating in an investigation of the role it played in the development of British industrialization. My only gripe is that the cultural and human experience of slavery faded into the background as the book moved forward, as the author, unsurprisingly, focused on the material realities and pressures that led to the system's emergence. In the opening chapter, which focuses on the religious and philosophical justifications for slavery, Blackburn proved quiet capable of mixing cultural and material analysis, and I wish he'd kept it up for the rest of the book. Otherwise, a great introduction to an important subject.
June 2, 2011
Full disclosure, I am good friend of Robin's. Still, this book is has more information on the subject of world slavery than any other I've seen. It takes slavery out of the US only context and really shows how colonialism (mostly European) and slavery are united at the core. Also, has some heroes, like the Spanish missionaries who wrote back home complaining about treatment of the natives and imported slaves. Wonderful book, full of information, with persuasive interpretations, and a reach that few history books can hope to attain.
March 28, 2024
In depth marxist history of plantation history, explaining the development of slavery as a social with its origins in ancient societies and eventually being transformed into a form very specific to early capitalism - acting as a kind of crutch and spur for its particularly in England.
Highly recommend
Highly recommend
September 6, 2022
Very dry but awesome book. the chapter on slavery and capitalism, testing the Williams hypothesis, was great.
September 1, 2020
Phew! This was a slog! Blackburn's scholarship and thesis is persuasive; however, it's pretty needlessly dense, with too much exactitude and repitition. Style is bit of an issue, too. The tone is hyper-objective, to the point of it reading like a computerized algorithmically programmed voice. I learned much from this dense tome. (Psst. I skimmed the last 200 pages!) I would recommend this book to serious experts in the discipline and only to glean sources and tidbits from. I'm more informed now but exhausted.
January 31, 2018
I used this book to look at and study the history of slavery. The author has a theory and spends much of the book in pursuit of that theory. I ignored the theory and just focused on the history of chattel slavery that develops. So I skimmed a lot.
This is wordy and I think the author uses not complicated language but is more wordy than necesary.
This is wordy and I think the author uses not complicated language but is more wordy than necesary.
October 4, 2017
Very informative and the prose is very clear and concise. I love history books like this that are magisterial while still being accessible and accommodating enough where you don't need extensive background knowledge to follow along.
October 3, 2020
Extremely hedgy about its central argument about the linkages between the development of plantation slavery and modernity capitalism but provides a great big picture overview of the development of Atlantic slavery
August 29, 2008
It suffers from the vices that pervade many synthetic works in that its persuasiveness rises and falls depending on the strength of the underlying secondary sources. When it comes to Blackburn's interpretation of the British American Chesapeake and Low Country, the work is rather weak, relying as it does on the same old tired sources (i.e., Parker Rouse's 1971 biography of James Blair) that bedevil the field in general.
June 4, 2008
Huge! Comprehensive!
October 10, 2012
Good for what it is. Long winded. Dry. But worth it for the knowledge gained.
May 1, 2016
An impressive synthesis, but not as original in argument as I expected.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews