Jefferson himself alluded to one of the best reasons why black slave labor supplanted white bondage: it was profitable. Slave offspring were property, whereas bond servants, if they survived, were eventually free, and their offspring, if any, during bondage, were not property of the master anyway.
See: Smithsonian Magazine, Henry Wiencek, "Unmasking Thomas Jefferson", October 2012, p. 40.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-dark-side-of-thomas-jefferson-35976004/
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-dark-side-of-thomas-jefferson-35976004/
As Jefferson himself pointed out, around 1800 or so, long after the Declaration of Independence, in correspondence cited in the article above, he was making 5% a year on his slaves...
As I recall, this was on top of their labor value to him, but maybe I am wrong about that, maybe that included labor value. Read the article to find out.
No comments:
Post a Comment