How Did Economics End The Slave Trade

Question 1

What did Adam Smith write and what kind of economy did it argue for?

Answer 1

. ‘Wealth of nations’ 1776
. Argues for a free market economy
. Endorsed anti slavery

Question 2

What economy did Smith think was the best and why?

Answer 2

. One where individuals could act freely without government interference
. Freedom created competition keeping prices low and product quality high

Question 3

Why did Smith say slavery was inefficient?

Answer 3

Slave owners had to purchase and maintain slaves year after year as they had a high mortality rate

Question 4

Why did Smith say it was cheaper if slavery was abolished?

Answer 4

. Cost of slaves could be avoided by switching to a wage labour economy and providing decent working conditions
. Cheaper to pay blacks a low wage and not provide them food, housing or clothing than to continually buying new slaves and providing for them

Question 5

Who was a fan of Smith’s theories?

Answer 5

Smith’s theories were promoted by the government, William Pitt was a fan

Question 6

Slavery and industrialisation

Answer 6

. Started off around the same time
. British cotton mills depended on cheap slave produced cotton from the New World
. Slavery did not equal industrialisation
. Portugal had a long time links to the trade but was one of the most backward economies

Question 7

Britain’s sugar consumption

Answer 7

. 4lbs in 1704, 18lbs in 1800, 90lbs in 1901 - a 22-fold increase to the point where Britons had the highest sugar intake in Europe
. Time with biggest increase is when slavery was abolished

Question 8

Slave cost rise

Answer 8

. Price of buying slaves in Arica reached £25 in 1800
. Price for selling slaves in the Americas had not risen as quickly, only £35

Question 9

Price for ‘new Negros’

Answer 9

Price paid for ‘new Negroes’ - those who had come directly from Africa - was lower than for those born in Jamaica.

Question 10

Men vs women and midwife cost of slaves

Answer 10

Men were usually sold for more than women, except for midwives, who could fetch between £150 and £200

Question 11

Cost of elderly slaves

Answer 11

Prices paid for the elderly varied from £5 to £40

Question 12

Technological advancements of plantations

Answer 12

. More manure to fertilise crops
. Advanced mills
. Better sugar cane types
. Mechanisation
. 1768 steam engine used to power a sugar mill in Jamaica
. Irrigation system
. Reservoirs, diversion dams, levees and canals

Question 13

Eric Williams

Answer 13

. PM of Trinidad and Tobago
. Wrote ‘Capitalism and slavery’
. Abolishon was economic not humanitarian

Question 14

Seymour Drescher

Answer 14

Slavery ended because of British opinion