The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism Paperback – October 25, 2016

And he makes a good argument that slavery would not have died if it ...

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Eric Anthony Koszyk

August 10, 2015

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Edward Baptist makes several strong arguments, some of which turn conventional wisdom on its head. Some of his arguments are difficult to read and go against our preferred versions of U.S.history.

He details how American slavery was one of the most productive economic institutions in world history and how the expansion of slavery made the U.S. into a modern industrial empire. He details how slavery, by use of torture and terrorism, increased productivity and made the cotton industry the biggest, most sustained, expansion of the economy in human history.

He makes the point that it wasn't just a Southern industry; indeed it benefitted the entire world -- from Northern banks, ship builders and industries that supported slavery (farm implements, whips, ropes, chains, etc) to the textile mills of Western Europe, especially Britain.

And he makes a good argument that slavery would not have died if it hadn't been for the Civil War. Indeed, from the founding of the nation, slavery had grown for 70 years at a rate unprecedented in human history. There's no evidence to suggest that such a profitable and productive industry would have ever died out on its own accord. He shows that the cotton industry was never as productive again, after it lost it's use of the whip.

Finally, he points out that the South brought about their own destruction. It was they that always pushed for more and more expansion of slavery (even contemplating taking over Cuba and all of Mexico!), which pushed Northerners into fearing for their own loss of political power. The Southern push for ever-growing slavery culminated in the creation of the new Republican Party, formed to not end slavery but to end it's expansion. The South then went to war in order to create its own government based on slavery. Thankfully, they were destroyed.

It's a very well written book that not only makes his arguments with well researched historical documents. He also adds powerful voice to the millions of men, women and children who suffered under the bondage of slavery.

132 people found this helpful

The "Peculiar Institution" At the Center of Our History

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Anne Mills

January 14, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a "must read" book for anyone who is interested in American history, which means anyone who is seriously interested in American politics. Baptist argues that slavery was at the center of the early expansion of the American economy, using both careful research and moving narratives of individual slaves.

Most writing about American history tends to focus on slavery, the "Peculiar Institution" of the ante-bellum South, as a regional issue whose political effects became critical, but whose national economic effects were limited. Baptist turns that view on its head, arguing that the economic effects of slavery dominated the national economy in the fifty years before the civil war. He documents this view with rigorous research, focussing on the fact that the amount of cotton produced by each slave rose sharply over the period, reaching levels that free labor could not match. Cotton became America's most important export, and, indirectly, the basis of much of the rest of the economy -- the South was a major market for the North, increasingly so as the South grew richer and richer. This led to the development of a financial system emerged that depended on the continued geographic expansion of slavery, which spilled over into the political sphere and came to dominate Southern priorities.

Baptist's book is carefully researched, solid economic history. But it is also a searing examination of how slavery worked in the cotton fields of the deep South. The rising productivity of slave labor was no accident; it was the result of torture, and the fear of more torture. It is painful to read much of what he writes about how slaves were treated -- punished, humiliated, separated from family -- and he doesn't mince words. For example, he refers to "slave labor camps" instead of "plantations", part of a shift in view that makes what happened stark and real.

25 people found this helpful

he echoes the call of black intellectuals like me for a re-examination of the language associated with ...

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Michelle Lamb Discher

February 10, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Baptist's work is significant if only because he carefully and dispassionately details the intricacies of the economic slave trade vis a vis the industries (including cotton) it made possible, the ubiquity of physical and sexual abuse and exploitation, the systematic and deliberate destruction of family, language and community. Moreover, he echoes the call of black intellectuals like me for a re-examination of the language associated with the trade. It's a dense, but vivid tome, and I learned a lot.

32 people found this helpful

A must-read book to better understand our "real" history

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Most recent customer reviews

CTF

A must-read book to better understand our "real" history, not the myths that have been taught in the schools for generations.

Published 7 days ago

Mr. 300

Commit to reading this book, the truth will set you free.......

A compelling and reverent account of slavery that will cause you to rethink everything you have ever learned.Read more

Published 14 days ago

Seeker

A different point of view

I’ve read several books on slavery in America but this one took me to a different place. How slavery built capitalism in this country, creating what still remains, an industrial...Read more

Published 18 days ago

Bill Gallagher

Slavery and Capitalism: Cotton Connected.

The Half Has Never Bern Told is definitely a book that challenges the typical view of the decades following Reconstruction regarding freedom and equality for African Americans.Read more

Published 19 days ago

Si Monk

It is one of the best books I have read in years

This is an uncommon book. The writing itself is magnificent, and is highly readable. Also, it never allowing you to distance yourself too much from the lives of the people in the...Read more

Published 22 days ago

Amazon Customer

Important information

Important information that we ordinarily do not realize is made easy to understand in this clearly written and cogent book. I've recommended it to my sons and friends.

Published 28 days ago

Pen Lover

It was sad and enlightening to learn so much of the little ...

It was sad and enlightening to learn so much of the little known facts of slavery kept hidden when I was a child in school and teachers taught that not all slaves were bad off...Read more

Economic Analysis Reveals How America's Wealth Was Built on Black Bodies

E. Kanell

Extraordinary level of detail, and historically stunning in its reach and meticulous buildup to significant conclusions. Will be on my reference shelf "forever."

Must reading for all Americans

Cate F.

This extensively researched and well written book should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand American history and prosperity.

A fantastic and amazing tome

B. Iruke

A fantastic and amazing tome. One of the best books written about the powerful impact of slavery and white supremacy.Read more