Book Review — Capitalism and Slavery by Eric Williams

This morning, I finished reading “Capitalism and Slavery” by Eric Williams. Williams, the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, expanded the book from his doctoral dissertation, publishing it in 1944.

Capitalism and Slavery explores the intertwined histories of economic development, the transatlantic slave trade, and the rise of capitalism, with a particular focus on the British Empire and its dealings in the West Indies.

Williams begins by dissecting the transition from mercantilism to capitalism, arguing that the wealth accumulated from the slave trade was instrumental in fueling the Industrial Revolution. The book outlines how the labor of enslaved Africans on sugar, cotton, and tobacco plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas generated immense wealth for Britain, enabling it to dominate global trade and finance.

One of the key contributions of Capitalism and Slavery is its challenge to the traditional moral narrative surrounding the abolition of slavery. Williams argues that the abolitionist movement was driven less by humanitarian concerns and more by economic self-interest. He notes that while abolitionists criticized slavery in the British West Indies, they were complicit in its continuation in Brazil and other regions where it was economically advantageous. This hypocrisy, according…