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The Fishers of Men: The Profits of the Slave Trade

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  • Thomas, Robert Paul
  • Bean, Richard Nelson

Abstract

Historians of slavery and the slave trade have often left us with the impression that the slave trade was fantastically profitable. The view that it was the profits from the slave trade which financed the British Industrial Revolution and the first industrialization of the United States appears to be gaining adherents. These interpretations seem plausible enough on the surface; indeed, the latter provides part of the historical foundation for the claim by black militants for reparations. Black slaves, whether shipped directly from Africa, or born in the New World into slavery, served their masters against their wills in return for the subsistence allowed them. Surely there was a substantial difference between the value of what they produced and the value of the consumption goods allotted to them to allow survival.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas, Robert Paul & Bean, Richard Nelson, 1974. "The Fishers of Men: The Profits of the Slave Trade," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(4), pages 885-914, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:34:y:1974:i:04:p:885-914_08
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Stephan Heblich & Stephen J. Redding & Hans-Joachim Voth, 2022. "Slavery and the British Industrial Revolution," NBER Working Papers 30451, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/687 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/684 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Daudin, Guillaume, 2004. "Profitability of Slave and Long-Distance Trading in Context: The Case of Eighteenth-Century France," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(1), pages 144-171, March.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/687 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Lueck, Dean & Miceli, Thomas J., 2007. "Property Law," Handbook of Law and Economics, in: A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), Handbook of Law and Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 183-257, Elsevier.
      • Dean Lueck & Thomas J. Miceli, 2004. "Property Law," Working papers 2004-04, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    7. Easaw, Joshy & Ghoshray, Atanu, 2023. "On the trend and variability of 18th century British Transatlantic slave prices," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2023/29, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/684 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Nogues, Julio, 2020. "Europa, el comercio de esclavos y el subdesarrollo de África [European slave trade and Africa's underdevelopment]," MPRA Paper 102398, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Robert C. Allen, 2003. "Progress and poverty in early modern Europe," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 56(3), pages 403-443, August.
    11. Guillaume Daudin, 2003. "Do Frontiers give of do frontiers take ? The case of intercontinental trade in France at the end of the Ancien Régime," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2003-03, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    12. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/687 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/684 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Dalton, John T. & Leung, Tin Cheuk, 2015. "Dispersion and distortions in the trans-Atlantic slave trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 412-425.
    15. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/687 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/684 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Guillaume Daudin, 2002. "The quality of slave trade investment in eighteenth century France," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2002-06, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).

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