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Different from American Colonies that discusses the general colonial approaches of how various European powers conquered parts of America, Inhuman Bondage focuses on a specific aspect of the colonial life—slavery. These chapters provide the historical context and economic reasoning that the Atlantic Slavery System was able to thrive in the Americas. Moreover, Davis examines different models of slavery trade in North America and the Caribbean to demonstrate that the slavery system was operated differently in different American colonies.
In addition to commodity trading such as fur and tobacco, Europeans also captured their economic interests in slave trade. The Atlantic Slavery System exemplified an early form of international trade system that is based on international capital investment and regional comparative advantage. The successful slave trade resulted in low labor costs; so slave-produced goods had a distinct price advantage in the global market. Interestingly enough, under the principle of profit maximization, there should have been white slaves from the very beginning of international trade. Davis explains that the poor white Christians were protected due to their religious affiliations with the church, which have protected the poor from being taken as slaves. At the same time, sugar gradually became one of the most popular products consumed in Western societies, which resulted in transporting millions of Africans to the New World. Driven by economic interests, European colonists imported a large amount of African slaves to replace Native American labors. The colonists agreed that the productivity of one black was worth that of several Native Americans. Black slavery was indispensible to the rapid economic development in America.
Due to waves of African slaves being shipped to the New World, there were more frequent slave insurrections in the Caribbean because slaves often outnumbered whites as much as nine to one. The slaves from the Caribbean often engaged in negotiations with their masters and they managed to create an African-Caribbean culture. Unfortunately, their counterparts in North America would be outnumbered by whites and placed under their constant supervision and control. Nonetheless, within the North American region, there were also variations about the evolution of slavery. Slaves in the North were treated in a much more humane way than in the South. Slaves across different regions in North America have mastered different skillsets due to regional development. Compared to the slaves who lived on the Deep South farms, blacks in the North lived together with their masters. Consequently, there was far less racial segregation by residence in the mid18th century than in the early 21st century. Under supervision, the slaves could work alongside white farmers. Unlike in the Caribbean or Brazil, slaves did not have to transport privileged whites in sedan chairs. Moreover, during holy holidays, New Amsterdam blacks and whites dunk wine together and danced to African as well as Dutch music. There was also a kind of paternalism that existed in which masters supervised black life and give them advice. The great majority of Southern slaves were subjected to a harsh regimen of labor, and they had far less social and cultural autonomy in the colonial period than slaves in the North.
The history of slavery and detailed evolution in different parts of America was not new to me. However, it is interesting to think about the notion of “American free society” was made possible by black slave labors. No other society has been able to commit to a full set of contradictory ideas of oppression and liberty for decades. Without Atlantic Slave System, North America’s trade with the West Indies and export of Southern agricultural products would not have been possible. The American economic and political supremacy was created at the expenses of slavery despite its modern embodiment of freedom and liberty.