Author: vannoyj

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The collection of essays in the book Slavery’s Capitalism: A New History of Economic Development edited by Sven Beckert and Seth Rockman provides a unique and captivating at the economics behind the Southern plantation slave trade system. The authors take on traditionally held views on the economics of slavery and provide new insight into an often complex system of trade and markets. The introduction provided real insight into the historiography of the subject and helped me, as a reader, understand the arguments within this historical research are that I was unfamiliar with. One absence in the historiography of the introduction was the lack of mention of Walter Johnson. Such a recent writing on the economics of the cotton south and the inclusion of the Mississippi river within the economic discussion falls into the historiography provided rather well. His Atlantic view of the world cotton market system meshes well with the philosophy of the writers in this book. I found it well organized as a book. The essays seemed to converse with each other, especially within the topical chapters that the editors organized them into. Like Michelle was able to make unique connections to the impact of recent foreign affairs and policies in Eli Gould’s book, so too did I learn to make unique connections to the complexity and intricate patterns of market valuation in regards to slavery in the south. The implications of slavery leading to market improvements in regards to delivery of goods and the market growth within the growth of the slave labor increase really stood out.
One way the connections were made was the discussion of hands in the first two essays. Each author looked at different impacts that the word “hand” had within the southern slave owning plantation economic system. In the first essay, author Edward Baptist focused on not just the economic effects of being a “hand” for slaves in the plantation system, he also discussed the psychological impact it could have. The loss of self within a slave’s system of identification. His argument of right hand and left hand in the power and resistance relationship was gripping. In the second essay, author Caitlin Rosenthal looked at the commodification of slavery and focused on the economics behind the system of “hands” that plantation owners used to discuss slaves as solely units of labor.
Another discussion that I found interesting also occurred in the essay by Baptist. The author posited that with the influx of cotton plantations came a new way of “pushing” slave labor. This was not an idea I had considered before. It has always been assumed in my mind that slave labor either varied from plantation owner to plantation owner both in degree of punishment and amount of work required. It never occurred to me that there was an implemented system of how overseers pushed their slave labor to work harder and harder and that this implementation was a clear shift in how they had overseen slave labor in the past.

The articles in this book are both fascinating and frustrating. As a non-numbers person what I really liked was the explanation of the economics that helped me understand the in depth system of marketing and strategy that went with the slave labor market

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In The Comanche Empire, Pekka Hämäläine provides a new perspective on imperialism in the Southwest and Plains of the United States. The Comanche Nation’s ability to adjust to changes, both politically and culturally, allowed them to not just survive, but thrive and eventually become a power to be reckoned with. The Comanche used strength and fear to essentially limit the ability of the Spanish government in their quest for territorial expansion. It is this power and ability to have the Spanish government change their tactics in dealing with the Comanche nation that lends credibility to Hämäläine’s claim of the Comanche being an Imperial power.
The ethnohistorical approach taken by Hämäläine in the research of this subject is fascinating. I was wary of his use of Atlantic history techniques but further reading showed that this technique is indeed valid. The way Hämäläine worked his documents gave him an ability to show the agency of the Comanche nation in their dealings with the Spanish, French and other Native American Nations. Hämäläine’s use of Spanish documents and letters written by settlers and missionaries helps in proving much of his claim. The Comanche were a forceful power that provoked anxiety among government officials.
I found myself intrigued by how Hämäläine went about proving his claims. Using the documentation from outside the Comanche Nation to prove his points strikes home. In researching pre-colonial and colonial period history, I am often striving to find just an ounce of documentation that may help provide information into my subject. By stepping out of the box in his research, Hämäläine gains the ability to step out of the box in his research style.
The breadth of area covered stood out to me. The mobility of the Comanche in striving to widen their territory really shocked me. The breadth of their empire and the ability to have other nations and territories maneuver around their area really embraces Hämäläine’s claim to a Comanche Imperial West.
The focus of the Spanish government also lends credibility to Hämäläine’s claim. That the government and missionaries took the time to mention their dealings with the Comanche time and again shows how powerful the Comanche Nation had become. What really struck me in the reading was the care taken by the New Mexico governor Tomás Vélez Cachupín. The care he took in explaining protocol to his successor speaks volumes in regards to the respect that the Comanche commanded.
I believe this new focus in history is exciting and makes me remember history classes in junior high and high school. The lack of Native Americans mentioned in my history books or the teacher’s lectures brings home how much this new research avenue is necessary.