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-Short Attention Span Theater-

This book changed how I see Africa's past

2023-06-20

BLUF:
[GatesNotes] French also argues against the idea that labor by enslaved people from Africa made only a marginal contribution to the rise of the West. For example, he writes, "The value derived from the trade and ownership of slaves in America alone [was] greater than that of all of the country’s factories, railroads, and canals combined." And more generally: "Without Africa, and the slave plantation agriculture of the Caribbean that derived from it, there would never have been the kind of explosion of wealth that the West enjoyed ... nor such early or rapid industrialization."

Emphasis added.

About the author.

Posted by:Besoeker

#14 The guy is really an idiot, so vulnerable to propaganda.

Posted by: Spomonter Speaking for Boskone8031 2023-06-20 18:48

#13 The North benefited from southern slavery. The southern states were a big market for northern factRoy goods. When one of his cabinet members suggested letting the south go Lincoln said, "my god man who will pay our tarrifs?" The southern states provided about 80% of money that went to the government.

Posted by: Deacon Blues 2023-06-20 16:06

#12 Gates is a modern day robber baron, grasping for legitimacy.

Reality was/is that slavery is a sign of economic weakness. It only produces products where there is no value added, margins are razor thin, and slave work is replaced by beasts of burden or mechanized as soon as these options are available.

Come down south and compare the plantation homes to the mansions in the northeast.

Posted by: Regular joe 2023-06-20 14:19

#11 Plantation Complex Slavery, specifically developed for sugar production, was adopted by Europeans after its Introduction from N Africa to Southern Spain by the Moors.

Posted by: Jefe101 2023-06-20 14:09

#10 Yes, the South was quite wealthy in 1860. But then something happened that wiped out all their wealth and anything attributable to slave labor. By 1865 the South was desperately poor and would remain that way for some time. Any and all benefits of slave labor were destroyed.

Posted by: Tom 2023-06-20 13:35

#9 Gates attempting to do to journalism what he did to computer software.

Posted by: Abu Uluque 2023-06-20 13:02

#8 If this is all it takes to influence the oh so smart Bill Gates, he's just a face on a bowl of jelly.

Putting a smile on his next pillage into Africa? Get his own lab full of beagles?

Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-06-20 11:14

#7 All that stuffed in his mouth about turn of the 16th century Euro/Afro relations and doesn't mention the Ottoman Empire and its easier access to Africa, and the Islamic slave trading; Mali well known to produce gold and slaves and being unscrupulous as to who they traded with.

During this time period, it was Spain trying to keep pace with Portugal so the review stops right there. Portugal basically designed their age equivalent of the Apollo program, but without maps. Portugal was also buffered by Spain from the constant slave raids of the North Africans who accumulated so much wealth in the slave trade they purchased and alliance with The Ottoman Empire.

So he's got it all backwards, again.

Sugar, and cotton, being luxuries, as well as cinnamon, clove, and other Indian spices being driven by success at home harvesting and utilizing European resources, organization, and social drive.

And where it falls apart:

The value derived from the trade and ownership of slaves in America alone [was] greater than that of all of the country’s factories, railroads, and canals combined

Were slaves used to assist construction of railroads and canals, or were railroads and canals built to support slave breeding camps?

Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-06-20 11:11

#6 The industrial revolution began in the North before the war. It pretty much stayed in the North until it moved to China.

Posted by: Besoeker 2023-06-20 10:15

#5 The running joke is "Look at Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore and Washington DC (I'm sure you can name more) and tell me again who lost the war."

Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-06-20 09:44

#4 The South didn't recover economically will WW2.

Posted by: Procopius2k 2023-06-20 09:11

#3 Help me here. Who won the Civil War? The industrialized North? or the agricultural South?

Posted by: Slavising Unineting5672 2023-06-20 09:01

#2 Industrialisation occurred in Germany, which did not have much in the way of slaves

Posted by: Wheresing de Medici3077 2023-06-20 07:37

#1 An eye into what Bill Gates may see as relevant and factual. If you've not yet bought the book in paperback, you've still saved $17.96.

It is unknown if Gates will soon identify as black.

Posted by: Besoeker 2023-06-20 07:30

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