re: 154 years ago today.

quote:

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It is difficult for me to believe that if profit margins fell in agriculture, that labor that was essentially free wouldn't be moved to other industries.

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The labor wasn't free - that's the point. You own the person, you're 100% responsible for feeding, clothing, housing, equipping, getting healthcare for.

And with the end of the middle passage, all slaves were produced domestically, mostly on larger holdings. So, now you've got slave babies and slave children. Who physically can't give you any work for at least 10 to 12 years and won't peak in productivity until 25 years or so. And you have to feed, clothe, house, provide medical care for, etc., until then.

Slavery as was practiced in the U.S. in the 19th Century was literally unsustainable and failing even as the war started. Period.