Struggle To Abolish Slavery In Colonial America

In the lust of gold and ostentation, West Indians were often worked to death in labor intensive slavery. The moral obligation of religious leaders helped originate a fifty year struggle to emancipate Negros. 1830’s legislation would be passed to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire. At this time, the political economy was shifting to laisse fair policies spread by Adam Smith in the 18th century. Thomas Carlyle was a social critic against democracy and in favor of feudal system where certain men were born thrall to other men. His belief was people needed to be governed and free market capitalism left the world un-governed and no way to run an empire. In was in this context that Carlyle would coin the term, economics as the “dismal science”.
In quotes, “Black Quashee,” “up to the ears in pumpkins,” and “working about half an hour a day,” was a disgrace. He described the black man in the West Indies as “idle”. Carlyle’s description of laisse faire economics was letting men alone (Persky 167), but men required leadership and the white landowners knew best, and this idleness was the result, of laisse fair economics. People needed to accept their positions in life and the sooner we acknowledge this, the better off we would be. In Carle’s view the market would not encourage people to work but sell and people would grow lazy and idle if the labor market did not work for them. A strong leader recognizes this and needs to force the weak to work. The solution is a strong paternalism permitting this to take place. Democracy would allow the weak to partake in the political process and decision making where they should not otherwise be permitted to and for good reason (Persky
The despotism of the elite would certainly stunt the development of the weak, “have almost always hitherto used their strength to keep the others weak,” Mill wrote. This was the way of old laws and needed to be resisted at all cost. Instead of looking at Negroes negatively, Mill saw their idle time as a benefit of the market system not idleness as a result of Emancipation. Market forces had actually drove prices