Capitalism and Antislavery - (British Mobilization in Comparative Perspective) by Seymour Drescher (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Three hundred years ago Britain was what she is again, a mid-sized island off the coast of Eurasia. Between then and now she became the centre of a world economy. And just midway upon this imperial passage the people of the Empire, free Britons and colonial slaves, secured the destruction of slavery and hastened its demise throughout the world. Those who were part of Britain's Atlantic economy but free of direct economic dependency were the most effective agents in that process. The great novelty of this process therefore lay in the fact that for the first time in history the nonslave masses, including working men and women, played a direct and decisive role in bringing chattel slavery to an end. Seymour Drescher's study focuses attention on the period when popular pressure was effectively deployed as a means of altering national policy, and at those fault-lines in British society which seem to have partly determined the timing and intensity of abolition.

Review Quotes

"Drescher compellingly presents antislavery as one of the most successful reform movements of its time. His broad comparative framework sharpens the contrast between abolitionist developments in Britain and those on the Continent and in America. In concentrating on the crucial role of popular opinion and the economic forces which fostered it, Drescher enriches our understanding of the distinct and varied history of British antislavery....Should become a standard against which future works will be measured."--Albion
"He has mastered the vast literature on the movement and has added significant research of his own on points in dispute. To this scholarship he adds a probing critical sense that can raise fundamental thematic and interpretive questions....The research and reflection that went into it should make this book compulsory reading for years to come for all interested in the wider perspectives of antislavery."--American Historical Review
"Marshaling masses of new evidence

"Drescher compellingly presents antislavery as one of the most successful reform movements of its time. His broad comparative framework sharpens the contrast between abolitionist developments in Britain and those on the Continent and in America. In concentrating on the crucial role of popular opinion and the economic forces which fostered it, Drescher enriches our understanding of the distinct and varied history of British antislavery....Should become a standard against which future works will be measured."--Albion
"He has mastered the vast literature on the movement and has added significant research of his own on points in dispute. To this scholarship he adds a probing critical sense that can raise fundamental thematic and interpretive questions....The research and reflection that went into it should make this book compulsory reading for years to come for all interested in the wider perspectives of antislavery."--American Historical Review
"Marshaling masses of new evidence, it digs down to what Drescher calls the 'anthropological roots' of antislavery, and puts in new perspective many facets of a long-running debate....It should appeal both to the general reader and to the specialist."--Wilson Quarterly
"Will significantly influence the course of the historical debate on British abolitionism."--Civil War History
"An effective analysis of the combined power of moral indignation, religious commitment, and politics in subduing powerful economic interests...[provides] a wealth of fascinating, sometimes grim detail...related with aplomb and an enviable command of the relevant sources."--Journal of Economic History



"Drescher compellingly presents antislavery as one of the most successful reform movements of its time. His broad comparative framework sharpens the contrast between abolitionist developments in Britain and those on the Continent and in America. In concentrating on the crucial role of popular
opinion and the economic forces which fostered it, Drescher enriches our understanding of the distinct and varied history of British antislavery....Should become a standard against which future works will be measured."--Albion
"He has mastered the vast literature on the movement and has added significant research of his own on points in dispute. To this scholarship he adds a probing critical sense that can raise fundamental thematic and interpretive questions....The research and reflection that went into it should make
this book compulsory reading for years to come for all interested in the wider perspectives of antislavery."--American Historical Review
"Marshaling masses of new evidence, it digs down to what Drescher calls the 'anthropological roots' of antislavery, and puts in new perspective many facets of a long-running debate....It should appeal both to the general reader and to the specialist."--Wilson Quarterly
"Will significantly influence the course of the historical debate on British abolitionism."--Civil War History
"An effective analysis of the combined power of moral indignation, religious commitment, and politics in subduing powerful economic interests...[provides] a wealth of fascinating, sometimes grim detail...related with aplomb and an enviable command of the relevant sources."--Journal ofEconomic
History


"Drescher compellingly presents antislavery as one of the most successful reform movements of its time. His broad comparative framework sharpens the contrast between abolitionist developments in Britain and those on the Continent and in America. In concentrating on the crucial role of popular
opinion and the economic forces which fostered it, Drescher enriches our understanding of the distinct and varied history of British antislavery....Should become a standard against which future works will be measured."--Albion
"He has mastered the vast literature on the movement and has added significant research of his own on points in dispute. To this scholarship he adds a probing critical sense that can raise fundamental thematic and interpretive questions....The research and reflection that went into it should make
this book compulsory reading for years to come for all interested in the wider perspectives of antislavery."--American Historical Review
"Marshaling masses of new evidence, it digs down to what Drescher calls the 'anthropological roots' of antislavery, and puts in new perspective many facets of a long-running debate....It should appeal both to the general reader and to the specialist."--Wilson Quarterly
"Will significantly influence the course of the historical debate on British abolitionism."--Civil War History
"An effective analysis of the combined power of moral indignation, religious commitment, and politics in subduing powerful economic interests...[provides] a wealth of fascinating, sometimes grim detail...related with aplomb and an enviable command of the relevant sources."--Journal of Economic
History