The Mikado
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« on: August 28, 2011, 09:58:58 PM » |
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The argument that slavery would've died due to being unprofitable always struck me as kind of weird. I mean, at a certain level, slaves were a status symbol more than an economic one. Even if you get to the situation where the cotton plantation system is totally untenable and plantation slavery shrinks, why would the old Southern planting class ever advocate abolishing their own household slaves? Having 5-10 in the household is the ultimate way of showing off (that your wealth is so extensive that you can keep 5-10 men in food and lodging). It just doesn't seem logical that even if plantation slavery died off, that that'd lead to the abolition of slavery.
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