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Throughout history, it can be seen how the lower class people are the ones who always fall victim to unemployment and poverty. It is no surprise that class inequality is still thriving to this day. The gap between the classes is tremendously big and not getting smaller any time soon. The paper written by Seth Rockman named “Dredging and Drudgery” where he talks about early Baltimore Maryland. In which he explores the Baltimore republic and class conditions. During that time people of Baltimore were struggling with employment which was very scarce. I personally would not be surprised if the scarcity of employment was due to capitalists as they are the ones during that time who had the most capital and favored autonomy. Rockman continues to talk about Baltimore’s manual labor which he said that hard laborers were dredging where people excavate sand to form a new establishment. In Baltimore’s case, new harbors were formed in which more ships came to Baltimore with rich resources.

“Many of the workers stood knee-deep in the water while shoveling debris in and out of the scows. The work was grueling, filthy, and unsuited to the virtuous habits of republican artisans. Without it, however, Baltimore’s commercial prosperity would have ceased.” 

( Rockman 76) 

One would think with this employment that the lower class will be doing well but no that is not the as it is no surprise that the capitalists are the ones who the benefiting the most from this all this overall manual labor. Baltimore also had slaves who were part of the hard labor force during that time as Rockman described it as the slaves trading on hard labor so they can get their families free. To working-class Baltimoreans, the reasons for poverty were obvious a lack of employment, increased costs for limited quantities of basic essentials. According to Rockman workers’ “adapted” survival tactics that are built on basic fundamental characteristics of the early republic’s capitalist culture which was to stop looking for enjoyment rather have the courage/willingness to work harder in order to improve the conditions of family members.

An interesting character to look for while reading Rockman’s paper is Owen Mullen who was a mudmechanist for more than 20 years. 

“Mullen had toiled on the mudmachine for upwards of twenty years. For Mullen and his co-workers, manual labor was not a life stage to be outgrown, but a career.” ( Rockman 99)

The majority of backbreaking labor fell on the lower class and slaves 1838 petitions which were about increasing minimum wage had mullen’s name affixed to it showing traits of economic change. We can look at time as a fight versus two groups ( Bourgeois vs Proleteriants ) which is very enduring as it can be seen throughout history but also in our modern society. Rockman’s Dredging and Drudgery was a very interesting reading that showed early Baltimore’s republic. Explored the labor forces and how social inequality had its roots in Baltimore.

The history of slavery has been taught in schools as the spinors taking over and capturing all these slaves that were forced to work for them. We often hear about how they were taken from their homelands and put on slave ship brooks from head to toe.  We hear about the beating, the massive killing of black people, we hear about how they weren’t free. But sadly, we were never taught how through their hard times and inhumane lifestyle; they were able to form a life. We weren’t taught how there were not a lot of opportunities for black men to start a family because of the lack of females. I used to believe that if they were stuck in this situation at least they had each other at least they had the opportunity to form a family. I guess that It wasn’t until this point when I realized how truly depressing the situation was. Imagine being taken from your home, treated like an animal, forced to live in a place with people you never seen before or understand, forced to adapt to a new culture, and having to work your entire life if you even had the chance to live a long life to die without anyone. “With their numbers weighted heavily toward men, the first arrivals struggled to form families and reconstruct the institutions that had guided life in their former homeland.”(page 107) Not a lot of them wanted to procreate any way but for those who did and didn’t have the opportunity it was horrible to die alone; especially because of the way that they were living.

 

A question that arose as I read ‘Berlin Slave Societies Many Thousands Gone’ was how was it possible that the Spaniards believed in God and treated the African slaves the way they did. The author didn’t really go into detail about the believes of the Spaniards, but we know that they justified slavery with the Bible. Now these people who called themselves catholic and believed in God weren’t following the laws he had set. Like for example loving your neighbor as you love yourself. And clearly, we don’t see that love being shown.  “In a world where laboring men and women were commonly driven like beasts, and the words to “work like a slave” took on a profound and chilling meaning for all working people.” (page 106)They were people, some even with a higher intellectual value than other white people. I would have liked for the author to go into more detail about the beliefs of the slave owners.

 

As I read through the text, I came across a section that said that some of them lost their native language. I wondered why and how they lost the ability to speak creol. “ In some parts of mainland North America, Africans replaced Atlantic creoles, and the charter generations sank swiftly into historical oblivion.”(page 108) I wonder why the few that were able to form a family didn’t speak to their children about the culture or teach them. Well maybe some of them wanted to secure their children’s future and make sure they adapted to this new culture. I just think that teaching the children about their culture would have allowed them to understand their roots and who they truly are. However, I guess I understand the perspective that some of them had of just wanting to keep their children safe.

“Capitalism, A Very Short Introduction” by James Fulcher poses the question “What is Capitalism?” and gives an overview of the rise of capitalism and its development into the capitalistic society that we live in now. He does this by giving a brief history on three different periods in time that give a very good depiction of what he believes is the answer to his question. In his own words Fulcher says, “capitalism involves the investment of money to make more money.” (pg. 18) I tend to agree with this definition as I believe the center of capitalism is money and finding the most efficient way to procure it.

Fulcher’s first story on the English and their involvement in the spice trade really opened my eyes to the idea of how capitalism is formed. I never took the time to really understand how countries throughout history had arrived to the point of capitalism. I also did not occur to me to think of how something so common place in the world today, the stock exchange, was created. The most interesting part of this event is how familiar it feels as a story today. The aristocrats investing their money into these voyages in the hopes of profits, buying spices at a lower price and then fetching them for a higher one in Europe, it doesn’t feel to different from today.

Fulcher’s detail on the shareholders of these voyages trying to discover different methods on how to mitigate the inherent risk of losing all their capital to a potential shipwreck or whatever the danger is very interesting. Shareholders deciding the best way to spread risk is to invest in price of all multiple voyages instead putting all their eggs in one basket is the answer of what capitalism is. Investing money to make more money and finding the most effective way to do it.

In the book Many Thousands Gone, the author Ira Berlin provides a closer look into the emergence of different societies in the Americas and the effects on these societies with the introduction of slaves. Within his book, Berlin presents two different societies: “a slave society” and a “society with slaves” and proceeds to distinguish the two. In his thorough investigation on what the foundations of a slave society consisted of, the justifications behind slave treatment on behalf of planters was what caught my attention the most.

Berlin presents “fatherhood” as a means of justification that planters used when it came to the enslavement of Africans during 17th century slave societies. Planters proceeded to paint a prettier picture as paternal figures as opposed to ruthless economic exploiters who fed their societal ego off of the sweat, blood, and tears of their slaves (Berlin 98). The role of a parent is generally to guide their children and to ensure security by providing food, shelter and knowledge. The role of a child is then to trust their parental guidance and to obey their parents.  The catch with this relationship was that plantation owners “consigned slaves to a permanent childhood” (Berlin 99). In other words, slaves would never be able to “leave the nest” and would dedicate their entire life to laboring on a plantation. In addition, plantation owners fulfilled their “paternal role” but in the most minimalistic and brutal manner while slaves were expected to fulfill their role to their greatest ability.  For example, it is known that slaves were given limited portions of food on a weekly basis, had extremely poor living conditions, and the “education” they received was from the planters. On the other hand, for planters it wasn’t enough just to have a large estate, private clubs, or a carriage and required more to prove their power and status.

Berlin also explains how the “relationship” between the planter and the slave was maintained using the same “father/child” principle. The same way a child is easily bribed with candy or a toy is the same way planters kept manipulating their slaves. Planters promised their slaves better conditions and eventual freedom in order to keep them working. When this wasn’t enough, coercion was utilized to implement fear and to maintain order within plantation society (Berlin 98). I find the idea of planter paternalism to consist of hypocrisy considering a relationship between a supposed father and child is based on love and respect. However, it is evident that there is no actual care for the slave from the planter once violence is used and how brutally the slaves are exerted. Berlin also indicates how planters developed this ideologies and supported them on pre-existing laws, indicating the Bible and Christianity. It is interesting to see how planters were identifying themselves as Christians and comparing themselves as “saviors” and as “fathers” yet only to do the contrary of the basic Christian morals. In my opinion, it seemed like the planters needed more saving than what they claimed that African slaves needed.

 

 

From the text, written by Fulcher, we gain a deeper understanding of the history of capitalism, the pros and cons, and its lasting effects on society and the economy. There are different forms and types of Capitalism; they each affect how the world operates. Futcher describes the three forms with a detailed historical background to explain his points. We first are made aware that capitalism sparked in the early 1600s with Merchant capitalism which is one of the early forms of capitalism. Merchant capitalism established international competition. Futcher then explains the second form of capitalism, Capitalist production, by illustrating how James M’Connel and John Kennedy blossomed in the cotton industry. Within this industry came harsh labor conditions which lead to strikes and protest movements. Lastly, Financial capitalism- investing in things such as stocks, which has grown in popularity over the years.
Futcher concludes with how each form of capitalism “involves (s) the investment of money to make a profit”. (page 14) Recently there has been a peak of interest in stock markets, investing, and learning more about the economy in general. It is interesting to see how capitalism and trading goods grew from the 1600s to now and all of the changes that have occurred all the way. What’s fascinating to me in the chapter is how the concept of employees started, from abused wage laborers, who were mainly children, to paid and protected employees. Of course, there are still unfair jobs but it is not as much as before. One key difference is that people are not working in harsh unfair conditions for long periods. There are now laws and organizations preventing business owners from doing so. Back then you were just a slave getting paid the bare minimum. All of these roles are significant to the growth of capitalism. How can we continue to change the rules of capitalism?

 The passage “American Slavery American Freedom” by Mogran describes Slavery in the year 1619, and the reasons behind it. In 1619, the first African enslaved people were brought to Virginia on a ship. Many innocent people were stacked into the ship and placed head to toe with thousands of other people. There were men, women, and even young boys. Everyone was categorized, tied up, and left without any food or water. Many were sick, and many died. Those poor people went through something unimaginable and were treated as animals. The author, Mogran, proceeds to explain in the first few paragraphs the reason why Virginia did such a thing. There was a demand for tobacco in England and Virginia needed as many men as possible for this labor. The captured enslaved people worked mostly on tobacco fields in severe and harsh conditions. They worked from sunrises to sunsets and were often punished by their masters for the slightest mistakes. They were put through impossible labor in horrifying conditions with a lack of food, clothes, shelter, and basic necessities. Morgan states, “ It had, and although Virginians were not at all happy about it, throughout the century they kept crying for more. They wanted men, they could not get enough of them. (pg 295)”. This line is very significant because it shows how Virginians were very stubborn and just wanted servants to do labor for them, even if it wasn’t needed. Virginians first wanted servants; however there was a huge lack of them and many were declining the offer, so Virginia quickly switched over to salvery and took advantage of the poor. Morgan also states, “ It is possible that the conversion to slavery in Virginia was helped, as it was in Barbados, by a decline in the number of servants coming to the colony. (pg 299)”.  This line shows that there was a lack of servants coming to the colony and that is why they had to turn to slavery. Throughout the passage there were many insights on Virginia and their thought process, but what stood out to me the most was the fact that African people were not enslaved because of their race. Virginians had to make a decision whether to keep the people or not and that had nothing to do with race. This stood out to me because to me the idea of salvery always associated with racism. However, in this passage the author makes sure that we’re not mistaken and that racism wasn’t the main ingredient to slavery. Overall, this was a very informative reading that made me learn much more information about salvery and made me see it from a different point of view.    

    

 

An economic system that benefits both consumers and producers will go through many trials and errors to form. At a time where different parts of the world still relied on a trading system in order to gain, capitalism started to take off in Europe. James Fulcher talks about the history of capitalism when it began to pick up speed in the 16th and 17th centuries. Fulcher breaks down his first chapter by discussing types of capitalism, production, its effects on workers, and famous cases of businessmen trying to use the system to their advantage. 

To start off, Fulcher defines capitalism as a system where money is spent in order to gain money in the future. Take for instance the cotton industry in the 1830’s, companies invested in more cotton mills because they saw more consumer interest arise in their product at the time. Thus, they knew they would need more space and workers to make more cotton to sell more products. However I found it very appalling when those same workers at the cotton mill were pushed past the point to where they caused an uproar. The workers were underpaid, of young age, worked long hours and soon replaced by automatic machinery. All these qualities pushed them to strike, protest, and walkout which eventually helped formulate work guidelines used today.

Their treatment was one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about throughout the text because I did not know Europeans in those times fought against mismanagement in their workplaces. I used to think that American workers, especially during the Second Industrial Revolution, were the only set of workers to rebel against straining work conditions. I originally thought protests such as the Steel Strike and Textile Workers Strike were the historical events that pushed for better wages, firm hours, and better treatment. But it was the European struggles that occurred 1-2 centuries before that opened the doors for leisure time, flexible work shifts, and discipline rules. From reading Fulcher’s text, it can be described to readers that the change in the work environment was a gradual change. Workers couldn’t just demand better conditions one day and get it the next, Fulcher says that it took months, even years. The revolt workers threw in opposition to their circumstances was just one effect capitalism had on its society it lived in. The employees who generate the product are a part of the economic system too, regardless if they’re consumers or the ones in charge.  

In this text, the author talks about slavery and what it used to be like. He explains how it used to be and how it was cruel and unusual. For example, slaves used to speak the language of their enslaver, they worked harder than normal people and they died earlier. Their opportunity to participate independently in exchange economies was so small, they rarely accumulated property. He mentioned that they were called by nicknames as an animal name or any other bad word. They were also treated like beasts or animals; people were using “work like a slave” with a harsh meaning. Few of them could escape slavery and some of them commited suicide.                                           Planters used to hate slaves, from their perspectives slaves were labor and nothing more they worked hard at play, for they needed to distinguish themselves from those who simply worked hard. The enslavers were so hypocrite, ruthless and tough with the slaves, as the author mentioned in page 98 in the first paragraph “ while the slaves masters took to their sitting rooms, book-lined libraries, and private clubs to affirm their gentility, the drove their slaves relentlessly, often to the limits of exertion.”  

The author also stated that the violence wasn’t only common in slave society,but  it was also systematic and relentless; the planters’ hegemony required that slaves stand in awe of their owners. Slaves in plantation societies were the extension of their owners’ state in ways they never were in societies with slaves. They treated them in an inhuman way, they used to only give orders and slaves had to obey as the kids obey their parents. Slavery in North America was color-coded, what causes plantation regime imposed racial notions. The competition between the slave and their enslavers was a competition with no ending. 

They were trading slaves as they’re not humans, they were competing to enslave more, the more slaves they owned, the more prestige they got. Slavery was everywhere even slaves can be found in distant places from where they came from.

Then slaves’ identity started to change over time,Africans started to join together and began to form a new culture out of the old world and the new one but the cultures they were creating weren’t unified because the mainland wasn’t unified.

That shows how the world is always so harsh starting from the old world till our day today. The author showed many details on how slaves used to suffer and how they were taken away from their homes,family and their whole life just to carry out orders from their enslavers.