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In the reading, Many Thousands Gone, Ira Berlin explains many changes over time that occurred in the transition from societies with slaves to slave societies. A dramatic difference between societies with slaves and slave societies was the mark of lineage. In a society with slaves, slaves adopted names that included surnames. Their successors bore names that did not include surnames and could have even gone as far as to be called a name more associated with that of an animal than a person. This worked to destroy the potential of lineage for slaves. This also made it so slaves were bound to the position of juveniles throughout their life cycle. Condemned to a permanent childhood, slaves in a slave society served as extensions of an owners’ estate. They had no right to intimate or personal affairs without the intrusions of planters.

In the beginning, the ethnic origins of a slave mattered little to planters. Slavey transportation included many ethnic origins such as Africans, Native Americans, and Jewish slaves. Eventually, with the destruction of the Native American population, plantation slavery became exclusive to African slavery. This process redefined the meaning of race, with a greater emphasis on the pigment of the skin than ever before. Slave societies employed racial ideologies to rationalize societal order. This transition strengthened the beliefs of white supremacy. Under these distinctions, slaves were not just demoted to the positions of juveniles but were viewed as savages.

The different outlook on slaves’ position is society affected the implementation of violence. In a society with slaves, the use of force and brutality was persistent and common. However, in a slave society, violence was also systematic and merciless. Slave masters employed terror and severe disciplinary action. This attributed to the death of millions. According to Ira Berlin, this change occurred slowly. It was built upon unevenly and repeatedly and Africans were transported from the Old World to the New World.

In the text Capitalism, A Very Short Introduction by James Fulcher, he defines capitalism as “the investment of money in the expectation of making profits”. He starts off the text by describing one of the early examples of a capitalistic venture, sending people out to sea to gather resources which were uncommon back at the mainland. When I first learned of capitalism I pictured people adjusting prices or using new technologies in order to get customers and stimulate competition. However after reading this text I understand that capitalism can be as simple as buying low and selling high. Fulcher explains how people from Europe who didn’t have access to certain spices and goods found in foreign countries would have to pay a lot to utilize them. With this being the case, people realized they can make a lot of profit if they go abroad and find these goods. They purchase the goods at a very low price or steal them and then go back to their hometown and sell them. In the East India Company’s first expedition to the East Indies, the shareholders of the voyage racked up an impressive 95% profit using this strategy. However, this was only the beginning as everything started to expand to the point where companies are now publicly traded allowing anyone to get a piece of the pie. 

When anyone thinks of America, they think of how it’s capitalism creates economic freedom and allows the country to prosper. Some may even think that the idea was first practiced there. However, it is clear that many other nations were doing this and brought the economic system over to the United States. Additionally, when you look at the current stock market you must ask yourself, how did something so big become so widespread throughout the world? Reading this piece made me understand that the stock market can be dumbed down to something as simple as buying something that you think will increase in price and then selling it. You’re paying for the risk of losing your money to potentially make a profit. Capitalism is a very complex system, however it is so present in the world today that it is seen in our lives everyday. 

 

James Fulcher explains the beginning of capitalism throughout history. Fulcher describes capitalism as the process of investing money in the expectation of making a profit. Fulcher would examines different types of capitalism between the UK, Japan, Sweden, and the United States as most countries have a capitalist government Fulcher wanted to study of different area reacted to it. James Fulcher would call back on the advancements and dominance of capitalism in the 17th century saying it could be taking advantage of the people.

The earliest forms of capitalism came in the form of  “Merchant Capitalism.” Merchant Capitalism was the acquired profits through the trading systems. Merchant Capitalism was at its peak during the 17th century, due to the ability to talk during trading, the advancements of capitalism started to spread throughout the world. As capitalism was fairly new the profit share was extremely one sided. For example, the English East India Company would sell profits or goods on cargo ships while giving the shareholder almost 95% of the profits made during the exchange.  This does not mean capitalism was not without risk; during one of the journey’s one of the ship ignored the warnings of pirated waters, causing them to be overthrown and ending up with the captain being killed and the goods being stolen. The effect of this was the investors entire capital being lost.

Modern capitalism is not far from its origin. As many countries today still use capitalism in their governments today. It has become more balanced due to the monopoly laws in place making not just one person benefiting off of one person work. In the end, capitalism is still about making profits from your investment of money. No matter where you may invest your money into, if profit exists capitalism exists. Capitalism has expanded through the United States has occurs every single day even if you don’t realize it.

 

 

 

 

In his text about Capitalism, James Fulcher provides both historical and current events that demonstrate the effects of capitalism, and the characteristics a capitalistic society portrays. Fulcher dwelled upon the competitive cotton industry that James M’Connel and John Kennedy took over. The idea of creating a profit and searching for ways to maximize a profit was and still is an idea of great importance. However, “Profit depended ultimately on the workers who turned raw cotton into yarn” (Fulcher, 5). Because of this, many workers were put into long hours of labor. Many conflicts, including wages, arose because of the greed and hunger that many people sought in order to reach this level of maximizing a profit.

 

This idea has not changed much today. In fact, the desire for profit and wealth is even stronger and can cause individuals to act out in a way where it negatively affects themselves and others around them. This is shown in Nick Leeson’s case, where he found ways to cover up any shortcomings from the money that he was accumulating in order to receive the most amount of money possible. However, this also demonstrates how errors in capitalism derive from an upper level power. M’Connel and Kennedy were able to extend the hours of the workers, as entrepreneurs, by resetting the clock. Leeson was able to swindle his way around money because he was one of the best at what he did.

 

Ultimately, capitalism is essentially making a profit from the investment of money. However the investing is done or where the money to invest came from, as long as a profit exists for an individual, there is a representation of how capitalism works. Capitalism is found almost everywhere in the United States of America and is something that occurs every single day, whether we notice it right away or not.

Dear class,

Contrary to what I stated last class, and to what appeared the original version of the syllabus, we do not meet either Monday 9/6 or Wednesday 9/8. I’ve posted a revised version of the syllabus with that and a few other corrections. on Blackboard.

Enjoy the Labor Day holiday, and please use the extra time to catch up on readings and assignments (again, see the syllabus as well as announcements on Blackboard). And, if for some reason you are still not completely vaccinated against COVID-19, consider using the time to complete your vaccination requirements so that we will be in compliance and can get back to in-person or hybrid meetings ASAP!