Profitability of Free Labor over Slave Labor - Coursework Example

Name Instructor’s name Course Date Slavery Introduction Slavery is a practice where an individual is subjected to complete ownership by the master in an involuntary manner (Allain 239). The action took place for a long time during the colonial periods as well as before the colonial time. The slaves were graded on the basis of productivity and the strength that they were bringing to the society or the master. After evaluation of the slaves, the African slaves were loved and preferred to any other origin of slave within the world. The New World context provided the ideal actions of slaves, which has some similarities and differences in regard to different aspects of slavery presented to the individuals during the colonial periods. This paper provides an analysis of various aspects of slavery. It looks at the profitability of slave labor over free labor which compares the labor with putting every factor of production constant. It proceeds to provide the reasons for the irrelevancy of Smith’s argument as argued by Williams in the New World context. Also it gives the reasons for preferring the African slaves and ends with the comparison and contrast of William’s analysis of the economic realities in New World and Colonial ideal contexts. Profitability of free labor over slave labor In slavery, the workers are forced and are subjected to different hostile treatment to ensure they work with the mentality increased productivity (Williams 4). In free labor, the workers have the capability to do what they feel is best and work with too much professionalism in the entire work. The following are some of the benefits that free labor present over slave labor. First, in free labor, workers work with professionalism which ensures that the work is perfectly done (Williams 6). Secondly, free labor is done with people who have interest in acquiring property and other factors of productions within the economy making them to work perfectly hard to be engaged in other activities for the other parts of the day through the experience of good work (Williams 5). The slaves on the same aspect believe that they only need to work and wait for the opportunity to feed, as they have no other interest in life hence becoming less productive. Free labor is characterized by versatility which is more profitable than the slavery labor. It is also evident that free labor is better in the business or any kind of agricultural works since if all the factors of production are kept constant it will be chosen over slavery labor which comes second after losing free labor (Williams 6). Reasons for Smith’s arguments being irrelevant in the New World context The arguments presented are believed to be inappropriate due to the following reasons. First, Williams argue that slave labor is only adopted in situations where there is no choice for any other source of labor (Williams 6). In New World free labor could not exists due to the fact that the population was small in the area and only slavery work could help. Secondly, he believes that the large scale productions where the labor cost reduces with the increase in the size of the farm, the expenses on slaves were lower than the free labor as labor intensive work costs always reduces with increase in the firm size. Thirdly, the New World had low population which could not serve the services that were required within the area and they had to source for external labor (Williams 7). The argument based on slaves by Smith is that slaves only have the interest of being feed but in the New World context the slaves from India and other parts of the World were working with the interest to get pay despite the payment being little(Williams 9). Lastly, Williams argue that slavery aspects was as a result of the visitors who wanted to get better pay in the countries outside their locality since majority of the people within the areas of work were more reluctance and lazy. This is an indication that the slaves at some point did not like the issues being fed as argued by Smith but wanted something tangible for the success of their families (Williams 10). The ideas presented are more of psychological creation, but in real sense the urge for the improvement in the production was required from the strong and energetic people. The kind of work that was required within New World was never based on the skills or professionalism, hence the energetic people though unskilled was the order of the day. As argued, the tobacco and sugarcane farms were more labor intensive than skillful hence making slave labor the most appropriate. Reasons for preferring African slaves over indigenous The slaves from Africa were loved by the masters during the time of slavery and the action was attributed by different reasons as discussed. First, the African slaves were exposed to several diseases and had developed resistance to the diseases. The Indian population was frequently dying of the disease since they had weak immune system and had never been exposed to the diseases at the moment (Williams 9). This made the Africans to be more profitable in the business since they could work for a long time as well as on daily basis without interference from the elements of diseases. Secondly, the African slaves were unfamiliar with the areas where they were taken and could not find their way out of slavery. Once they reached the slavery land, they had no choice but to remain loyal to their masters and work as per the recommendations of the masters (Williams 8) and (Allain and Kevin 17). As compared to the indigenous slaves, the Indians were native of the area and could find their way pack through revolts and revolutions back to their places of origin. Thirdly, the African slaves were readily available in the market at a cost effective price as compared to the native slaves. They could easily and cheaply be acquired through the colonies hence making it easy for maintenance and putting into slavery. The kind of treatment that Africans were being subjected to did not give them the opportunity to be involved in the suicidal activities like the Indians (Williams 11). African slave were also viewed and identified as the slaves with the status of their colors and the tags hence were readily recognized and used for the purposes of slave work (Williams 17). Also, Africans were very strong, resistance and aggressive in the work they were doing. This made them to be preferred as they embraced the element of loyalty to the masters due to strong language barrier. The Africans were more active and were found to be four times better than the Indians making them to be preferred (9). Lastly, the supply of the African slaves was constant as there were large reservoirs for the African slaves. At the time when the Africans were discovered, the Indian supply was already reducing and could not sustain the required demand to serve in the plantations (Allain and Kevin 19-20). Comparison between the economic realities in New World and Colonial moral ideal The analysis made by Williams found out that there existed similarities between the two contexts as well as the difference between them. The similarities and the differences are realized from the understanding that they were all working on mistreating the slaves and use of threat to ensure they achieve their objectives in the development of the farms. Both context applied threats to ensure that they rule the entire slavery kingdom to ensure that their workers remained loyal to their action. In the New World context, the workers would be threatened by being denied food in case they poorly carry out the work in the fields. In the Colonial ideal context, the workers would be threatened for being hanged hence they could beg for transportation to the slavery fields (Williams 14). Secondly, in both contexts the masters wanted individuals who were strong and able to carry out hard task for a long period without reduction in the profitability. In the New World context, tobacco and sugarcane production required intensive labor in the large fields which required strong people. In colonial case, the farms also required extensive work which was to be facilitated by strong men for the production to take place. Thirdly, both contexts wanted to minimize the expenses on the production of food for the sustainment of the entire population irrespective of the size of farms that was to be cultivated (Williams 17). Lastly, the farms in both contexts wanted to work on free labor which did not present itself at the time of production and they had to turn to the slave labor. The objective of the farms was to establish maximum profit through reduction of the expenses on production. Despite the similarities that existed between the farms, some differences also existed and they include; in the New World, there was no care for the welfare of the slaves and they could be subjected to any kind of treatment provided they give the required outcomes. In the Colonial context, the welfare of the slaves was taken into account despite them being subjected to cruel conditions. Secondly, in the New World the intention of production was to feed and make proper utilization of the land without considering the consequences and profitability of the products through sale. In the Colonial context, the production was aimed at ensuring cash receipts as well as employment creation with the aim of industrial development and exportation of the products (Williams 16). Thirdly, in New World there were no contract sign between the slaves and the masters and the expenses were mostly based on food as well as on receiving the slaves. The slaves were subject to all the work conditions were only given the mandate off the duty in situations of severe sickness. In the colonial context, the workers were slaved on contracts basis and the expenses were based on the evaluation of the contacts which guided the operation of the slaves. In the context, the workers were economically guided by their rights despite the work that they were doing (Williams 18). Lastly, in the New World, acquiring the slaves was more expensive as it involved working with people from Indian and other parts of the world whose productivity was low with high pay out for the suppliers. In the colonial context on the other hand, acquiring of the slaves was cheap since it involved the use of the Africans and the Negros which were productive and cheap (Williams 19). Conclusion From the discussion, the paper has looked at the different aspects of slavery within the New World and the Colonial ideal context. The existence of slavery within the areas ensured continuous productions within the areas of slavery. The slavery actions on people were a barbaric practice and should never be accepted back in the life of individuals for a sustained life of today. All the aspects of slavery should be discouraged with the highest level of penalties to facilitate the practice of better human rights. Work cited Allain, Jean, and Kevin Bales. "Slavery and its definition." Global Dialogue 14.2 (2012): 12-26. Allain, Jean. "Definition of Slavery in International Law, The." Howard LJ 52 (2008): 239. Williams, Erick. The Origin of Negro Slavery: Capitalism and Slavery. A class text on the Slavery with the Context of the New World and the Colonial Ideal. Pp:3-29 Read More