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Capitalism and Slavery Compensation

Publication ,  Journal Article
Thorne, S
Published in: small axe
March 2012

The Slave Compensation Commission distributed no less than ₤20 million between 1834 and 1845, making compensation “the largest single financial operation undertaken by the British state to date” (270). Nicholas Draper utilizes the Commission’s untapped records to construct what amounts to a forensic prosaopography, endeavoring to “locate the accountability for slavery more precisely” than has been possible to date. This essay locates compensation in relation to other public policies of the period associated with the rise of what George Soros has called “free market fundamentalism. The New Poor Law’s role in the criminalization of poverty is widely acknowledged. So too was the emergent gospel of free trade strengthened by the British State’s “disciplined” response to the Irish famine. Slave owner compensation also performed important ideological labor. It not only stripped abolition of any semblance of apology, it also shielded private profiteering from public or political scrutiny, emancipating the pursuit of material self-interest from any moral fetters. Thus did mammon assert its priority over humanity and religion, even if not especially in slavery’s aftermath.

Duke Scholars

Published In

small axe

DOI

Publication Date

March 2012

Volume

16

Issue

1 37

Start / End Page

154 / 167

Publisher

Duke University Press

Related Subject Headings

  • 2005 Literary Studies
  • 2002 Cultural Studies
  • 1904 Performing Arts and Creative Writing
 

Citation

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Thorne, S. (2012). Capitalism and Slavery Compensation. Small Axe, 16(1 37), 154–167. https://doi.org/10.1215/07990537-1548155
Thorne, S. “Capitalism and Slavery Compensation.” Small Axe 16, no. 1 37 (March 2012): 154–67. https://doi.org/10.1215/07990537-1548155.
Thorne S. Capitalism and Slavery Compensation. small axe. 2012 Mar;16(1 37):154–67.
Thorne, S. “Capitalism and Slavery Compensation.” Small Axe, vol. 16, no. 1 37, Duke University Press, Mar. 2012, pp. 154–67. Manual, doi:10.1215/07990537-1548155.
Thorne S. Capitalism and Slavery Compensation. small axe. Duke University Press; 2012 Mar;16(1 37):154–167.

Published In

small axe

DOI

Publication Date

March 2012

Volume

16

Issue

1 37

Start / End Page

154 / 167

Publisher

Duke University Press

Related Subject Headings

  • 2005 Literary Studies
  • 2002 Cultural Studies
  • 1904 Performing Arts and Creative Writing