There are hundreds of different views about ‘slavery’. As Paul Finkelman says; few subjects in American history have been as compelling as slavery. Actually the reason, of why this is one of the most compelled and debated issue, is “slavery is not only one of the most ancient but also one of the most long-lived forms of economic and social organizations” . All antebellum Americans, in north and south, were affected directly or indirectly by slavery. When we look at the economic aspect of slavery, I can say that slavery helped the economic growth and development of the United States. It was a harsh but profitable system. Contrary to the arguments that see slavery as inefficient and detriment to America’s economy, I believe that it was a benefactor. As Stampp and Fogel argue, slavery was morally untenable; it was a harsh working system but an efficient and profitable one. This paper will touch upon different arguments about efficiency of slavery and how slavery affected the South economy. This paper will try to clarify the issue that whether slavery was a benefactor or detriment for economy of the United States.
The debate has gone on for a long time and it is about whether the slavery was efficient or not and whether it was an economic burden on regions. Historians emphasized mostly on the issue of whether or not slavery was a benefactor or detriment to the United States. There are two opposite poles of this debate. From those historians, Ulrich B. Phillips represented one pole of the debate. Many other historians influenced by Ulrich B. Phillips and took his side in the debate. The other pole of this debate is Robert William Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman. They took part in the debate with the arguments they propounded in the book “Time on the Cross”. I want to depict this debate by using colors, color’s of opinion. Ulrih B. Phillips represents the “black” and