Slavery and American Economic Development. Gavin Wright. LSU Press. 2006. 162 pp. $25 paper. ISBN: 978-0807131831,

Gavin Wright’s Slavery and American Economic Development is a read that dwells deep into American slavery and deep south economy. The book recollects the impact of slavery on the American South during the 19th century. Gavin Wright presents his work through an examination of slavery as an economic establishment that help convince the reader that salves were viewed as property.

Wright’s central point in the book is what he calls “property rights”, which slaves are property first, and humans second. He believes that this is the reason for the South’s slave economy economy during the antebellum period and how it boomed throughout the time period. Using this as a theme, Wright creates the distinction between slavery as a form of work and slavery as property rights. This allows the southerners to treat their slaves as a form of property that they can control and will not have any consequences if one “breaks down”. This free labor allowed the plantation owners to put the slaves to work for free in such harsh condition. These conditions would never attract free labor and it allowed them to views the slaves as property. Labeling them as property and inferior helped justify their brutal tactics when controlling their plantations.

Another point Wright makes in his book is when he compares the economic growth of the workforce in the north with the slaves and the labor that they contribute to the south. The south, “held their wealth mainly in the form of human property rather than land values” (pg. 61). This meant that the main way the southerners held their wealth was through slavery and slave plantations. As for the north, they had property with houses and land, but in the south, they had slaves.

Wright creates his claim with many primary