Slavery's Economic Detriment and Northern Abolition

Key Insight

Slavery, while brutal to the slave, is also 'fatal to the master,' making slave-owning provinces less populous, wealthy, and prosperous than those without. This extraordinary fact became apparent in the English colonies, despite common European origins and laws. The observation that colonies without slaves prospered more rapidly held true even as Anglo-Americans expanded westward, encountering new terrains and climates.

The Ohio River serves as a stark dividing line demonstrating this truth: Kentucky (slave state) shows sparse population, idle men, and an image of slumbering society, while Ohio (free state), founded twelve years later, exhibits a 'confused hum emanating from industry,' rich harvests, elegant homes, and evident prosperity, with a population exceeding Kentucky's by 250,000 by 1830. Labor in the South is degraded and associated with slavery, while in the North, it is honored and linked to well-being and progress.

Free workers, though paid, are more productive and quicker than slaves, whose upkeep (food, care, clothing in old age, sickness, and childhood) costs more than wages. Moreover, slavery permeates the master's soul, diverting his will from wealth accumulation. Northern whites, needing to support themselves, make material well-being their primary goal, fostering an 'ingenious resourcefulness.' Southern whites, living in 'idle comfort,' disdain labor, seeking excitement and pleasure, nurturing a love of hunting and war, which contributed to the North's dominance in commerce, factories, railroads, and canals.