Econocide

British Slavery in the Era of Abolition

Seymour Drescher

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780807871799, 9780807834466
• eBook ISBN: 9780807899595
• Edition: 2
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Economic History
• Index: History

In this classic analysis and refutation of Eric Williams’s 1944 thesis, Seymour Drescher argues that Britain’s abolition of the slave trade in 1807 resulted not from the diminishing value of slavery for Great Britain but instead from the British public’s mobilization against the slave trade, which forced London to commit what Drescher terms “econocide.” This action, he argues, was detrimental to Britain’s economic interests at a time when British slavery was actually at the height of its potential.

Originally published in 1977, Drescher’s work was instrumental in undermining the economic determinist interpretation of abolitionism that had dominated historical discourse for decades following World War II. For this second edition, which includes a foreword by David Brion Davis, Drescher has written a new preface, reflecting on the historiography of the British slave trade since this book’s original publication.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Econocide
• Econocide British Slavery in the Era of Abolition
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Acknowledgments
• 1 The Decline Theory of Abolition
• 2 The 1770s as the Pivot of British Slavery
• 3 The Protected Economy Before the French Slave Revolution
• 4 The Unprotected Economy Before the French Slave Revolution
• 5 The Growth of Slavery in the Era of British Supremacy
• 6 The New Frontier and Abolition
• 7 Economic Conjuncture and Abolition Bills, 1791–1806
• 8 The Market Mechanism and Abolition
• 9 Abolition and the Decline of British Slavery, 1808–1814
• 10 Beyond Economic Interest
• Abbreviations
• APPENDIX I Chronology
• APPENDIX II Estimating the Sugar, Coffee, and Slave Trades
• APPENDIX III The Relative Strength of Suggested Motives in the Votes of 1806–1807
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index