No, Slavery Did Not Make America Rich

In fact, slavery actually retarded economic growth.

by Corey Iacono
September 10, 2022

In 1847, Karl Marx wrote that:

"Without slavery, you have no cotton; without cotton, you have no modern industry…cause slavery to disappear and you will have wiped America off the map of nations."

As with most of his postulations concerning economics, Marx was proven wrong.

Following the Civil War and the abolition of slavery in 1865, historical data show there was a recession, but after that, post-war economic growth rates rivaled or surpassed the pre-war growth rates, and America continued on its path to becoming the number one political and economic superpower, ultimately superseding Great Britain (see Appendix Figure 1).