From Williams’s Thesis to Williams Thesis: An Anti-Colonial Trajectory

Abstract

Eric Williams's Capitalism and Slavery, published in 1944, is one of the most influential and controversial historical studies of the twentieth century. 1 This relatively short book firmly associated the name of its author to key debates about the connections between capitalist development, slavery, the slave trade, abolitionism, and the roots of racismtopics that have recently re-emerged in quite remarkable fashion. 2 This fact in itself * I would like to thank Angelie Sens, Artwell Cain, and Karel Davids for reading and commenting on the draft version of this article. I also profited from extensive discussions on Eric Williams's work with Marcus Rediker and Seymour Drescher during my time at the University of Pittsburgh. Marcel van der Linden encouraged me to delve into the origins of the Williams Thesis, and I am grateful to Dale Tomich for convincing me to study Williams's dissertation, as well as for his efforts to make it available to scholars internationally. Of course, all the customary disclaimers as to their responsibility for the contents of this article firmly apply.

A Theory of Capitalist Slavery

“…A third influential thesis of Williams was that New World slavery (itself driven by economic forces) was responsible for anti-black racism, rather than vice versa. For an overview of the various Williams theses and the debates they spawned see Brandon (2017). 5 Baptist (2014), Beckert (2015), Rockman and Beckert (2016), Olmstead and Rhode (2018), and Wright (Forthcoming).…”

“…This was a point for which Williams was criticized by his Marxist mentor C. L. R. James who argued that Caribbean sugar plantations were some of the first fully capitalist units of production (James ). The word “capitalism” occurs nowhere in Williams’ dissertation, on which he based his book, and in the book he uses it only to describe the domestic British industrial and commercial economy of the 18th and 19th centuries (Brandon ; Neptune ).…”

“…See particularly James’s critique of Aptheker (James ). James was also critical of Williams for underplaying slave resistance in his early work, a criticism that prompted Williams to add, just prior to publication of Capitalism and Slavery , a chapter on the slave’s contribution to abolition (Brandon ).…”

“…This was a point for which Williams was criticized by his Marxist mentor C. L. R. James who argued that Caribbean sugar plantations were some of the first fully capitalist units of production(James 1943). The word "capitalism" occurs nowhere in Williams' dissertation, on which he based his book, and in the book he uses it only to describe the domestic British industrial and commercial economy of the 18th and 19th centuries(Brandon 2017;Neptune 2019). 9 Although Wright defends Williams' original thesis, he challenges those who seek to extend it to 19th century America(Wright, Forthcoming).10 Fogel was responsible for ex-communicating Genovese from the Youth wing of the party(Roediger 2010, 231).11 In his early writings on slavery Genovese was merely restating the classical view that slavery was economically inefficient (either because slaves lacked incentives to work or slaveowners lacked incentives to invest or innovate), a view most famously associated with Adam Smith and U.B.…”

“…See particularly James's critique of Aptheker(James 1939). James was also critical of Williams for underplaying slave resistance in his early work, a criticism that prompted Williams to add, just prior to publication of Capitalism and Slavery, a chapter on the slave's contribution to abolition(Brandon 2017).18 Seth Rockman, a leading historian of capitalism, has commended the field's "disavowal of theoretical definitions"(Rockman 2014, 444). Louis Hyman, another prominent figure in the field, argues that "simply defining capitalism is a bad idea.…”