Comparing free and slave-owning states and the communities within them in the years leading up to the Civil War has the potential to reveal a great deal regarding their similarities and differences. In the case of The Difference Slavery Made by Thomas and Ayers, the nearby counties of Augusta and Franklin provide upon careful examination some surprising revelations. The distinct North-South divide in cultural and economic particulars, so often used to clearly delineate the ‘Modern’ North from the ‘Stuck in the Past’ South, proves upon closer view to not be nearly as universally accurate as once thought. Despite the presence of slavery in one community and its absence in the other, the two areas seem to have maintained very similar characteristics; this is particularly intriguing when it comes to economic factors.
The Themes in American History class which I took last semester dealt extensively with the issue of slavery and its effects on our country’s development. I found it very interesting to learn that, contrary to popular opinion, using slaves wasn’t actually noticeably cheaper than paid workers. While slaves provided ‘free’ labor, they first had to be purchased (often at very sizable price), then food, housing, clothing, and a host of other goods and services had to be provided by the slave-owner. Coupled with the very real risk of a slave escaping (and in effect making their owner’s substantial investment worthless), these issues in effect brought the profitability of slavery down to a level roughly comparable with using paid workers.
Though slavery had very real and noticeable effects on social realities on communities in which it was present, the economic situations seemed to be remarkably similar regardless of this distinction. This in turn brings up the very important question of why slavery persisted for so long; if it didn’t provide a substantial economic advantage, then why did its use continue for such a long period of time? In my opinion, this choice may have had more to do with societies being so used to slavery that a change was viewed with no small amount of apprehension, but a definitive answer may never be truly agreed upon.
