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America may not have become the absolute economic powerhouse that it became if it wasn't for the 2+ centuries of uncompensated labor, but IIRC America was the o
by rrrrrrrrrrrryan 4y ago
America may not have become the absolute economic powerhouse that it became if it wasn't for the 2+ centuries of uncompensated labor, but IIRC America was the only nation that had to fight a war to end slavery. Most nations simply bought the slaves from the slaveowners and then freed them, which might have actually been cheaper than fighting the Civil War.
- bpodgursky 4y agoThe south wasn't a meaningful contributor to the US's economic powerhouse status. That's the whole reason they lost the civil war — it was an economic backwater with almost no factories, and what useful goods they traded abroad were fairly easily replaced (so no European country bothered trying to help them).
- charlieyu1 4y agoMost nations have slaves far longer than 2+ centuries. Poor families had been selling their children to rich families to work until early 20th century in China