Not so much. See "Time On the Cross". Very profitable, cotton slave plantationing was - it was the feedstock to the massive growth in British textiles, the Sili

Not so much. See "Time On the Cross". Very profitable, cotton slave plantationing was - it was the feedstock to the massive growth in British textiles, the Silicon Valley of its day. What drove slavery into the ... juggernaut it became was more that financial panics in the US ( and also even more globally ) destroyed so much cash value that slaves were all that was left of value when the tide went out. I recommend the horribly-titled "A Nation of Deadbeats". It's narrative history, but wow its a good story. And at the same time, I bet financialization is completely critical to having the sort of standard of living we have now. Child labor only became an issue when adult labor began to be idled.