Africans and the Industrial Revolution in England: A Study in International Trade and Economic Development by Inikori, Joseph E. Inikori, Joseph E.

From the Publisher

Drawing on classical development theory and recent theoretical advances on the connection between expanding markets and technological developments, this book reveals the critical role of the expansion of Atlantic commerce in the successful completion of England's industrialization from 1650-1850. The volume is the first detailed study of the role of overseas trade in the Industrial Revolution. It revises other explanations that have recently dominated the field and shifts the assessment of African contribution away from the debate on profits.

Booknews

Arguing that private enterprise, market-based models of industrialization are only possible with an intensive involvement in international trade, Inikori (history, U. of Rochester) links the industrialization process in England (specifically, the completion of the mechanization of cotton textiles) to the role of the African Diaspora in the production of cotton as a commodity in the Americas. He argues that Atlantic trade was the central driving force behind England's industrialization and that this would not have been possible without the forced labor of African commodity production. The economies of scale of slave labor allowed prices on trade to be kept low enough that textile products were brought within reach of all of England's social classes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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