Defeating Slavery: Hamilton's American System Showed the Way

Slavery is not in America’s DNA. In the words of historian Gordon Wood, the American “Revolution created the first antislavery movement in the history of the world.”So why did it take a Civil War to finally end chattel slavery, a war whose consequences still shape American politics today?Nancy Spannaus argues that the crucial factor was the abandonment of the economic principles of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton envisioned creating an agro-industrial nation, which could only be built by eliminating the slave system. When Jefferson, and then Andrew Jackson, undermined and crushed Hamilton’s program, they put the nation on the path to war.Why American Slavery Persisted challenges today’s dominant narrative, providing evidence of early America’s extraordinary anti-slavery movement and the economic battle which the early abolitionists lost. By bringing the truth to light, she shows a pathway to resolving our crisis today. Read more