Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management by Caitlin Rosenthal, and: Slavery's Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development ed. by Sven Beckert and Seth Rockman (review)

Slavery and the Rise of American Capitalism

Slavery has deep roots in the rise of American capitalism, and two recent publications have made significant contributions toward our understanding of how human bondage shaped the growth of the United States' economy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management, by Caitlin Rosenthal, and Slavery's Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development, edited by Sven Beckert and Seth Rockman, each explore traditionally overlooked aspects of slavery's connection to business innovation and American capitalism and present readers with a fuller—and perhaps more complicated—narrative of the ties between enslavement and the economy.

Accounting for Slavery is a well-written and thoroughly researched book that offers significant insight into the development of accounting practices and scientific management on Southern and West Indian plantations. Rosenthal demonstrates how the incorporation of standardized account books enabled planters to keep detailed records of their operations, and makes it clear these printed books were an innovative technology that helped spur the growth of improved accounting practices among slaveholders. Additionally, she argues that some Southern and West Indian plantation owners incorporated modern management techniques into their daily operations much earlier than what the traditional narrative states, possibly making these owners some of the earliest businessmen to do such a thing. Rosenthal also suggests that slaveholders were uniquely suited to embrace advanced accounting practices thanks to both the complete control they had over their slaves and the access they had to a steady supply of human chattel. While her exploration of the growth of modern management and accounting practices on plantations is innovative and compelling, another aspect of her book is its impressive ability to keep the slaves themselves at the forefront of the story. Along with examining the various ways that slaveholders reduced the humanity of slaves into quantifiable figures that fit into the neatly organized categories of account books, Rosenthal does a remarkable job portraying the human beings whose lives were inextricably caught up in the incorporation and expansion of plantation accounting. She also succeeds in introducing the creators of the standardized account book as well as the planters who used them to enable the reader to understand business practices. Accounting for Slavery is a well-balanced book that contributes to historians' understanding of both business history and slavery, providing unique insights into both fields that will be of interest to experts and newcomers alike.

One of the most significant features of Rosenthal's work is her exploration of the uses of standardized account books on plantations and how they contributed to the improvement of data recording and labor organization. Beginning in Chapter 2, readers are informed how these journals enabled planters to better coordinate and evaluate daily labor distribution, monitor production output and the use of land, track their slaves' health and obedience, and record the condition of livestock and other features of their business. Plantation owners had access to a variety of printed journals that recorded information on a daily or monthly basis, which not only made their businesses more efficient but also management less difficult. Rosenthal suggests that absentee owners benefited from the use of standardized journals because these daily or monthly reports condensed the most essential data from their plantation's operations. Thus, owners could analyze organized data from afar to maintain accountability with their overseers. By using established categories, which required only basic arithmetic, the journals allowed owners to overcome overseers' educational limitations and unfamiliarity with record keeping to obtain accurate and consistent information.

In addition to showing the benefits that standardized account books offered to planters...