Mail*Link(r) SMTP               Slavery
 
I must say being a colonial the use of slaves in industry came as a surprise
to me when I first found out about it. I had visions of the cotton fields and
Muddy Water. Drew's book is an excellent work which really is a "thick"
history that for me at least changed the way I viewed slavery in the US. I
recommend it for anyone wanting to learn about slavery and the iron industry.
 
The arguement that cheap labour or slave labour is a reason for protection is
very old and is well used in Australia especially in the context of the
protection of Australian industry against "cheap" labour in Japan, China and
South East Asia. Recently the Americans have complained about our cheap labour
in the car seat leather arguement. In most cases the retoric is divorced from
what might be considered the facts of the matter. Without wanting to tell
anyone how to suck eggs it is important to consider the retorical nature of
any historical doccuments.
 
Iain Stuart