This article was originally published by Wanjiru Njoya at the Mises Institute.  In their book Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery, Robert W. Fogel and Stanley L. Engermen analyzed various elements of the slave economy including the role of slave traders from New England in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the profitability of slave labor, and material conditions on Southern plantations including the health, diet, and general lifestyle of slaves. For embarking on this study of economic history—first published in 1974—they were accused by progressive academics of being “amoral” and “trying to sell slavery.” Although they rejected the…

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