Capitalism and Slavery
E1037187
Capitalism and Slavery is a seminal historical study by Eric Williams that argues the rise and decline of slavery in the British Empire were fundamentally driven by economic forces tied to the development of capitalism.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Capitalism and Slavery canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T13386718 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Capitalism and Slavery Context triple: [Eric Williams, notableWork, Capitalism and Slavery]
-
A.
The Coming Slavery
"The Coming Slavery" is an essay by Herbert Spencer warning that expanding state control and social legislation would gradually erode individual liberty and lead to a form of modern servitude.
-
B.
The African Slave Trade and Its Remedy
The African Slave Trade and Its Remedy is an 1839 abolitionist treatise by Thomas Fowell Buxton that analyzes the transatlantic slave trade and advocates practical measures, including legitimate commerce and political action, to end it.
-
C.
Slavery and Freedom
"Slavery and Freedom" is a philosophical work by Nicolas Berdyaev that explores the spiritual and existential dimensions of human freedom in contrast to various forms of inner and outer bondage.
-
D.
A Discourse on Slavery in the United States
A Discourse on Slavery in the United States is an 1830s abolitionist sermon by reformer Samuel Joseph May that denounces American slavery on moral and religious grounds.
-
E.
Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade
Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade is an influential 1788 pamphlet by former slave ship captain turned Anglican clergyman John Newton, in which he condemns and details the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Capitalism and Slavery Target entity description: Capitalism and Slavery is a seminal historical study by Eric Williams that argues the rise and decline of slavery in the British Empire were fundamentally driven by economic forces tied to the development of capitalism.
-
A.
The Coming Slavery
"The Coming Slavery" is an essay by Herbert Spencer warning that expanding state control and social legislation would gradually erode individual liberty and lead to a form of modern servitude.
-
B.
The African Slave Trade and Its Remedy
The African Slave Trade and Its Remedy is an 1839 abolitionist treatise by Thomas Fowell Buxton that analyzes the transatlantic slave trade and advocates practical measures, including legitimate commerce and political action, to end it.
-
C.
Slavery and Freedom
"Slavery and Freedom" is a philosophical work by Nicolas Berdyaev that explores the spiritual and existential dimensions of human freedom in contrast to various forms of inner and outer bondage.
-
D.
A Discourse on Slavery in the United States
A Discourse on Slavery in the United States is an 1830s abolitionist sermon by reformer Samuel Joseph May that denounces American slavery on moral and religious grounds.
-
E.
Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade
Thoughts Upon the African Slave Trade is an influential 1788 pamphlet by former slave ship captain turned Anglican clergyman John Newton, in which he condemns and details the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
book
ⓘ
historical study ⓘ |
| academicDiscipline |
Caribbean studies
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
economic history ⓘ history ⓘ |
| argues |
profits from West Indian slavery and the slave trade contributed significantly to the development of British industrial capitalism
ⓘ
slavery declined when it ceased to be economically profitable for British capitalists ⓘ |
| author | Eric Williams NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| centralThesis |
British abolition of the slave trade was motivated primarily by economic self‑interest rather than humanitarianism
ⓘ
the rise and decline of slavery in the British Empire were driven by economic forces ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | United Kingdom ⓘ |
| describedAs |
classic of Caribbean historiography
ⓘ
seminal work on slavery and capitalism ⓘ |
| focusesOnPeriod |
17th century
ⓘ
18th century ⓘ early 19th century ⓘ |
| genre | non‑fiction ⓘ |
| hasISBN | 9780807844885 ⓘ |
| hasReissue |
1960s reprint by University of North Carolina Press
ⓘ
21st‑century reissues and new editions ⓘ |
| impact |
influenced later dependency and world‑systems theories of underdevelopment
ⓘ
sparked extensive scholarly debate on the economic impact of slavery ⓘ |
| influenced |
historiography of British abolition
ⓘ
historiography of slavery ⓘ studies of capitalism and empire ⓘ |
| influencedBy | Marxist economic theory ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mediaType | print ⓘ |
| notableFor |
challenging moral and humanitarian explanations of abolition
ⓘ
linking the growth of British industrial capitalism to slavery and the slave trade ⓘ |
| originalPublisher | André Deutsch NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| pageCount | 224 ⓘ |
| placeOfComposition |
Trinidad and Tobago
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
United Kingdom NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| placesInContext |
development of British capitalism
ⓘ
transition from mercantilism to industrial capitalism ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1944 ⓘ |
| publisher | University of North Carolina Press NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| relatedConcept | Williams thesis NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| setting |
British Empire
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Caribbean colonies ⓘ |
| subject |
Atlantic slave trade
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
British capitalism ⓘ abolition of the slave trade ⓘ economic history ⓘ slavery in the British Empire ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Capitalism and Slavery Description of subject: Capitalism and Slavery is a seminal historical study by Eric Williams that argues the rise and decline of slavery in the British Empire were fundamentally driven by economic forces tied to the development of capitalism.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.