The William James Foundry 1817–1843: An Exposé of Local Metallurgical Enterprise

Abstract

It is a traditionally held view that slavery retarded industrial enterprises, and as such any form of metallurgical industries/activities, for example, would be alien in a slave society. Recent research has, however, indicated quite clearly the technological capacity of slave societies, noting that technological innovations including technical enterprises were evident in slave societies and thus challenges the 'incompatibility thesis' that slavery retarded economic development.