Prison Labor, Slavery & Capitalism In Historical Perspective
by Stephen Hartnett
Stephen Hartnett is a visiting lecturer in the Department of Rhetoric at the University of California-Berkeley. He is also a volunteer instructor in California's San Quentin Prison.
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Historical Perspectives on Prisons, Slavery, and Imperialism
It is important to recall that many of the first settlers of the "New World" were actually British, Scottish, Irish, French, German, and Dutch convicts sold into indentured servitude. Selling "criminals" to the companies exploring the Americas lowered the cost of maintaining European prisons (since they could remain relatively small), enabled the traditional elite to rid themselves of potential political radicals, and provided the cheap labor necessary for the first wave of colonization. Indeed, as detailed in both Peter Linebaugh's The London Hanged and A. R. Ekirch's Bound for America, there is a strong historical relationship between the need for policing the unruly working classes, fueling the military and economic needs of the capitalist class, and greasing the wheels of imperialism with both indentured servants and outright slavery.
An early US example of this three-pronged relationship occurred in Frankfurt, Kentucky in 1825. Joel Scott paid $1,000 for control of Kentucky's prison labor to build roads and canals facilitating settler traffic westward into Indian lands. After winning this contract, Scott built his own private 250-cell prison to house his new "workers." In a similar deal in 1844, Louisiana began leasing the labor of the prisoners in its Baton Rouge State Penitentiary to private contractors for $50,000 a year. California's San Quentin prison illustrates this same historical link between prison labor and capitalism. In 1852, J.M. Estill and M.G. Vallejo swapped land that was to become the site of the state capital for the management of California's prison laborers. These three antebellum examples are not typical of pre-Civil War labor arrangements, however. The institution of slavery in the South and the unprecedented migration of poor Europeans to America in the North provided the capitalist elite with ample labor at rock bottom prices. This left prison labor as a risky resource exploited by only the most adventurous capitalists.
Prison labor became a more significant part of modern capitalism during Reconstruction because the Civil War made immigration to America dangerous, left the U.S. economically devastated, and deprived capitalism of its lucrative slave labor. One of the responses to these crises was to build more prisons and then to lease the labor of prisoners, many of whom were ex-slaves, to labor-hungry capitalists.
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http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/hisprislacap.htmlTHE ROLE OF PRISONS IN THE SCHEME OF CAPITALISM
The role of the gulag system and of the police within the grand scheme of capitalism should be discussed, not as separate issues, but as related means of repression used by the state against the working-class, minorities and the poor. The police are the knuckles on the iron fist of the state and it's first line of defense to protect the few 'haves' from the many 'have nots'. The key role of oppression by the police is complemented by the judiciary, prisons, top elected officials who are placing into law ever more Draconian 'crime bills' and finally capital's last line of defense against dissent, the military, inclusive of the National Guard, a branch of the armed services that has in the past shown an eagerness to shoot down unarmed citizens, historically during black rebellions across this country. The National Guard's role of enforcing state oppression to protect capitalism's interests is easily understood by simply looking at Amerikkkan history.
Capitalist democracy perpetuates the myth that the state is neutral and representative of all people with the ultimate goal of protection of the 'rights' of all. Whilst in reality, the state's main goal is to run capitalism for the benefit of profit of the few who hold the vast majority of this nation's wealth under their direct control. The only way that capitalism can operate smoothly and survive is for the state to keep the working class, minorities, poor and those who challenge the status-quo in 'their place' to ensure the security of the economic and political power of the rich. The catch phrase 'law and order' used in reference to police functions means the law and order of capitalism, with far more resources and effort put into silencing dissent, stamping out potential threats to capitalist 'order' and keeping the lower classes down, under police terrorism than is ever paid to solving crimes or preventing criminal activity by antisocial predators against lower class victims. Most police work dealing with everyday crime is merely a smoke-screen, their main function is to defend the capitalist class and their middle class supporters who cringe at the mere thought of decisions or policy being forced on them from those below their station.
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http://www.haroldhthompson.uwclub.net/role_of_prisons_in_the_scheme_of.htm
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