Modern Industrialism and the Negroes of the United States / The American Negro Academy, Occasional Papers No. 12

The essay examines how modern industrialism shapes the prospects of African Americans by tracing the historical interplay between technological innovations, the economic revival and expansion of slavery, and constitutional and territorial decisions that embedded the system in national life. It analyzes how labor-saving inventions and growing cotton demand increased reliance on enslaved labor, how legal compromises and westward expansion reinforced that reliance, and how the agricultural, enforced-ignorance character of Southern labor hindered economic diversification. Concluding remarks consider how understanding this past helps anticipate the social and economic challenges industrial capitalism poses for Black communities.