Common historical fallacies: Difference between revisions - A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide

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== US History fallacies ==

=== Slavery was the basis of the American economy ===

=== Slavery was the basis of the colonial and antebellum American economy ===

==== logical fallacy 1: slave-produced exports were the driving force of the antebellum U.S. economy ====

* while cotton represented a significant portion of antebellum exports,

* and while cotton was the dominant slave-produced southern agricultural product,

** not all cotton was produced by slaves/ slave owners;

** exports were not a significant portion of the overall U.S. antebellum economy

click EXPAND to view chart of US exports as portion of the economy, 1790-1860:

MERCHANDISE IMPORTS, EXPORTS, AND TRADE BALANCE (billions of dollars):

Year Exports GDP Exports as % of GDP

1820 0.07 0.07 10%

1830 0.07 1.01 6.90%

1840 0.12 1.55 7.70%

1850 0.14 2.56 5.40%

1860 0.33 4.32 7.60%

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[[File:Slavery in the 13 colonies.jpg|thumb|Enslaved populations in the Thirteen Colonies in 1770.[1]]]

[[File:US-SlaveryPercentbyState1790-1860.svg|thumb|Evolution of the enslaved population of the United States as a percentage of the population of each state, 1790–1860]]

==== logical fallacy 1: colonial slave v. overall population growth ====

* the growth of colonial African slavery was linear (upward but constant) until the development of the cotton gin

==== logical fallacy 2: colonial period slave v. overall population growth ====

* we can measure the relative importance of slavery, as well as its expansion, by studying slave population numbers and growth

* growth of colonial African slavery was linear (upward but constant) until the development of the cotton gin

** up to 1800, colonial population growth was significantly higher for whites than for slaves (see chart)

* <U>CONCLUSION</U>: therefore increases in the slave population was not the basis of the colonial development

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==== logical fallacy 2: colonial per capita wealth not reliant upon slavery ====

==== logical fallacy 3: colonial per capita wealth not reliant upon slavery ====

* in 1774, slavery represented a significant proportion of per capita private wealth:

** 28.7% of national per capita wealth

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**** just as an office building has a value but its economic output is measured not by its value but by the sum of its rents

==== logical fallacy 3: black population growth for about slavery ====

==== logical fallacy 4: black population growth for about slavery ====

* according to the decennial Census count:

** only in the 1810 Census count did black population growth ''under slavery'' exceed that of non-black population growth