Southern Slave labor is what made NYC the financial capital of the world

[keon]

Lehman Bros. link to slavery

Several financial institutions involved in the current U.S. economic crisis—Lehman Bros., Wachovia Bank, Chase Bank and Aetna Inc.—have interesting background stories and one thing in common: their connection to the inhumane institution of slavery.


Numerous capitalist merchants benefited hugely from the transatlantic slave trade and the industries associated with it. For several centuries the economies of the U.S. North and South were intertwined by slavery. By the mid-1800s, capital investment in slaves was higher than the value of land or any other capital worth.

Southern slave labor made New York City the financial capital of the world. Cotton produced on plantations became the main product of export and a major source of the city’s wealth. Large textile mills gave New York State a booming economy.

Both cotton and enslaved workers treated as “property” were among the first commodities on the stock market. Cotton trading accounted for the country’s expansive growth for an extended historical period. Profits from the slave trade financed the industrial revolution.

The Lehman family members were Alabama cotton brokers. In 1850 they founded Lehman Brothers Investments, acquiring their capital and wealth by investing and trading in cotton. Three sons moved to New York City in 1858, where they later helped to establish the New York Cotton Exchange (1870).

In 1781, Wachovia Bank of North Carolina was founded on the profits of the slave trade. Its predecessors, the Bank of Charleston, S.C., and the Bank of North America, made loans to slave “owners” and accepted slaves as collateral. When the owners defaulted on the loans the banks became the new slave owners.

The Morgan family of Massachusetts was a major stock broker. JP Morgan brokers became JP Morgan/Chase. Their predecessor banks also made loans to slave owners and accepted 13,000 enslaved Africans as “collateral.” When owners defaulted, the banks acquired their fortunes by becoming the new owners of 1,250 slaves. Chase Bank is owned by the Rockefeller family.

Another profitable company was Aetna Insurance Co., which sold insurance to slave owners wanting to protect their investments of human cargo aboard the slave ships and on the plantations, should a slave die. The life insurance policies, issued in the 1850s, were intended to compensate slave owners for the loss of people who were at that time considered “property.”

Wall Street and slavery are connected in other ways. Wall Street got its name because of a physical wall built there along the river to protect New York City from invasion. Slave labor built the wall and much of the city. Slave auctions were held at the foot of Wall Street when ships carrying enslaved Africans arrived.

Slavery resulted in these capitalistic enterprises becoming profitable and powerful. The foundation of U.S. capitalism was built on slave labor and racism. After the Civil War, the U.S. went from competitive capitalism to imperialism and became a financial empire.

Now the government is bailing out these same companies and the burden again is falling most heavily on the working class, including the descendents of those slaves.

If only the enslaved Africans could have been fortunate enough to have been bailed out of the slavery system, but it’s not too late for their descendents to be given reparations.

@ wall street

and i hope none of you black bros & sisters work for, or put ya'll money in any of those banks

 

[Reality]

Lehman Bros. link to slavery



@ wall street

and i hope none of you black bros & sisters work for, or put ya'll money in any of those banks

Yeah, that'll show 'em.

 

[88m3]

It's pretty hard to work for or put your money into Lehman Brothers or Wachovia.

 

[keon]

Yeah, that'll show 'em.

who said anything about teaching anybody a lesson? this is more of an enlightening thing breh

It's pretty hard to work for or put your money into Lehman Brothers or Wachovia.

not chase thou

 

[theworldismine13]

Lehman Bros. link to slavery



@ wall street

and i hope none of you black bros & sisters work for, or put ya'll money in any of those banks

whats your point? are you saying black people shouldnt work for banks in wall street?

 

[keon]

whats your point? are you saying black people shouldnt work for banks in wall street?

so you wouldn't feel a certain way about working for a company you know for a fact basically got their "start up" money from slavery?(if your black)

 

[theworldismine13]

so you wouldn't feel a certain way about working for a company you know for a fact basically got their "start up" money from slavery?

thats irrelevant, suggesting that black people not work at wall street is silly

 

[keon]

thats irrelevant, suggesting that black people not work at wall street is silly

why not? when wall st continues to fukk us over?

How Wall Street Profits from Kicking Black People Off Their Land | Alternet

Here in the United States foreclosures have separated millions of black and brown Americans from their property. Four out of 10 of the nearly 10 million people who’ve been foreclosed are black and Latino.

Like the residents of Sapelo Island, these men and women lost ownership due to circumstances largely beyond their control. Banks steered credit worthy people of color into dodgy home loans. Once the loans went sour, as they were sure to do, blacks and Latinos were forced into bankruptcy and on the street.

Now those same banks that made the loans and hustled homeowners out are profiting from the mess they created.

Presently, Wall Street is spending billions of dollars to buy these foreclosed homes and rent them back to the very people from whom they took them. The loss of property by blacks and Latinos due to this foreclosure racket has led the net worth in communities of color to plunge to the lowest level on record. Black and brown wealth has been transferred to the balance sheet of America’s largest banks.

The same dynamic is at work in the ongoing process of “gentrification” in urban America. Black and brown neighborhoods that were impoverished, due to intentional neglect by banks and municipalities, have suddenly been labeled as desirable. The same banks that helped create urban distress are profiting from it as they dispense new loans to mostly “ hipster and high income sophisto professional” newcomers, as Forbes Magazine contributor Joel Kotkin calls them. In the process, money is made by ushering out traditional residents who couldn’t get banks to make mortgages for 40 years.

According to Forbes, Brooklyn, with the highest concentration of gentrifying ZIP codes in the country, is now the second most expensive place in America to live. That’s no accident. Brooklyn also has the highest foreclosure rate of any neighborhood in New York City.

 

[newworldafro]

I'm familiar with most of this........ we learned about Wachovia Bank origins (from the Moravians, like the southern version of Quakers sorta/kinda) in North Carolina history class in maybe 7th grade, but of course it never mentioned the slave aspect of it.....

What has been most interesting the last few years is on an amateur level filling in the details of history that you learned in school....most of us aren't history majors....but all of us learned a lil something, so the internet has seemingly allowed the details/and lesser known aspects of well known events to be presented......and many times revised aspects of these events....


history is interesting to the say the least....

 

[88m3]

Who you should really be concerned with are the wells fargo's today and others targeting minorities with discriminatory lending practices.

 

[Slaimon Khan Shah]

WOW, I DID NOT KNOW THAT. BUT REMEMBER ALL BLESSINGS ARE FROM THE CREATOR, THE MOST MERCIFULL.

 

[theworldismine13]

why not? when wall st continues to fukk us over?

How Wall Street Profits from Kicking Black People Off Their Land | Alternet

because you cant keep running from it like a little beatch, banks are the foundation of any economic system, so by avoiding banks you are avoiding economic progress and the less black people work at these companies the more shyt like that would happen

the story you posted means that we need more black people working at these banks

 

[Kid McNamara]

If you investigate any old money institution, you will likely find a link to slavery or discrimination. I'm sorry, I mean to say, any institution period.

Not sure what the point of this thread is, but discouraging blacks from pursuing a career in economics or banking is certainly not going to assuage our collective history.

 

[ROFL_GUY]

NYC isnt the fianacial capital of the world


HONG KONG is the worlds fincanial capital has been since 2010

 

[Domingo Halliburton]

NYC isnt the fianacial capital of the world


HONG KONG is the worlds fincanial capital has been since 2010

I thought more money went through London than anywhere else. I might be wrong.


Anyways the Chicago Board of Trade (now the CME) was formed in like 1850. I never thought about slaves being involved though.