The economic development of the West cannot be understood without slavery, although this reality is neglected in the standard histories of capitalism. As late as 1800, other nations such as China or Japan could have emerged to occupy the place that Europe and the United States did in global capitalism, but it was the advantage provided by slavery that allowed the colonizer nations to emerge as superpowers.

Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, loc. 253