ABSTRACT
At this point it is pertinent to inquire into the significance which the acquisition and exploitation of the great non-European regions had for the development of modern capitalism, although only the most characteristic features of the older colonial policy can be mentioned here. From 1807 to 1848, a further five million slaves were imported from Africa, and the aggregate of slaves transported thence overseas can be set equal to the population of a first class European power in the 18th century. The profits of the slave labor were by no means small. In England in the 18th century they were estimated at fifteen to twenty pounds sterling per slave per year. The end of the capitalistic method of exploiting colonies coincides with the abolition of slavery. In the period from the 16th to the 18th century, slavery signified as little for the economic organization of Europe as it did much for the accumulation of wealth in Europe.
