The Half Has Never Been Told

Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism

By: Edward E Baptist

Narrated by: Ron Butler

The classic history demonstrating that America's economic supremacy was built on the backs of enslaved people.

"Gripping." —New York Times

“A stinging indictment of slavery.” —NPR Books?

Americans tend to cast slavery as a pre-modern institution—the nation's original sin, perhaps, but isolated in time and divorced from America's later success. But to do so robs the millions who suffered in bondage of their full legacy. As historian Edward E. Baptist reveals in The Half Has Never Been Told, the expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence drove the evolution and modernization of the United States.

In the span of a single lifetime, the South grew from a narrow coastal strip of worn-out tobacco plantations to a continental cotton empire, and the United States grew into a modern, industrial, and capitalist economy. Told through the intimate testimonies of survivors of slavery, plantation records, newspapers, as well as the words of politicians and entrepreneurs, The Half Has Never Been Told offers a radical new interpretation of American history.

Winner of the Avery O. Craven Prize from the Organization of American Historians
Winner of the Sidney Hillman Prize

Critic reviews

“Abolitionists were contemptuous of such self-serving nonsense, but they too tended to see slavery as an economically inefficient, and morally reprehensible, hangover from the premodern past… In ‘The Half Has Never Been Told,’ Edward E. Baptist takes passionate issue with such assumptions. He asserts that slavery was neither inherently inefficient nor a counterpoint to capitalism. Rather, he says, it was woven inextricably into the transnational fabric of early 19th-century capitalism…Baptist writes with verve and a good eye for the dramatic…”—Wall Street Journal

"Baptist has a knack for explaining complex financial matters in lucid prose.... The Half Has Never Been Told's underlying argument is persuasive."—New York Times Book Review

"The overwhelming power of the stories that Baptist recounts, and the plantation-level statistics he's compiled, give his book the power of truth and revelation."
—Los Angeles Times

"It taught me so much about slavery and how slavery enabled America to become America. Every time I left my house after reading, I saw the world differently. I saw the legacy of human misery underpinning it all."—Jesmyn Ward, author of Sing, Unburied, Sing

"Baptist has a fleet, persuasive take on the materialist underpinnings of the 'peculiar institution.'"—Colson Whitehead, author of The Nickel Boys

"By far the finest account of the deep interplay of the slave trade...and the development of the U.S. economy."—Stephen L. Carter

"You cannot understand the economy of the U.S. - or even of the world -without an understanding of how its development was driven by 19th century slavery. This book gives you that, in a stunningly readable, heartbreaking form. Genius."—Mark Bittman, author of Animal, Vegetable, Junk

“New books like ‘Empire of Cotton’ and ‘The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism’ by Edward Baptist offer gripping and more nuanced stories of economic history.”—Vikas Bajaj, New York Times

"Thoughtful, unsettling.... Baptist turns the long-accepted argument that slavery was economically inefficient on its head, and argues that it was an integral part of America's economic rise."—Daily Beast

“A stinging indictment of slavery.”—NPR Books

“This book provides historical reference for the ways in which the enslavement of people for profit continues to impact and influence today’s institutions. A must-read for everyone who has ever heard the statement, ‘But slavery is over! Why can’t they just get over it?’ or ‘Well, you know white people were slaves, too.’”
—Alicia Garza, The Atlantic

Very Informative

Enjoyed the information presented. More untold stories must be known for the true history.

Great detailed information of African American History and American Capitalism

I liked the way the author wrote details about how wealth was built, wars were fought and African American people were used as commodity/property in the US. I learned that many enslavers were not wealthy but bought slaves on credit from banks. This telling book showed how dependent the North and South were on the cotton, rice, tobacco and sugarcane produced by African Americans. The success of these crops led to expansion West and the taking of Native American lands and wars. There was so much information that listening on audiobook made this integral part of US history easier because of the sheer length of the book.

Slavery. I am not ashamed. It is history.

Very detailed explanation of the institution of slavery and the making of this nation. It makes the understanding of slavery very clear. He explains the wealth slavery generated for the north south and the world. I can understand why the pushback was so intense against the freedom of the enslaved and the continued oppression of a people. However I emphatically disagree with the entire institution. It is the history of this nation and it should be told as such. We should never forget what a nation of people had to endure. The Jew remembers and reminds the world and so does the Indian why should those who continue to be subjected be any different.

Deep insight into the past truth that appears today

This is a very powerful book! Stunning experience reading it and learning the real truth of the story of slavery. But it is more, much more.

At first I was curious about the dismemberment of the body used as chapter divisions. Then, I understood.

The sections on how the slave owners overreached in their greed for the expansion of slavery into the territories echoes the Republican’s overreach for power and money today.

A clear journey though much needed truth

Amazing. I am so full of appreciation for the truth journey this book has provided. Organized for the visual, tactile, and auditory learner! As a native of the Mississippi Delta I was moved to tears as I was given such a clearly woven account of slavery’s expansion. Our education system teaches US history in such a disjointed manner that it comes across as unrelated times, date, events, and national figures. I now understand why. I’ve learned so much about the history of US, of ME. And I’m damn proud to be a descendant of such an amazing people! I’ve been able to get such a deeper understanding that informs my Ancestry.com journey. Just absorbing it all. Umph.