The Invisible Hand and the Slave Trade

[name and institution withheld]

Abstract: Adam Smith’s two-sentence critique of the slave trade in Part V of The Theory of
Moral Sentiments (1759) was quoted in full by such early slave-trade abolitionists as Thomas
Clarkson and William Wilberforce. Given Smith’s harsh description of the indigenous “savage
nations” of North America in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, we will try to make sense of
Smith’s posture toward the slave trade. Also, building on the work of such scholars as Frank
Hahn, Daniel B. Klein, and Emma Rothschild, we will explore the relationship between Smith’s
“invisible hand” metaphor and his rebuke of the slave trade.

Keywords: slavery, slave trade, Adam Smith, Thomas Clarkson, abolitionism, William
Wilberforce.

Expected completion: This paper will be completed by June 1, 2019.