The ‘1619 Project’ Is Wrong About Capitalism, but Not in the Way You May Think

Commentary
In 1834, an angry mob descended on a gathering at a New York church. Their target was Lewis and Arthur Tappan, owners of a successful mercantile import business. When the Tappans fled, the mob went to Lewis Tappan’s home and threw his belongings into a fire on the street. The Tappans were the epitome of American capitalism and entrepreneurship. Not coincidentally, they were also prominent abolitionists. The pro-slavery mob wanted to bring them to their knees.

The 1619 Project, a series of essays and poems by New York Times journalists, blames capitalism for slavery. “In order to understand the brutality of American capitalism,” writes Matthew Desmond, “you have to start on the plantation.” They are confused. Slavery springs from anti-capitalism. As Phillip Magness of the American Institute for Economic Research explains, pro-slavery theorists of the 19th century held capitalism in contempt, while the free market liberal tradition had a directly adversarial view of slavery. Free enterprise and personal autonomy are two sides of the same coin….