Quote:
Originally Posted by kerry
Who employed the Irish to dig canals in NO? The city? I can see where a city would prefer wage slaves to chattel slaves. But couldn't slave owners have rented their slaves to the city to do the work? Were the Irish cheaper than hiring black slaves?
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Slave owners didn't want to risk their expensive property at the compensation rate offered so they refused to rent them out. It was cheaper for the city to contract Irish labor.