100 Objects #12: "Negro Cloth"
Summary
Host Roman Mars interviews historian Seth Rockman about his book *Plantation Goods*, focusing on a rare scrap of "Negro cloth" found in archival letters. Rockman explains how Northern manufacturers, like Rhode Island’s Hazard brothers, profited from slavery by producing durable textiles for enslaved people in the South. The episode explores the economic interdependence between North and South, the moral rationalizations of producers, and how these historical supply chains mirror modern ethical dilemmas in global consumerism.
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