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Full Idea
Slavery cannot be abolished without the steam-engine.
Gist of Idea
Slavery cannot be abolished without the steam-engine
Source
K Marx / F Engels (The German Ideology [1846], §1.B)
Book Ref
Marx,K./Engels,F.: 'The German Ideology', ed/tr. Arthur,C.J. [Lawrence and Wishart 1985], p.61
A Reaction
In Britain and its colonies it does appear that the rise of factories and the abolition of slavery coincided. It is hard to see why this should be a necessity, though. Did the early Christians keep slaves? Some ancient Greeks objected to slavery.