Southern employers preferred expendable Irish to valuable slaves purely economically

Evidence

In the South the slave figured prominently in both skilled and unskilled labor, and although working-class whites sought to restrict the use of slaves, the political power of the slaveholders generally prevented them from doing so. In some cases Irish immigrants were preferred to slaves, for reasons having nothing to do with race. Frederick Law Olmsted cited an official of an Alabama stevedoring company who explained why Irish workers were employed on the docks: “The niggers are worth too much to be risked here; if the Paddies are knocked overboard, or get their backs broke, nobody loses anything.” — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 387

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Early Irish immigrants worked in conditions resembling slave labor — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 33; Employers justified paying Irish workers less through a racial hierarchy. — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 256; English employers explained Irish wages through racial hierarchy beliefs. (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Employers justified paying Irish workers less through a racial hierarchy. #expands (0.85) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 256
• Early Irish immigrants worked in conditions resembling slave labor #complicates (0.80) — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 33
• English employers explained Irish wages through racial hierarchy beliefs. #contradicts (0.75)