Final answer:
Slave labor in the American South created a workforce without incentives to improve productivity, directly contrasting with the values of the free-labor capitalist system. It also stifled economic opportunities for non-slaveholders and upheld a system that lacked the upward social mobility characteristic of a dynamic economy. The southern political stronghold obstructed efforts to transition to a more efficient, free labor system.
Step-by-step explanation:
To support the assertion that slave labor prevented American capitalism from becoming more efficient quickly, we need to examine the socio-economic impacts of slavery, especially in the context of industrial development and the free labor ideology. Proponents of free labor argued that slavery undermined the work ethic and impeded social mobility, leading to systemic inefficiencies in the economy.
Slave labor created a class of workers with no incentive to increase productivity because they did not benefit from their labor. This situation was unlike the free-labor capitalist system where workers were paid for their labor and could improve their standard of living through hard work. Furthermore, slavery contributed to a culture that discouraged the values of hard work and frugality, which were thought to be drivers of capitalist efficiency and progress.
From the Northern perspective, the slave-based economy led to a social structure where non-slaveholders, particularly poor whites, had limited opportunities to advance economically. This scenario contrasted sharply with the capitalist ideal that hard work and industriousness should lead to upward mobility. The institution of slavery, entrenched by Southern dominance in politics, prevented government action that could promote a more efficient and equitable labor system.