I have heard the controversy between economists and historians arguing about the origins of capitalism as explained through the lens of slavery in the US. Can someone explain to me, in an easy-to-understand manner, a possible historical explanation and how it might differ from an economist's POV?
Can I ask a clarifying question?
Would you like to know what the roll of chattel slavery was in the establishment of current capitalist institutions? (I can try my hand at this answer) Or are you looking for an answer about the historiography -- the way this has been argued and various narratives have been contested? (I can also try my hand at this one, though I'll need to search a bit more).
follow up question to whoever replies to this: in the age of revolutions, eric hobsbawm refers to two separate industrial revolutions occurring simultaneously in england and some of the cities of germany (with a caveat that i don't remember well. maybe that the german industrial revolutions didn't take on the same importance as the english ones because the german ones were located far inland?). do historians/economists understand these revolutions in similar ways given the differences in the english and german relationships with colonialism (pre-scramble for africa)?