====================== HES POSTING ====================== [EDITOR'S NOTE: This query is forwarded from H-Labor. The author is not subscribed to HES, but I will forwarded messages posted here to the author. I have also sent the author a copy of this message, with a note directing him to our recent (and ongoing) discussion about Adam Smith's reception in America. -- RBE] Hello: I'm doing research for a dissertation chapter on the Garrisonian abolitionists, their formulation of slavery as a conflict between free and slave labor systems, and the ways in which the Boston labor movement affected abolitionist strategies and rhetoric. I have two questions which I'd be grateful for any help with: 1) Does anyone have references for or know how David Ricardo's 1817 _Principles of Political Economy and Taxation_ was received in America? Abolitionists seem to give support to his theory of surplus value in their free-labor arguments, and I'm wondering, given the timing, if Ricardo might be a plausible reason. 2) Does anyone know of published or archival sources for information on free produce societies (groups that only purchased goods produced by (ostensibly) free laborers). Garrison calls for a network of free produce societies in the same newspaper article he calls for a network of national abolitionist organizations. I've seen references to individuals pursuing free labor purchasing and production activities, most notably Lydia Maria and David Child who experimented with free labor sugar beet production, but never to organized societies per se. Thanks in advance, Tyler Steben Wayne State University [log in to unmask] ============ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ============ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]