[DiogenesLamp]

To test the assertion, it would be helpful to know what the cost of a slave (to compare like to like, let’s say a young male slave for field labor) was between (say) 1840-1861, adjusted for inflation or other changes to the value of currency. I’ll dig around to see what I can find.

My recollection from what I read is that a slave was worth approximately $100,000 in modern dollars, but cost around $1,000.00 in 1860 dollars.

I recall the riots in New York had men shouting the slogan "Our lives are not worth as much as a slave!" referring to the $300.00 cost of getting out of military service versus the $1,000.00 cost for buying a slave.

[RegulatorCountry]

Forcibly conscripted men going to war solely to end involuntary servitude has always struck me as an odd thing to believe anyway.

[ek_hornbeck]

To address the question about whether expansion of slavery was mostly an economic question, it would be good to compare the (equivalent in modern $) price of slaves in 1840 or 50 to that in 1860. If slaves were dropping in price due to a surplus, then it lends credence to the claim that the main motive for expansion of slavery into the western territories was partly or largely economic.