The first use of the word “capitalism” has been credited to an 1855 British novel, _The Newcomes_, which narrates the story of an English family who became wealthy through business and marrying into money (Thackeray 1996). While the term retained associations with wealth, “capitalism” is commonly linked to Adam Smith and Karl Marx, two political economists whose writings about society were published one hundred years apart and who held opposing views regarding capitalism. These views became schools of thought and have influenced and divided the world in opposing camps until today. What follows briefly describes (a) key elements of Smith’s and Marx’s views; (b) the roots of capitalism in the Latin American region; and (c) the nexus between capitalism and migration from the Dominican Republic to the United States. Capitalism is a mode of production that stimulates the private ownership of the means of production, the use of free labor, and the increasing accumulation of capital. It also generates capitalist ideology, a system of beliefs that justifies the system’s existence. Capitalist ideology is maintained and reproduced by the sword if needed; it permeates society’s institutions and people, ensuring the reproduction and development of capitalism. Many scholars link the rise and...