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Egalitarianism, Inequality, and Age: The Rural North in 1860

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  • Atack, Jeremy
  • Bateman, Fred

Abstract

Little is known about the distribution of wealth in the allegedly egalitarian society of the rural North on the eve of the Civil War. This paper investigates the role of the age structure of the heads of household and a life-cycle pattern of accumulation in determining the wealth distribution within that society and among the various groups that comprised it. The results suggest a need for caution in making cross-group or inter-temporal comparisons in wealth distributions without taking account of such factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Atack, Jeremy & Bateman, Fred, 1981. "Egalitarianism, Inequality, and Age: The Rural North in 1860," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(1), pages 85-93, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:41:y:1981:i:01:p:85-93_04
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    Cited by:

    1. Walker, Thomas R., 2000. "Economic Opportunity on the Urban Frontier: Wealth and Nativity in Early San Francisco," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 258-277, July.
    2. Joshua L. Rosenbloom & Gregory W. Stutes, 2005. "Reexamining the Distribution of Wealth in 1870," NBER Working Papers 11482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Richard H. Steckel & Carolyn M. Moehling, 2000. "Wealth Inequality Trends in Industrializing New England: New Evidence and Tests of Competing Hypotheses," NBER Historical Working Papers 0122, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jaworski, Taylor, 2009. "War and wealth: economic opportunity before and after the Civil War, 1850-1870," Economic History Working Papers 22303, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    5. Livio Di Matteo, 2016. "Wealth Distribution and the Canadian Middle Class: Historical Evidence and Policy Implications," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 42(2), pages 132-151, June.
    6. Bengtsson, Erik & Svensson, Patrick, 2018. "The wealth of the Swedish peasant farmer class 1750–1900: Composition and distribution," Lund Papers in Economic History 177, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    7. Erik Bengtsson & Patrick Svensson, 2017. "The stratification of the Swedish peasant farmer class, 1750-1900," Working Papers 17019, Economic History Society.
    8. Di Matteo, Livio, 1998. "Wealth Accumulation and the Life-Cycle in Economic History: Implications of Alternative Approaches to Data," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 296-324, July.
    9. J. R. Kearl & Clayne L. Pope, 1986. "Choices, Rents, and Luck: Economic Mobility of Nineteenth-Century Utah Households," NBER Chapters, in: Long-Term Factors in American Economic Growth, pages 215-260, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Di Matteo, Livio, 2013. "Women, wealth and economic change: An assessment of the impact of women's property law in Wentworth County, Ontario, 1872–1927," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 285-307.
    11. Livio Di Matteo, 2008. "Wealth accumulation motives: evidence from the probate records of Ontario, 1892 and 1902," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 2(2), pages 143-171, July.

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