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African and European Bound Labor in the British New World: The Biological Consequences of Economic Choices

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  • Coelho, Philip R. P.
  • McGuire, Robert A.

Abstract

This article offers an explanation for the regional differences in the use of African and European bound labor in colonial America. The migrations of Africans and Europeans to the Americas set in motion an evolutionary process that caused regional changes in the disease ecology of the New World. Biological and epidemiological differences among populations explain the different regional labor supply choices. This article emphasizes the interactions between changing populations and disease environments. Diseases are intermediaries through which populations interact by causing illness and death. Not all populations are equally afflicted by specific diseases. Therein lies the story.

Suggested Citation

  • Coelho, Philip R. P. & McGuire, Robert A., 1997. "African and European Bound Labor in the British New World: The Biological Consequences of Economic Choices," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(1), pages 83-115, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:57:y:1997:i:01:p:83-115_01
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    Cited by:

    1. Lagerlöf, Nils-Petter, 2003. "Slavery and other property rights," MPRA Paper 372, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Aug 2006.
    2. Öberg, Stefan & Rönnbäck, Klas, 2016. "Mortality among European settlers in pre-colonial West Africa: The “White Man’s Grave” revisited," Göteborg Papers in Economic History 20, University of Gothenburg, Unit for Economic History.
    3. Lagerlöf, Nils-Petter & Basher, Syed A., 2005. "Geography, population density, and per-capita income gaps across US states and Canadian provinces," MPRA Paper 369, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Sep 2006.
    4. Mitchener, Kris James & McLean, Ian W, 2003. "The Productivity of US States since 1880," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 73-114, March.
    5. Stanley L. Engerman & Robert A. Margo, 2010. "Free Labor and Slave Labor," NBER Chapters, in: Founding Choices: American Economic Policy in the 1790s, pages 291-314, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Payal Hathi & Sabrina Haque & Lovey Pant & Diane Coffey & Dean Spears, 2017. "Place and Child Health: The Interaction of Population Density and Sanitation in Developing Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 337-360, February.
    7. Basher, Syed A. & Lagerlöf, Nils-Petter, 2008. "Per-capita income gaps across US states and Canadian provinces," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 1173-1187, September.
    8. Esposito, Elena, 2015. "Side Effects of Immunities: the African Slave Trade," Economics Working Papers MWP2015/09, European University Institute.

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