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The Ex-Slave in the Post-Bellum South: A Study of the Economic Impact of Racism in a Market Environment

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  • Ransom, Roger L.
  • Sutch, Richard

Abstract

Immediately after the Civil War, southern landowners attempted to preserve the plantation system by offering to hire the newly freed ex-slaves on an annual contract for wages. However, serious problems soon developed. Foremost among these were difficulties engendered by views of white landlords and white overseers regarding the performance of the free black labor. Because they insisted that blacks were incapable of working productively without strict controls and corporal punishment, the landlords were convinced that only the workgang-overseer organization of the slave regime would be feasible. Many freedmen, quite naturally, were reluctant to work under conditions approximating those of slavery. Perhaps the landlord who would have preferred to hire wage labor might have succeeded had he been willing to offer higher wages. However, his views of black productivity inhibited him from doing so, and this approach was soon abandoned.

Suggested Citation

  • Ransom, Roger L. & Sutch, Richard, 1973. "The Ex-Slave in the Post-Bellum South: A Study of the Economic Impact of Racism in a Market Environment," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 131-148, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:33:y:1973:i:01:p:131-148_07
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    Cited by:

    1. Roger L. Ransom & Richard Sutch, 2000. "One Kind of Freedom: Reconsidered (and Turbo Charged)," NBER Historical Working Papers 0129, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Hoyt Bleakley & Joseph P. Ferrie, 2013. "Up from Poverty? The 1832 Cherokee Land Lottery and the Long-run Distribution of Wealth," NBER Working Papers 19175, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Melinda C. Miller, 2020. "“The Righteous and Reasonable Ambition to Become a Landholder”: Land and Racial Inequality in the Postbellum South," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(2), pages 381-394, May.
    4. Ransom, Roger L. & Sutch, Richard, 2001. "One Kind of Freedom: Reconsidered (and Turbo Charged)," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 6-39, January.
    5. Ai, Chunrong & Arcand, Jean-Louis & Éthier, François, 1998. "Inefficacité marshallienne, partage de coûts et modèles contractuels avec marchés manquants," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 74(3), pages 315-341, septembre.

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