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The economic functions of extrajudicial violence in the Jim Crow South

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  • Stelzner, Mark
  • Darity, William

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the direct economic functions of White-on-Black violence in the Jim Crow South. As we will see, White-on-Black violence was used to control Black labor and to seize gains made by Black agriculturalists. We find that White-on-Black lynchings during the pre-harvest period were used by White landlords to increase the total amount of man-hours expended by Black sharecroppers. We also find that the occurrence of one or more White-on-Black lynchings in a given county is associated with a 1.9 percent decrease in Black landownership in the same county in each of the three years following said lynching, and we find that the 1912 Forsyth Massacre and the 1906 Atlanta Massacre had even larger effects. Given the high frequency of White-on-Black violence in the Jim Crow South, the impact on Black labor and the cumulative effect on Black landownership and town and city property were huge.

Suggested Citation

  • Stelzner, Mark & Darity, William, 2026. "The economic functions of extrajudicial violence in the Jim Crow South," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:99:y:2026:i:c:s0014498325000828
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2025.101735
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lisa Cook, 2014. "Violence and economic activity: evidence from African American patents, 1870–1940," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 221-257, June.
    2. William Darity Jr. & A. Kirsten Mullen & Marvin Slaughter, 2022. "The Cumulative Costs of Racism and the Bill for Black Reparations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 99-122, Spring.
    3. Chris M. Messer & Thomas E. Shriver & Alison E. Adams, 2018. "The Destruction of Black Wall Street: Tulsa's 1921 Riot and the Eradication of Accumulated Wealth," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(3-4), pages 789-819, May.
    4. Suresh Naidu, 2010. "Recruitment Restrictions and Labor Markets: Evidence from the Postbellum U.S. South," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(2), pages 413-445, April.
    5. Jhacova A. Williams & Trevon D. Logan & Bradley L. Hardy, 2021. "The Persistence of Historical Racial Violence and Political Suppression: Implications for Contemporary Regional Inequality," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 694(1), pages 92-107, March.
    6. William A. Darity Jr., 2022. "Position and Possessions: Stratification Economics and Intergroup Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(2), pages 400-426, June.
    7. Price, Gregory N. & Darity Jr., William A. & Headen Jr., Alvin E., 2008. "Does the stigma of slavery explain the maltreatment of blacks by whites: The case of lynchings," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 167-193, February.
    8. Jones, Daniel B. & Troesken, Werner & Walsh, Randall, 2017. "Political participation in a violent society: The impact of lynching on voter turnout in the post-Reconstruction South," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 29-46.
    9. Sotiris Kampanelis & Aldo Elizalde, 2024. "Lynching and economic opportunities: Evidence from the US South," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(4), pages 977-1003, November.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • N1 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations
    • N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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