IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/apecpp/v46y2024i1p95-110.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

African Americans and federal land policy: Exploring the Homestead Acts of 1862 and 1866

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Muhammad
  • Christopher Sichko
  • Tore C. Olsson

Abstract

We examine the history of US land policy, with a focus on the Homestead Acts, underscoring the precarious position of African Americans during the homesteading period. We discuss the historical context and the shifting political landscape of the Civil War and Reconstruction era, providing the context for research on federal land policies and problems of race. Past research is almost entirely outside of the agricultural and applied economics profession. We believe that the applied economics discipline is especially suited for empirically examining the influence of federal land policies on past and present disparities and racial makeup of American agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Muhammad & Christopher Sichko & Tore C. Olsson, 2024. "African Americans and federal land policy: Exploring the Homestead Acts of 1862 and 1866," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(1), pages 95-110, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:46:y:2024:i:1:p:95-110
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13401
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/aepp.13401?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hoyt Bleakley & Joseph Ferrie, 2016. "Shocking Behavior: Random Wealth in Antebellum Georgia and Human Capital Across Generations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(3), pages 1455-1495.
    2. Richard Hornbeck, 2010. "Barbed Wire: Property Rights and Agricultural Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(2), pages 767-810.
    3. Christina D. Romer, 1993. "The Nation in Depression," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 19-39, Spring.
    4. Long, Jason & Siu, Henry, 2018. "Refugees from Dust and Shrinking Land: Tracking the Dust Bowl Migrants," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 78(4), pages 1001-1033, December.
    5. Carter,Susan B. & Gartner,Scott Sigmund & Haines,Michael R. & Olmstead,Alan L. & Sutch,Richard & Wri (ed.), 2006. "The Historical Statistics of the United States 5 Volume Hardback Set," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521817912.
    6. Lauren Soth, 1976. "Agricultural Economists and Public Policy," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 58(5), pages 795-801.
    7. Douglas W. Allen, 2019. "Establishing Economic Property Rights by Giving Away an Empire," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(2), pages 251-280.
    8. Neil Canaday & Charles Reback & Kristin Stowe, 2015. "Race and Local Knowledge: New Evidence from the Southern Homestead Act," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 399-413, December.
    9. Randy McFerrin & Stephen Norman & Douglas Wills, 2012. "Determinants of homestead claims and the expansion of Western settlement," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(18), pages 1927-1932, December.
    10. Arash Nekoei & David Seim, 2023. "How Do Inheritances Shape Wealth Inequality? Theory and Evidence from Sweden," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(1), pages 463-498.
    11. Alston, Lee J., 1983. "Farm Foreclosures in the United States During the Interwar Period," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(4), pages 885-903, December.
    12. Libecap, Gary D. & Hansen, Zeynep Kocabiyik, 2002. "€Œrain Follows The Plow†And Dryfarming Doctrine: The Climate Information Problem And Homestead Failure In The Upper Great Plains, 1890–1925," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(1), pages 86-120, March.
    13. Charles C. Geisler, 1995. "Land and Poverty in the United States: Insights and Oversights," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 71(1), pages 16-34.
    14. Soth, Lauren, 1976. "Agricultural Economists and Public Policy," 1976 Annual Meeting, August 15-18, State College, Pennsylvania 283861, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sichko, Christopher T., 2023. "Drought and Migration during the Great Depression," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335558, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Carlos, Ann M. & Feir, Donna L. & Redish, Angela, 2022. "Indigenous Nations and the Development of the U.S. Economy: Land, Resources, and Dispossession," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(2), pages 516-555, June.
    3. Richard Hornbeck, 2020. "Dust Bowl Migrants: Identifying an Archetype," Working Papers 2020-120, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    4. Bartels, Charlotte & Jäger, Simon & Obergruber, Natalie, 2020. "Long-Term Effects of Equal Sharing: Evidence from Inheritance Rules for Land," IZA Discussion Papers 13665, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. John Landon-Lane & Hugh Rockoff & Richard H. Steckel, 2011. "Droughts, Floods and Financial Distress in the United States," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Climate Change: Adaptations Past and Present, pages 73-98, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Samuel Bazzi & Martin Fiszbein & Mesay Gebresilasse, 2020. "Frontier Culture: The Roots and Persistence of “Rugged Individualism” in the United States," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(6), pages 2329-2368, November.
    7. Liu, Jhih-Yun, 2023. "The Dust Bowl and Occupational Persistence in Agriculture," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335779, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Daniel P. Gross, 2018. "Scale versus scope in the diffusion of new technology: evidence from the farm tractor," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 49(2), pages 427-452, June.
    9. Samuel Bazzi & Martin Fiszbein & Mesay Gebresilasse, 2017. "Frontier Culture: The Roots and Persistence of “Rugged Individualism†in the United States," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2018-004, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    10. Ariell Zimran, 2022. "Internal Migration in the United States: Rates, Selection, and Destination Choice, 1850-1940," NBER Working Papers 30384, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Yannay Spitzer & Gaspare Tortorici & Ariell Zimran, 2020. "International Migration Responses to Modern Europe’s Most Destructive Earthquake: Messina and Reggio Calabria, 1908," NBER Working Papers 27506, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Meina Cai & Ilia Murtazashvili & Jennifer Murtazashvili & Raufhon Salahodjaev, 2020. "Individualism and governance of the commons," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 175-195, July.
    13. Samuel Bazzi & Martin Fiszbein & Mesay Gebresilasse, 2018. "Frontier Culture: The Roots and Persistence of “Rugged Individualism†in the United States," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series dp-302, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    14. Spitzer, Yannay & Tortorici, Gaspare & Zimran, Ariell, 2020. "International Migration Responses to Natural Disasters: Evidence from Modern Europe’s Deadliest Earthquake," CEPR Discussion Papers 15008, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Hodgson, Charles, 2018. "The effect of transport infrastructure on the location of economic activity: Railroads and post offices in the American West," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 59-76.
    16. Sichko, Christopher, 2021. "Migrant Selection and Sorting during the Great American Drought," SocArXiv wm2p3, Center for Open Science.
    17. Wang, Tianyi, 2023. "The Electric Telegraph, News Coverage and Political Participation," IZA Discussion Papers 16317, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Fernando M. Aragon, 2014. "Do better property rights improve local income?: Evidence from First Nations' treaties," Discussion Papers dp14-02, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    19. Bryan A. Stuart & Evan J. Taylor, 2021. "Migration Networks and Location Decisions: Evidence from US Mass Migration," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 134-175, July.
    20. Raghuram Rajan & Rodney Ramcharan, 2015. "The Anatomy of a Credit Crisis: The Boom and Bust in Farm Land Prices in the United States in the 1920s," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1439-1477, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:46:y:2024:i:1:p:95-110. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)2040-5804 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.