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Wage Labour and Slavery on the Cape Frontier

Green, Erik LU and Fourie, Johan (2018) In Work Around the Globe: Historical Comparisons and Connections p.265-294
Abstract
The 1807 ban on the importation of slaves is said to have had severe consequences for farmers in South Africa’s Southwestern Cape, an areaof wheat and wine farming that used large numbers of slave labourers.The ban resulted in a rapid rise in slave prices, which signif icantly increased input costs. In contrast, the effect of the ban was apparently much more moderate in the eastern parts of the colony, where stock farmers used predominantly Khoesan labour. We use six tax censuses from the easternmost district in the Colony, Graaff-Reinet, to show thatthe ban on importing slaves did indeed have important consequences for farmers, even on the colony’s distant frontier. The ban affected not only the composition of labour but also its... (More)
The 1807 ban on the importation of slaves is said to have had severe consequences for farmers in South Africa’s Southwestern Cape, an areaof wheat and wine farming that used large numbers of slave labourers.The ban resulted in a rapid rise in slave prices, which signif icantly increased input costs. In contrast, the effect of the ban was apparently much more moderate in the eastern parts of the colony, where stock farmers used predominantly Khoesan labour. We use six tax censuses from the easternmost district in the Colony, Graaff-Reinet, to show thatthe ban on importing slaves did indeed have important consequences for farmers, even on the colony’s distant frontier. The ban affected not only the composition of labour but also its productivity. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Colonialism, Institutional Change, and Shifts in Global Labour Relations
series title
Work Around the Globe: Historical Comparisons and Connections
editor
Hofmeester, Karin and de Zwart, Pim
pages
30 pages
publisher
Amsterdam University Press
ISBN
978-90-4853-502-6
978-94-6298-436-3
DOI
10.5117/9789462984363
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
419f9f97-4a0b-460c-84cf-57d6b36a78e2
date added to LUP
2018-04-12 08:14:30
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:39:17
@inbook{419f9f97-4a0b-460c-84cf-57d6b36a78e2,
  abstract     = {{The 1807 ban on the importation of slaves is said to have had severe consequences for farmers in South Africa’s Southwestern Cape, an areaof wheat and wine farming that used large numbers of slave labourers.The ban resulted in a rapid rise in slave prices, which signif icantly increased input costs. In contrast, the effect of the ban was apparently much more moderate in the eastern parts of the colony, where stock farmers used predominantly Khoesan labour. We use six tax censuses from the easternmost district in the Colony, Graaff-Reinet, to show thatthe ban on importing slaves did indeed have important consequences for farmers, even on the colony’s distant frontier. The ban affected not only the composition of labour but also its productivity.}},
  author       = {{Green, Erik and Fourie, Johan}},
  booktitle    = {{Colonialism, Institutional Change, and Shifts in Global Labour Relations}},
  editor       = {{Hofmeester, Karin and de Zwart, Pim}},
  isbn         = {{978-90-4853-502-6}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  pages        = {{265--294}},
  publisher    = {{Amsterdam University Press}},
  series       = {{Work Around the Globe: Historical Comparisons and Connections}},
  title        = {{Wage Labour and Slavery on the Cape Frontier}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5117/9789462984363}},
  doi          = {{10.5117/9789462984363}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}