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Capital and Coercion : Slavery after the 1807 Import Ban in the Cape Colony

Martins, Igor LU orcid (2025) In European Review of Economic History
Abstract
The 1807 Slave Trade Act banned slave imports across the British Empire, triggering a sharp supply shock. Using newly digitised tax censuses from the Cape Colony, this article examines how households in Stellenbosch and Graaff-Reinet adjusted. Despite stark ecological and institutional differences, both districts show similar post-abolition trajectories. This challenges models linking coercion to land–labour ratios, supervision costs, or frontier openness. Testing five frameworks, the paper finds strongest support for the view of slaves as capital assets. Wealthier households continued accumulating slaves, suggesting slavery persisted not only as labour but as an asset strategy amid capital scarcity.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to specialist publication or newspaper
publication status
in press
subject
in
European Review of Economic History
publisher
Oxford University Press
ISSN
1361-4916
project
The establishment, growth and legacy of a settler colony: Quantitative panel studies of the political economy of Cape Colony
The Cape of the Good Hope Panel: Long-term studies of growth, inequality and labour coercion in the global south
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a1be4502-223c-467a-bd26-b4ed64f4d788
date added to LUP
2025-06-23 20:40:07
date last changed
2025-09-30 11:25:47
@misc{a1be4502-223c-467a-bd26-b4ed64f4d788,
  abstract     = {{The 1807 Slave Trade Act banned slave imports across the British Empire, triggering a sharp supply shock. Using newly digitised tax censuses from the Cape Colony, this article examines how households in Stellenbosch and Graaff-Reinet adjusted. Despite stark ecological and institutional differences, both districts show similar post-abolition trajectories. This challenges models linking coercion to land–labour ratios, supervision costs, or frontier openness. Testing five frameworks, the paper finds strongest support for the view of slaves as capital assets. Wealthier households continued accumulating slaves, suggesting slavery persisted not only as labour but as an asset strategy amid capital scarcity.}},
  author       = {{Martins, Igor}},
  issn         = {{1361-4916}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{European Review of Economic History}},
  title        = {{Capital and Coercion : Slavery after the 1807 Import Ban in the Cape Colony}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}