A Classical-Marxian Model of Antebellum Slavery
Clegg, John LU
and Foley, Duncan
(2019)
In Cambridge Journal of Economics
43(1).
p.107-138
- Abstract
This paper outlines a classical-Marxian model of the antebellum US economy. The model assumes that the mobility of capital tended to equalize the rate of profit between North and South, whilst land rents were minimized by an expanding frontier. Under these conditions slave prices are the capitalized present value of the excess surplus value produced by slaves. This excess surplus value arose because slaves could be forced to work harder at a lower standard of subsistence than wage laborers, who were free to move between individual employers and also between sectors by farming frontier lands. If the growth of the slave population saturated the land available for slave production, land rents would rise to capture the excess surplus value... (More)
This paper outlines a classical-Marxian model of the antebellum US economy. The model assumes that the mobility of capital tended to equalize the rate of profit between North and South, whilst land rents were minimized by an expanding frontier. Under these conditions slave prices are the capitalized present value of the excess surplus value produced by slaves. This excess surplus value arose because slaves could be forced to work harder at a lower standard of subsistence than wage laborers, who were free to move between individual employers and also between sectors by farming frontier lands. If the growth of the slave population saturated the land available for slave production, land rents would rise to capture the excess surplus value produced by slaves, and slave prices would collapse. We find the model predicts historical movements of slave prices, and is compatible with contemporaneous views of the impact of territorial restriction on the viability of slavery.
(Less)
- author
- Clegg, John
LU
and Foley, Duncan
- publishing date
- 2019-01-17
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Civil war (US), Political economy, Slavery
- in
- Cambridge Journal of Economics
- volume
- 43
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 32 pages
- publisher
- Oxford University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85062824551
- ISSN
- 0309-166X
- DOI
- 10.1093/cje/bex075
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s). All rights reserved.
- id
- af030fe8-f41a-4950-bf43-7555b67ad9a8
- date added to LUP
- 2022-03-18 13:41:30
- date last changed
- 2022-04-18 22:17:26
@article{af030fe8-f41a-4950-bf43-7555b67ad9a8,
abstract = {{<p>This paper outlines a classical-Marxian model of the antebellum US economy. The model assumes that the mobility of capital tended to equalize the rate of profit between North and South, whilst land rents were minimized by an expanding frontier. Under these conditions slave prices are the capitalized present value of the excess surplus value produced by slaves. This excess surplus value arose because slaves could be forced to work harder at a lower standard of subsistence than wage laborers, who were free to move between individual employers and also between sectors by farming frontier lands. If the growth of the slave population saturated the land available for slave production, land rents would rise to capture the excess surplus value produced by slaves, and slave prices would collapse. We find the model predicts historical movements of slave prices, and is compatible with contemporaneous views of the impact of territorial restriction on the viability of slavery.</p>}},
author = {{Clegg, John and Foley, Duncan}},
issn = {{0309-166X}},
keywords = {{Civil war (US); Political economy; Slavery}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{107--138}},
publisher = {{Oxford University Press}},
series = {{Cambridge Journal of Economics}},
title = {{A Classical-Marxian Model of Antebellum Slavery}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cje/bex075}},
doi = {{10.1093/cje/bex075}},
volume = {{43}},
year = {{2019}},
}