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Raising Capital to Raise Crops : Slave Emancipation and Agricultural Output in the Cape Colony

Martins, Igor LU (2020) In African Economic History Network Working Paper Series
Abstract
Agricultural output fluctuated worldwide after the emancipation of slaves. The usual explanation is that former slaveholders now lacked labor. This is not the full story: slaves were not just laborers but capital investments to support production. Using databases covering more than 40 years from Stellenbosch in the British Cape Colony, this study measures changes in output before and after emancipation to determine the role of slaves as factors of
production. Large shortfalls in compensation paid to slaveholders after the 1833 Abolition Act reveal that slaves were a source of capital that strongly influenced production levels, an important reason for the output variation.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
slave emancipation, slave trade, agricultural history, labor coercion, Cape Colony
in
African Economic History Network Working Paper Series
issue
57
project
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
fb6291d1-374a-42e0-8088-face2a4d4fa8
alternative location
https://www.aehnetwork.org/working-papers/raising-capital-to-raise-crops-slave-emancipation-and-agricultural-output-in-the-cape-colony
date added to LUP
2022-01-19 10:42:38
date last changed
2022-01-19 16:00:38
@misc{fb6291d1-374a-42e0-8088-face2a4d4fa8,
  abstract     = {{Agricultural output fluctuated worldwide after the emancipation of slaves. The usual explanation is that former slaveholders now lacked labor. This is not the full story: slaves were not just laborers but capital investments to support production. Using databases covering more than 40 years from Stellenbosch in the British Cape Colony, this study measures changes in output before and after emancipation to determine the role of slaves as factors of<br/>production. Large shortfalls in compensation paid to slaveholders after the 1833 Abolition Act reveal that slaves were a source of capital that strongly influenced production levels, an important reason for the output variation.}},
  author       = {{Martins, Igor}},
  keywords     = {{slave emancipation; slave trade; agricultural history; labor coercion; Cape Colony}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{57}},
  series       = {{African Economic History Network Working Paper Series}},
  title        = {{Raising Capital to Raise Crops : Slave Emancipation and Agricultural Output in the Cape Colony}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/112215736/AEHN_WP_57.pdf}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}