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

Igor Martins

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

Igor Martins

Department of Economic History

Research output: Working paper/Preprint › Working paper

80 Downloads (Pure)

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.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 2020 Dec 6

Publication series

Name	African Economic History Network Working Paper Series
Publisher	African Economic History Network
No.	57

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Economic History

Free keywords

slave emancipation
slave trade
agricultural history
labor coercion
Cape Colony

Access to Document

AEHN-WP-57Submitted manuscript, 2.8 MB

https://www.aehnetwork.org/working-papers/raising-capital-to-raise-crops-slave-emancipation-and-agricultural-output-in-the-cape-colony

1 Article

Legacies of loss: The health outcomes of slaveholder compensation in the British Cape Colony
Martins, I., Cilliers, J. & Fourie, J., 2023 Jul, In: Explorations in Economic History. 89, 101506.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Open Access

1 Finished

The Cape of the Good Hope Panel: Long-term studies of growth, inequality and labour coercion in the global south
Green, E. (PI), Cilliers, J. (Researcher), Martins, I. (Researcher), Fourie, J. (Researcher), von Fintel, D. (Researcher) & Rijpma, A. (Researcher)
Marianne och Marcus Wallenbergs Stiftelse
2016/01/01 → 2019/12/31
Project: Research

1 Research or teaching at external organisation

Stellenbosch University
Martins, I. (Visiting researcher)
2017 → 2018
Activity: Visiting an external institution › Research or teaching at external organisation

Cite this

@techreport{fb6291d1374a42e08088face2a4d4fa8,

title = "Raising Capital to Raise Crops: Slave Emancipation and Agricultural Output in the Cape Colony",

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.",

keywords = "slave emancipation, slave trade, agricultural history, labor coercion, Cape Colony",

author = "Igor Martins",

year = "2020",

month = dec,

day = "6",

language = "English",

series = "African Economic History Network Working Paper Series",

publisher = "African Economic History Network",

number = "57",

type = "WorkingPaper",

institution = "African Economic History Network",

}

TY - UNPB

T1 - Raising Capital to Raise Crops

T2 - Slave Emancipation and Agricultural Output in the Cape Colony

AU - Martins, Igor

PY - 2020/12/6

Y1 - 2020/12/6

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - slave emancipation

KW - slave trade

KW - agricultural history

KW - labor coercion

KW - Cape Colony

M3 - Working paper

T3 - African Economic History Network Working Paper Series

BT - Raising Capital to Raise Crops

ER -

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

Abstract

Publication series

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Free keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

Legacies of loss: The health outcomes of slaveholder compensation in the British Cape Colony

Projects

The Cape of the Good Hope Panel: Long-term studies of growth, inequality and labour coercion in the global south

Activities

Stellenbosch University

Cite this