"Bound" or "Free"? Black Labor in Cotton and Sugarcane Farming, 1865-1880

Effects of Agricultural Productivity Shocks on Female Labor Supply: Evidence from the Boll Weevil Plague in the US South

“…While slave labor cultivated most of the cotton on large plantations before the Civil War, the labor relations between landlords and laborers in the American South changed with the abolition of slavery in 1865 (Alston and Higgs, 1982;Shlomowitz, 1979;Ransom and Sutch, 2001). Fixed wages, share-rent and fixed-rent contracts became the principal contractual forms for cotton farmers in the South after the Civil War (Alston, 1990).…”

“…Fixed wages, share-rent and fixed-rent contracts became the principal contractual forms for cotton farmers in the South after the Civil War (Alston, 1990). Family based sharecropping arrangements were common by the late 1870s and frequently used between landlords and black farm operators (Reid, 1973;Shlomowitz, 1979;Alston, 1990). Sharecropping involved the whole family in cotton cultivation, especially during the planting and harvesting season when labor demand was high (Jones, 1985, p. 58-68, pp.…”

“…For the American South, historical accounts suggest that women had a relative comparative advantage in cotton picking, the most labor-intensive task in cotton cultivation (Metzer, 1975;Shlomowitz, 1979;Jones, 1985).…”

“…We use data on output per worker rather than wages since many (black) farmers were selfemployed, working as owners, sharecroppers or tenants in the Cotton Belt after the Civil War (Reid, 1973;Shlomowitz, 1984;Ransom and Sutch, 2001). 17 We note that output per worker is a good proxy for the wage if: (i) there is perfect competition in the labor market;…”

‘Stubborn and disposed to stand their ground’: Black militia, sugar workers and the dynamics of collective action in the Louisiana sugar bowl, 1863–87

“…16 Though planters were unable to hold themselves together in stable combinations to reduce wages over more than a narrow area, they could generally keep harvest wages well below 20 dollars a month, with rations. 17 By 1880 certain basic patterns had been set. The majority of labour in the cane would be performed by groups of wage workers of African descent, under direct supervision, largely continuing patterns of gang labour that harked back to slavery.…”