Numeracy of Africans, Asians, and Europeans during the early modern period: new evidence from Cape Colony court registers

Abstract

The lack of accurate measures of human capital formation often constrains investigations into the long‐run determinants of growth and comparative economic development, especially in the developing world. Using the reported ages of criminals in the Court of Justice records in the Cape Archives, this article documents for the first time numeracy levels and trends for inhabitants of the Cape Colony born between the late seventeenth and early nineteenth century: the native Khoesan, European settlers, and imported slaves from other African regions and Asia. This variety of origins allows us to compare contemporaneous levels of early modern development across three continents. By isolating those slaves born at the Cape, we also provide a glimpse into the dynamics of human capital transfer in a colonial setting. The Colony's relatively high level of human capital overall had implications for what was later to be the richest country on African soil, but the very unequal attainment of numeracy also foreshadowed extreme income inequality.

Economic Development and South Africa: 25 Years Analysis (1994 to 2019)

“…(Van Der Merwe et al ., 2008; Bashagi and Muchapondwa, 2009; Klasen and Woolard, 2009; Brick et al ., 2012; Muchapondwa and Sterner, 2012; Baten and Fourie, 2015; Burns and Keswell, 2015; Barrientos et al ., 2016; Dikgang and Muchapondwa, 2016; Eyal and Burns, 2019)…”

“…Given the above background, the researcher initiates a novel attempt to research and understand the predominant themes actively contributing towards economic development in South Africa; for merely talking about economic development and growth is not enough, until and unless it is reviewed in terms of plausible opportunities and threats (Mmopelwa et al ., 2009; Abdelfattah et al ., 2014; Baten and Fourie, 2015; Burns and Keswell, 2015; Baker et al ., 2016; Kollamparambil, 2020). This work aims to comprehend research conducted towards the South African economy in the last 25 years of time by the systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis.…”

Women of an uncertain age: quantifying human capital accumulation in rural Ireland in the nineteenth century†

“…Our econometric methodology is similar to that of Baten and Fourie, ‘Numeracy of Africans’, who use court records to ascertain the numeracy of different populations residing in the Cape Colony.…”

Review of periodical literature published in 2015

“…In relation to colonialism and divergence another anomaly arises. Baten and Fourie use convict and criminal justice records from the Cape Colony to show that human capital indicators diverged greatly between Europe, Asia, and West Africa in the eighteenth century, and that the educational attainment of the latter groups did not improve two centuries after contact with European (including British) settlers. Worse, their figures show that numeracy declined in South Asia and West Africa in the later eighteenth century.…”