Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History
Abstract
In the past 30 years, the legacy of African-American slavery has experienced a transformation in historical perspective. Morality aside, several historians have suggested that the accepted views regarding slavery need revision, particularly in an economic sense. Utilizing cliometrics, census records, diaries, and first-hand accounts of slavery in the South, economic historians such as Robert Fogel and Stanley Engennan have made a compelling case for the viability and profitability of slavery by exposing the nuances of the system that historical generalities often ignore. Of course, words like "viable" and ''profitable" do not necessarily mean "virtuous"or even "preferable", but it does imply that the previous understanding of slavery is inaccurate and incomplete.
Recommended Citation
Devlin, Brandon, "The effect of slavery on southern farmland values in the antebellum and postbellum era" (2003). Honors Theses. 1020.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/1020