Full Citation

Title: Slavery’s Carceral Legacy

Citation Type: Journal Article

Forthcoming?: Yes

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DOI: https://doi-org.ezp2.lib.umn.edu/10.1086/733783

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Abstract: A burgeoning social scientific literature on the place-based legacy of slavery has mostly overlooked the effect of slavery on incarceration, de- spite the fact that the intensity and racial disparity of US incarceration is often attributed to its history of slavery. I analyze data on incarcera- tion from 1840 to 2020 and show that the historic prevalence of slavery tends to be negatively associated with Black incarceration, especially under Reconstruction and Jim Crow (1870-1940). In line with recent work by Christopher Muller, I argue this is at least partly explained by white planters paying the fines of Black convicts, who would then have to work off the debt or suffer imprisonment. I conclude that the exist- ing literature is not wrong to assume that Southern incarceration was shaped by slavery. But it shaped it in surprising ways that previous work has often failed to identify.

Url: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/733783

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Clegg, John

Periodical (Full): American Journal of Sociology

Issue: 6

Volume: 130

Pages: 1351-1393

Data Collections: IPUMS USA - Ancestry Full Count Data

Topics: Housing and Segregation, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity

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