Full Citation
Title: Slavery and African American Family Stability, 18601880
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2012
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Abstract: The origin of African Americans relatively low marriage rate is often traced to conditions undermining family formation during slavery. We focus instead on transformations in African American marriage following abolition. Immediately following the Civil War, Southern legislatures rushed to recognize African Americanmarriages. They reversed the legal status of African American unionsfrom strictly forbidden to encouraged and even mandated for cohabiting couples in some jurisdictionsto secure control over the new workforce and reduce rates of child dependency via family labor contracts. We find evidence that reliance on slavelabor bolstered African American marriage after emancipation. We estimate large, positive effects of Southern counties involvement in slavery in 1860, instrumented by their territorial suitability for cotton production, on their African American marriage rates in 1880. These results are robust to comparisons with white marriage rates and are confirmed by analysis of microdata tracing individuals marital transitions.
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Authors: Bloome, Deirdre; Muller, Christopher
Conference Name: Population Association of America
Publisher Location: San Francisco, CA
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Family and Marriage, Other
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