Replication data for: Betting on Secession: Quantifying Political Events Surrounding Slavery and the Civil War

Name: Replication data for: Betting on Secession: Quantifying Political Events Surrounding Slavery and the Civil War
Published: 2016-01-01
License: This work is licensed under an Other license created by the data depositor. Please refer to the LICENSE file, which should be located alongside the project data and documentation.
Keywords: Transcribed sales records

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Charles W. Calomiris; Jonathan Pritchett

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
AER_2013_1483_data			10/19/2021 03:48:PM
LICENSE.txt	text/plain	14.6 KB	10/11/2019 09:32:PM

Project Citation:

Calomiris, Charles W., and Pritchett, Jonathan. Replication data for: Betting on Secession: Quantifying Political Events Surrounding Slavery and the Civil War. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2016. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E112961V1

Project Description

Summary: Lincoln's election produced Southern secession, war, and abolition. Using a new dataset on slave sales, we examine connections between news and slave prices for the period 1856-1861. By August 1861, slave prices had declined by roughly one-third from their 1860 peak. That decline was similar for all age and sex cohorts and thus did not reflect expected emancipation without compensation. The decision to secede reflected beliefs that the North would not invade and that emancipation without compensation was unlikely. Both were encouraged by Lincoln's conciliatory tone before the attack on Fort Sumter, and subsequently dashed by Lincoln's willingness to wage all-out war. (JEL D72, D74, D83, G14, H77, N31, N41)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Transcribed sales records

JEL Classification:
      D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
      D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
      D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
      G14 Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
      H77 Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism; Secession
      N31 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
      N41 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

Geographic Coverage: New Orleans, United States, Louisiana, United States

Time Period(s): 8/1856 – 8/1861

Universe: Complete sample of slaves sold in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, from Aug. 1856 to Aug. 1861

Data Type(s): administrative records data

Collection Notes: Sample collection process is similar to Fogel and Engerman's "The New Orleans Slave Sale Sample, 1804-1862." (ICPSR 7423) The unit of observation is the individual. For transactions with multiple slaves, individuals recorded in sequence. Children (aged less than 11 years) grouped with mothers.

Methodology

Data Source: New Orleans Notarial Archives, New Orleans, LA. http://www.orleanscivilclerk.com/research.htm

Unit(s) of Observation: Enslaved Individual,

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-12]

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