Topics in Economic History

 History began as an elitist subject – much emphasis was placed on how the statesmen acted in order to retain power e.g.
battles
 There was not much information on how the state was run, the elitists and insiders would channel their energies to justify
the status quo. This is an example of top – down history (history focussed on the elite rather than ordinary people)
 In the Roman Empire there was Rome and then everyone else were referred to as “Barbarians” – this is based on the notion
that there is the superior that the Romans were superior and everyone else was irrelevant
 Before the reformation education was seen for the elites. As Protestantism came the need to teach ordinary people how to
read became increasingly important as they had to read the bible.
 As education spread the elite worried more people would be educated and challenge the system
 Education can and has led to the progress but it is not to say that this progress can be reversed. (democracy is widely regarded
as progression)

Whig history - is an approach to historiography that presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty
and enlightenment, culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy.
 After Butterflied book on the Whig interpretation, individuals no longer believed in the world continuously getting better but
more of a staggered progress
 Whig history was named after British Whigs who advocated the power of the parliament and opposed the tories
 Previously had been thought to be important that …… know about philosophy and politics, not trade

Tableau Economique by Francois Quesnay was the first attempt to create a model of the economy but it was not very accurate
 However, it did make a move away from the religious argument
 Adam Smith “the wealth of the nation,” was the first real economic text and contained a fair amount of religious sentiment –
created the idea of the invisible hand (page 2 of chapter 2 ask)

19th Century people began to challenge the status quo

A quantitative and analytical approach to economic history developed

Cliometrics: In the Greek mythology Clio is the muse (goddess) of history and Metrics originates from Econometrics. Cliometrics:
is an approach of studying and investigating into history that involves highly quantitative mathematical and statistical techniques
combined with economic theory and models. It aims at providing quantifiable evidence of the economic history. An important
aspect in cliometrics is for the historian to be able to judge sources effectively.

Three main forces had impact on the cliometric revolution

 Oppression – the dissolution of empires, economic growth of the west and the challenges of soviet-style economic planning
 New and Intellectual Comments – there was an increase in the techniques of resource allocation combined with the growth
of statistical analysis of economic data
 The gathering of facts – by the 19th century governments, citizens and scholars had become preoccupied with with fact
gathering but their collations were ordinary and unsystematic. Thoroughness and system became the key of scholarly fact
gathering in the 20th century

Time on the Cross – by Fogel and Engerman (1974)

This book happens to be a highly important book when discussing the economics of slavery, because of Fogel and Engerman
arguing that Slavery was in fact profitable. The bold claim of the book further highlighted the value and superiority of applying
mathematical and statistical techniques to history. Fogel used statistical analysis to examine the relationship between the politics
of American slavery and its profitability.

A few of the key conclusions were:

1. The purchase of a slave was generally a highly profitable investment which yielded rates of return
2. The slave system was not economically moribund on the eve of the Civil War.
3. Slave agriculture was not inefficient compared with free agriculture. Economies of large-scale operation, effective
management, and intensive utilization of labor and capital made southern slave agriculture 35 percent more efficient
than the northern system of family farming.
4. the typical slave field hand received about 90 percent of the income he produced.
5. Far from stagnating, the economy of the antebellum South grew quite rapidly. Between 1840 and 1860, per capita income
increased more rapidly in the south than in the rest of the nation.
What followed was an avalanche of criticism for both the book and authors. There is no question this was a seminal work, if by
that one means it was responsible for bringing forth further work. The quantitative methods were a topic of further controversy.

Arguments
 The innovative, and highly controversial point, was that slaves worked hard because they were rewarded for doing so. Of
course, slaves were motivated by a combination of the stick and the carrot. Fogel and Engerman may have exaggerated the
role of the carrot

The Transatlantic slave trade – Africa  Caribbean and America

 A lot of …page 7… led to slave ships being stopped whilst going across the Atlantic, taking pressure off plantations
 Even after the abolition there was allot of discrimination against the blacks, in the forms of job discriminations, educations
and it has continued until today
 Abolition did not happen overnight and many argue there is subtle versions still around today

The Antebellum era was a period in history of the Southern United States from the late 18th Century until the start of the
American Civil war in 1861.
 The antebellum south – US civil war (1861 – 1865)  free Africans fought for north  African slave forces to fight for
south
 The American civil war …page 7… slavery in the united states and destroyed much of the economic landscape of the south
 The Antebellum era was marked by the economic growth of the south, based on slave-driven plantation farming.

Much of the history of the British Empire was written by Brits who gained from colonialism
 Hegemony is the political, economic or military control of the state and others
 If you do not have black and females writing about history then the view of history is from white men which may be
seen as distorted to suit their view

Lecture 3

Slavery: is a condition in where individuals are owned and controlled. These human-beings are treated as property and are forced to work for
free. (Chattel Slavery)

 The transatlantic slave trade was also known as the ‘middle passage,’ – this is specifically the journey from Africa to America
 Most well-known – due to effects had on the American culture
 The transatlantic slave trade was one of the slave trades, there were others including the African slave trade
 Latin American slavery expeditions were seriously under represented until 2001 when a 4 year research was initiated in Portuguese and
Spanish to find that the Atlantic would connect for the deficiency

 Estimates that seem to agree with a range from 15 million to 25 million slaves landing in America
 The slave trade brought in the numerous old-world immigrants and their descendants are the largest racial minority in many countries
(America)

 Mary Prince was the only female slave to have her work published and for it to survive from her period
 She presented the first petition against slavery, and was the first black woman to write an autobiography
 Although male slave narratives are fairly common, female slave narratives and of those who died in childhood are not
 Marry Prince was born in 1783 and moved to Britain in 1827 with her owners, she ran away and gained freedom
 The autobiography explains her being sold on the slave market, the sexual and physical abuse she was subject to

 The royal African slave company (symbol is an elephant) had a monopoly over the British slave trade for many years
 The sea captain John Hawkins pioneered English involvement in the Atlantic slave trade in the 16th century and was the first Englishman
to deport Africans from the west coast of Africa for sale in the West Indies
 King Charles II encourages the expansion of the slave trade granting a charter (the grant of authority) to a group of men, the Royal
Adventurers who later became The Royal African Company
 The charter stated that the company “had the whole, entire and only trade for buying and selling bartering and exchanging of for or with
any Negroes, Slaves, goods, wares, merchandise whatsoever”
 The first Royal African Company ships set from Liverpool/Bristol to West African coast, and these two cities benefited from the slave trade
profits.

In the English law you cannot sell yourself into slavery. Slavery is illegal in all countries. The last country to abolish was Mauritania. Hidden
slavery still exists even in the UK.
Modern slavery act of 2015 was designed to help curb slavery
Chattel slavery is – when people are treated as actual property who can be bought, sold and traded, this was legal in most of the world in
history

Pawnage or pawn slavery is a form of servitude akin to bonded labor under which the debtor provides another human being as security or
collateral for the debt. Until the debt (including interest on it) is paid off, the creditor has the use of the labor of the pawn.

Forced labour is any work or service which people are forced to do against their will under the threat of some form of punishment.
 Forced labour also takes place in concentrations camps and some prisons
 In the UK you have to pay the prisoners a nominal amount for their labour
 At the end of slavery many Africans were put in prison on false charges and they were the forced to work – effectively making them slaves
again

VOC – Dutch East India Company, the Cape colony was a Dutch colony in the South African establishment as a resupply and layover port for
vessels of the Dutch East India Company trading with Asia
 brought people into Africa to be slaves  KHOI KHOI or SAN into Africa
 Kidnapped people from southern UK and Europe as retaliation for UK empire fighting pilgrims on way to mecca Atlantic trace – to USA

Burbary Coast refers to the North African Coast (originates from romans and those who aren’t are barbarians)
 Barbary pirates operated from North America and the main purpose of their attacks were to capture Christian slaves for the
Ottoman slave trade as well as the African, Arabic and North American slave trade
 Sometimes people would be kidnapped and taken to North Africa then held for ransom

Trans Saharan slave trade was the practice of slavery in the Arab world beginning in the eta of the Roman Empire and continuing until the
early second half of the 20th century
 The trade was conducted through slave markets in the Middle East, North Africa and the thorn of Africa with the salves captured
mostly from Africa’s interior

 The internal slave trade was a slave trade between American slave owners where these slave owners would take one or more of
their slaves to a big city such as Richmond and place them in a slave farm.
 These slaves were usually grouped together and moved by train or boat, they would be chained up and many of them died
 Taken to a central market in the south where potential buyers inspect them and each slave would be sold to the highest bidder
 The internal slave trade became the largest enterprise in the South outside the plantation itself, and probably the most advanced in
its employment of modern transportation, finance, and publicity.

The Indian ocean trade has been a key factor in the East-West exchanges through history
Long distance trade in …page 14…. and sailboats made it a dynamic zone of interaction between people’s cultures and civilization stretching
from Jara in the east to Zanzibar and Mombasa in the West.

 The Atlantic trade grew because of mining and plantations (sugar, tobacco and cotton) in the Americas
 This involved hot, labour intense conditions in which Europeans did not want to work
 European labour was dedicated to European farming and European wars
 Sub Saharan had a greater capacity to withstand disease than North Americans
 Africans did not step in and take control of the slave trade because you need to know the craft of shipbuilding
 Portuguese were the first to begin the Slave trade as they have a large Atlantic coast
 Currents would easily take you to Portugal to Africa and then to America and back

Slaves would be bought to the surface of the slave ships during the day whilst the ship was being cleaned with vinegar
 During the transatlantic slave journey (middle passage) there would be the spread of disease, slave revolts, rape, people jumping
overboard and people being killed and thrown overboard

Manillas were a form of currency used in West Africa up until the 20th century- they were made in Europe and given to Africans to buy slaves

 Rewards are not written or destroyed are not available

 Firsthand accounts of elderly slaves or slaves who escaped were rewarded or …. By abolitionist and others.

Olaudah Equiano was a prominent African in London, a freed slave who supported the British movement to end the slave trade
 His autobiography, published in 1789 was considered highly influential in gaining passage of the slave trade act in 1807 which ended
African trade for Britain and its colonies

Many different companies went by the name East India company

Julian Calendar - was replaced by the Gregorian because it was felt that it better reflected the time taken for the Earth to orbit the sun
 When looking for archive records one must be careful to note whether it was dated using the Julian or the Gregorian calendar and
must then make the appropriate conversion if necessary
The Kingdom of Whydah was a major slave trading post
The juidah is a type of port with a lagoon or sea
The sea doesn’t have a deep water harbor and you need Africans to lure you in
This gave the Africans an upper hand and forces competition between the Europeans

A lot of evidence can be discovered from shipwrecks

Lecture 4

Britain is often seen as the first industrialized nation

 Traditional views of the Industrial Revolution are that it can be traced back to engineers or so-called “Men in Sheds”
 However, this parade of inventor’s theory is not necessarily a very good one because the Chinese who have invented allot but didn’t
go through an Industrial revolution the way Britain did.

Factors that may matter to and help industrial revolution are:

Internal resources e.g. coal, transport networks, legal systems and customers

According to Eric Williams, money from the slave trade may have boosted opportunities to industrialize

 Britain accumulated great wealth from that trade and the increase of consumption goods called forth by triangular Trade inevitably
encouraged the development of the productive power of the country
 This industrial expansion required finance which was provided in fact by plantation owners and slave traders
 The extent of the role of slavery in the industrial revolution is debatable

 Gold Coin was sometimes stamped by where it came from e.g. elephant was Royal African Company

The plantation system was so beneficial to plantation owners that legal slavery was not abolished for a long time in the British Caribbean
 Duasi – Slavery was then introduced through an apprenticeship system
 Blacks were forced out of jobs and forced to go work for white rules

 Edward Colston was British born English slave trader who left his mark in Bristol
 The structure of him was controversial as much of his wealth was acquired through the slave trade

Slaves were renamed, many of the names you would have needed a knowledge of the Roman history

The navy had specific names as well

It is thought that sugar had an effect on industrialization with caffeinated sugary foods acting ass stimulants
Poverty and Charity

Does Charity promote poverty or visa versa?

 Part of the motivation behind helping the poor is altruistic and Christianity as well as other major world religious encourage altruism as
part of religious duty
 Monastic houses provided housing and healthcare for the needy
 With the monastic revolution and Benedictine rule, attitudes changed such that although it was still acceptable to pray, excessive praying
was discouraged and instead this time would be seen as better served helping the community
 Roman Catholics believed you would get into Heaven through good deeds
 Protestant then came along said you could get into Heaven through faith alone

 In the 18th Century Babies born outside of Medlock were subject to a life of rejection and inferiority
 Captain Thomas Corbett would campaign to setting up a hospital as he discovered several foundlings (children orphans and care for
themselves) in 1739 he persuaded the right people to set up the Thomas Corbett hospital
 Over the next 200 years many foundling children were brought there as their parents were unable to care for them
 They were provided with healthcare and education, boys were taught a trade and girls were taught domestic service

 Lock hospital – stop the spread of contagious diseases

 Ergot poisoning –rye
 mouldy rye =ergot LSD hallucinations=witches
 When people deny charity, guilt plays on conscience like plague  blames those offering charity of withcraft

 You can consider that people give to charity out of self-interest (to get to Heaven)
 Altruism and Self Interest can be seen to overlap
 Generous welfare system pays to prevent crime and disorder
 John Rawls argued that people were behind a “veil of ignorance” as they wouldn’t not be able to see where they fall into society

 After the forming of Elizabethan poor laws (1601) outdoor relief was the kind of poor relied where assistance was in the form of money,
food, clothing of goods, given to alleviate poverty without the requirement that the receipt enter an institution
 Hence outdoor relief was outside of any institution, for example providing care to someone in their home
 Indoor relief was usually provided by privately funded/charity enter = Almshouses
 There were hospitals to show appreciation for armed services
 Sometimes character did not matter
 Elizabeth poor law was designed to prevent people from falling into poverty

o The impotent poor (unable to work) were to be cared for in an Almshouse

o The able bodied poor were set to work in a house of industry
o The idle poor would be sent to house of correction or prison
o Pauper children would become apprentices

Elizabeth poor laws made provision for the poor rate to be levied on every parish, creation of oversees relief, the setting of poor into work and
the collection of poor relief from property owners

The 1601 poor Laws were described as favourable and system allowed greater sensitivity to paupers but who who made tyrannical behaviour
possible to overseers (overseers – know them as they live in the parishes)
Overseers of the poor knew the paupers so were able to differentiate from the deserving poor and the undeserving
It was the job of the overseers to relieve the poor based on their decision (issuing food or money)
Peoples circumstances would be known and thus the idle poor would be unable to claim help
The poor were told to return to their parishes so they could be identified as deserving or undeserving

 In contrast, recipients of indoor relief were required to enter a workhouse or a poorhouse

 The pioneer of the workhouse was followed by Edwin Chadwick, he though very mathematically and how to cut the costs of social
benefits
 He feared the unemployed/poor would scrounge
 He aimed to make sure that workers were always better off than the unemployed
 Families were split up, conditions were made to be horrible to incentivise individuals to work and not be idle, caused riots, causes
diseases spreading, it was a smart way to get people to work, however the people running it didn’t follow through with punishments as
they acted with humanity
 Speenhamland System (1795) (amendment of Elizabeth poor laws) was a method of giving relief to the poor using a means tested sliding-
scale of wage supplements in order to mitigate the worst effects of rural poverty. Families were paid extra to top up wages to a set level
according to a table. This level varied according to the number of children and the price of bread.
was a form of outdoor relief intended to mitigate rural poverty

 Beer Street and Gin Lane are two prints issued in 1751 by English artist William Hogarth in support of what would become the Gin Act.
Designed to be viewed alongside each other, they depict the evils of the consumption of gin as a contrast to the merits of drinking beer.
 At almost the same time and on the same subject, Hogarth's friend Henry Fielding published An Inquiry into the Late Increase in Robbers.
Issued together with The Four Stages of Cruelty, the prints continued a movement started in Industry and Idleness, away from depicting
the laughable foibles of fashionable society and towards a more cutting satire on the problems of poverty and crime.
 Beer Street aimed to reduce the consumption of spirits a popular pastime that was regarded as one of the primary causes of crime in
London
 On the simplest level, Hogarth portrays the inhabitants of Beer Street as happy and healthy, nourished by the native English ale, and
those who live in Gin Lane as destroyed by their addiction to the foreign spirit of gin; but, as with so many of Hogarth's works, closer
inspection uncovers other targets of his satire, and reveals that the poverty of Gin Lane and the prosperity of Beer Street are more
intimately connected than they at first appear.
 Gin Lane shows shocking scenes of infanticide, starvation, madness, decay and suicide, while Beer Street depicts industry, health,
bonhomie and thriving commerce.

Asymmetrical Information – there is asymmetrical information problem when it comes to identifying who is the deserving and the
undeserving poor
Addictions to spirits were associated with poverty and those were considered as underserving of help, forcing you into a cycle of poverty and
criminality
Examples of coming across as deserving of help is excellent military record and church attendance
In large urban areas these signals were harder to send

Moral Hazard is that after some form of economic intervention you will change your behavior
If you have a safety net e.g. insurance, you may start to act irresponsibly
Learned helplessness – if you have someone constantly doing things for you then you stop doing things for yourself and become dependent,
e.g. dependent on benefits

Charles Booth was an English social researcher and reform; he was most famous for his research into working class life in London in the 1800’s
 A large proportion lived in poverty during this period
 He didn’t believe claims made by social reformers that only 25% of Londoners lived in abject (maximum degree) poverty
 He responded by carrying out huge scale studies into it and the working condition
 He published the results and produced them on a mapped out street
 Different colors represented different types of dwelling with red being well to do and black being viscous and semi criminal
 Booth discovered a third of the Londoners lived in abject poverty

 Old poor law- Parish boundaries, the poor pregnant women would be dumped in poorer parishes to keep taxes down

The Malthusian trap is the putative unsustainability of improvements in a society's standard of living because of population growth.
 It is named for Thomas Robert Malthus, who suggested that while technological advances could increase a society's supply of resources,
such as food, and thereby improve the standard of living, the resource abundance would encourage population growth, which would
eventually bring the per capita supply of resources back to its original level.
 Some economists contend that since the industrial revolution mankind has broken out of the trap.
 Others argue that the continuation of extreme poverty indicates that the Malthusian trap continues to operate.
 Malthus argued that while food supply expansion was linear, however population growth was exponential
 Something had to be done to limit the population size, e.g. abortion, contraception delayed marriage
 Malthus argued that the poor relief system tended to increase the population size because it encouraged laborers to marry earlier
 Julian Simon argued Malthus – said that the economy will be able to increase production due to the financial stimulus

Frictional Unemployment - The unemployment that exists in any economy is due to people being in the process of moving jobs
Developing new products puts people to work wages and prices adjust to

 With the great Depression, there was a rise in Keynsian economics and Keynes was an economist who argued in favor of government
intervention to deal with problems such as unemployment
 Keynes believed demand was stimulated through fiscal and monetary policy

 Poverty Line – estimated minimum level of income to secure the necessities in life