The Impact of Cotton Land Distribution on the Antebellum Economy

Peter Passell

The Journal of Economic History, 1971, vol. 31, issue 4, 917-937

Abstract: Much of the federally owned public lands in the American South to the west of the Appalachians was sold to private interests between 1820 and 1860. Land sales' policy remained a great political issue during the nineteenth century because of its perceived effects on the distribution of wealth, sectoral economic growth, and the geographic location of political power. In this essay we consider the marginal impact of Southern land sales on national income. Like all models, our model is only as good as its underlying assumptions. Our aim is less to provide the last word on an important historical issue than to place the problem in a context in which analytical tools can be employed.

Date: 1971
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