Family, Literacy, and Skill Training in the Antebellum South: Historical-Longitudinal Evidence from Charleston

John E. Murray

The Journal of Economic History, 2004, vol. 64, issue 3, 773-799

Abstract: Using individual measures of adult and child literacy, this article examines human capital acquisition in one Southern city, Charleston, 1790–1840. White adult literacy rates differed greatly by sex and class and rose gradually over time. Mothers played a critical role in human capital transmission in early childhood and long after children had left their care. Both relatively recent literacy acquisition and early childhood family structure influenced the occupation to which children were apprenticed. These results are consistent with present-day studies that trace sources of adult well-being back into childhood.

Date: 2004
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