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International
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International Journal of Political Science and Development Vol. 6(6), pp. 169–191, August, 2018. DOI: 10.14662/IJPSD2018.045 ISSN: 2360-784X
Research Paper
Institutional and Agency Effects on the Status of Free Blacks: Synthesizing Asymmetrical Laws and Social Conditions with Asymmetrical Economic Outcomes, International
James Curtis Jr*
*ames Curtis Jr is the President of The James Edward Curtis Jr Education Foundation and Director of The Office of Pro Bono Correspondence, PO Box 3126, Washington, District of Columbia 20010, USA; Call: (202) 718-7796; Email: jamesjr@jecjef.net or jamesedwardcurtisjr@yahoo.com
Accepted 31 August 2018
Leon Litwick (1961) and Ira Berlin (1974) provide the most comprehensive historical accounts of free blacks in the north and south, respectively. This paper attempts to build upon their successes by presenting a national study that combines the legal, demographic and economic experiences of free blacks, with an extended analysis of antebellum wealth inequality. In doing so, I propose the asymmetry hypothesis, which is an investigation of the link between the social conditions and economic outcomes of free blacks relative to whites. For the empirical portion of the study, I employ cross-sectional variables from the IPUMS samples. This paper finds that economic differences between free blacks and whites were intertwined with asymmetrical social constraints. While the legal and social status of free blacks was significantly better than slaves, their status did not equal that of whites. Yet free blacks did attempt to overcome the social conditions by structuring their households to provide a basic foundation for the pursuit of happiness.
Key words: Constitution, government, free blacks, wealth inequality, economic discrimination, discrimination theory.
JEL Codes: H5 H7 C44 N4 N3 J7 B15 D31 D91 E21 H54 H73 I2 I3 J15 J18 J31 J71 K00 N11 N31 N41 N47 P16 Q10 R23 Z10
Cite This Article As: James Curtis Jr* (2018). Institutional and Agency Effects on the Status of Free Blacks: Synthesizing Asymmetrical Laws and Social Conditions with Asymmetrical Economic Outcomes, International. Int. J. Polit. Sci. Develop. 6(6) 169-191
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