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Igor Martins . Photo

Igor Martins

Researcher

Igor Martins . Photo

Capital and Coercion : Slavery after the 1807 Import Ban in the Cape Colony

Author

  • Igor Martins

Summary, in English

The 1807 Slave Trade Act banned slave imports across the British Empire, triggering a sharp supply shock. Using newly digitised tax censuses from the Cape Colony, this article examines slave accumulation patterns in Stellenbosch and Graaff-Reinet following the supply shock. Despite stark ecological and institutional differences, both districts show similar post-abolition trajectories. This challenges models linking coercion to land–labour ratios, supervision costs, or frontier openness. Testing five frameworks, the paper finds the strongest support for the view of slaves as capital assets. Wealthier households continued accumulating slaves, suggesting slavery persisted not only as labour but as an asset strategy amid capital scarcity.

Department/s

  • Department of Economic History

Publishing year

2025-06-21

Language

English

Publication/Series

European Review of Economic History

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Topic

  • Economic History

Status

Epub

Project

  • The establishment, growth and legacy of a settler colony: Quantitative panel studies of the political economy of Cape Colony
  • The Cape of the Good Hope Panel: Long-term studies of growth, inequality and labour coercion in the global south

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1361-4916