A Peculiar Sample: The Selection of Slaves for the New Orleans Market

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic History
Year: 1992
Volume: 52
Issue: 1
Pages: 109-127

Authors (2)

Pritchett, Jonathan B. (Tulane University) Freudenberger, Herman (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Domestic slave traders selected taller slaves for shipment to the New Orleans market in order to increase their profits. Because traded slaves made up a large share of the slaves shipped coastwise, age/height profiles constructed from the shipping manifests are biased upwards. The extent of the bias appears to be small for adult slaves but not for children; those listed on the manifests were taller than the general population of a comparable age.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:cup:jechis:v:52:y:1992:i:01:p:109-127_01
Journal Field
Economic History
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29