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Economic Inequality in the United States in the Period from 1790 to 1860

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  • Soltow, Lee

Abstract

There is some speculation that there was more economic egalitarianism in the United States among free men in the period from 1776 to 1790 than there was at any time in the following seventy years until the abolition of slavery. One would like to believe the speculation since it is known that there was extensive inequality of wealth in I860 and one would like to believe that the formation of the nation took place within a context of economic equality. This would be produced from a condition where aggregate wealth is shared fairly equally rather than being owned by a few. Let us give this ideal, this proposition relating to wealthholding for the Revolutionary era from 1776 to 1790, a title of romantic equality.

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  • Soltow, Lee, 1971. "Economic Inequality in the United States in the Period from 1790 to 1860," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(4), pages 822-839, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:31:y:1971:i:04:p:822-839_07
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    Cited by:

    1. Roine, Jesper & Waldenström, Daniel, 2014. "Long-Run Trends in the Distribution of Income and Wealth," Working Paper Series 1021, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    2. Vollrath, Dietrich, 2008. "Wealth Distribution and the Provision of Public Goods: Evidence from the United States," MPRA Paper 11534, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Philipp Ager, 2013. "The Persistence of de Facto Power: Elites and Economic Development in the US South, 1840-1960," Working Papers 0038, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    4. Ekama, Kate & Fourie, Johan & Heese, Hans & Martin, Lisa-Cheree, 2021. "When Cape slavery ended: Introducing a new slave emancipation dataset," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. James D. Smith, 1980. "Introduction to "Modeling the Distribution and Intergenerational Transmission of Wealth"," NBER Chapters, in: Modeling the Distribution and Intergenerational Transmission of Wealth, pages 1-8, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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