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The End of European Immigrant Servitude in the United States: An Economic Analysis of Market Collapse, 1772–1835

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  • Grubb, Farley

Abstract

Europeans stopped using servitude to finance passage to America sometime in the early nineteenth century, but exactly when and why immigrant servitude disappeared is a mystery. Hypotheses abound, but no consensus has emerged nor have scholars tested hypotheses. In this study, quantitative evidence for the final sixty years of immigrant servitude establishes when and why it disappeared. Servitude did not end because of insufficient demand, legal restrictions, or declines in passage fares. It ended because superior methods of financing migration developed. Chance historical events, however, determined the exact timing of the end.

Suggested Citation

  • Grubb, Farley, 1994. "The End of European Immigrant Servitude in the United States: An Economic Analysis of Market Collapse, 1772–1835," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(4), pages 794-824, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:54:y:1994:i:04:p:794-824_01
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Alex Armstrong & Frank D. Lewis, 2017. "Transatlantic wage gaps and the migration decision: Europe–Canada in the 1920s," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 11(2), pages 153-182, May.
    2. Ran Abramitzky & Leah Boustan, 2017. "Immigration in American Economic History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1311-1345, December.
    3. Nils-Petter Lagerlof, 2002. "The Roads To and From Serfdom," Macroeconomics 0212011, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Gillian Hamilton, 1999. "The Decline of Apprenticeship in North America: Evidence from Montreal," Working Papers hamiltng-99-01, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    5. Grubb, Farley, 2000. "The Statutory Regulation of Colonial Servitude: An Incomplete-Contract Approach," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 42-75, January.
    6. John Killick, 2014. "Transatlantic steerage fares, British and Irish migration, and return migration, 1815–60," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(1), pages 170-191, February.
    7. Bodenhorn, Howard & Guinnane, Timothy W. & Mroz, Thomas A., 2013. "Problems of Sample-Selection Bias in the Historical Heights Literature: A Theoretical and Econometric Analysis," Working Papers 114, Yale University, Department of Economics.
    8. Farley Grubb, 2003. "Babes in Bondage Parental Selling of Children to Finance Family Migration: The Case of German Migration to North America, 1720-1820," Working Papers 03-04, University of Delaware, Department of Economics.
    9. Ferrie, Joseph & Hatton, Timothy J., 2013. "Two Centuries of International Migration," IZA Discussion Papers 7866, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Alexander Armstrong & Frank D. Lewis, 2009. "Capital Constraints And European Migration To Canada: Evidence From The 1920s Passenger Lists," Working Paper 1230, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    11. Stanley L. Engerman & Robert A. Margo, 2010. "Free Labor and Slave Labor," NBER Chapters, in: Founding Choices: American Economic Policy in the 1790s, pages 291-314, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Howard Bodenhorn & Timothy Guinnane & Thomas Mroz, 2014. "Caveat Lector: Sample Selection in Historical Heights and the Interpretation of Early Industrializing Economies," NBER Working Papers 19955, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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